Music Concert Report Essay

On Wednesday May 8th I attended a steel band concert for the first time. Experiencing new music is something that I like to do, so when it was assigned to attend a concert I was pretty excited. When I attended the concert I was greeted with many surprises. Overall attending Erie Community College’s steel band concert was a great entertaining eye opening experience. Before attending the steel band concert I was not sure what to expect. When I heard the words â€Å"steel band† I thought of a band with tubas and trumpets, not of a band with Caribbean type steel drums. As soon as the band members started to play I was shocked, in a good way. I was expecting boring music not Caribbean type music that wanted to make dance. My favorite song the band played was a song by Steve Butters called â€Å"Don’t look back†. The Steve Butters song was my favorite because it was so surprising hearing that type of music played by a band here at E.C.C.. The music really reminded me of Caribbean type music because of the sound of the steel drums, it made me feel happy as if I was on a vacation. Not being exposed to this type of music made the experience so much better because it was something new and foreign. All in all the steel band concert was an entertaining and eye opening experience. In the future I would definitely like to attend another steel band concert. The vibe of the concert was a great one making it a cool place to be.

Pride and Prejudice Essay

Consider the final resolution of the novel. Is the ending a fairy tale one (recall that fairy tales end with â€Å"and they lived happily ever after†)? How does the novel expand upon and complicate this ending? Does the ending play up the romance, or the social satire? What is the final message, which the novel leaves us with? Many fairy tales and love stories end with a marriage and a happy ending. In many ways, Pride and Prejudice did have a fairy tale ending. Seeing Elizabeth and Jane each getting married to the men they love at the conclusion of the novel, implies a fairy tale ending. On the other hand, neither Charlotte nor Lydia experience happy marriages. Although the novel displays romantic characteristics, I perceived Darcy’s actions in using his social status and fortune to help Lizy’s family, to make the novel seem somewhat of a satire. I would have to say that the final message of the novel is that the greatest happiness you can find in life is love. The story starts off showing that being loved back by the one you love is an impossible situation to achieve in real life. Even though Darcy, because he is handsome and rich, is rejected by Lizzie she later discovers that she did not realize she truly did love him. In the end, two of the main characters end up getting married and living happily ever after. In addition, two not so important characters end up with an unhappy marriage. This novel shows that in life there might not always be a happy ending but is not a catch-22!

How do you respond to the view that in the stories in The Bloody Chamber Angela Carter presents a sinister distortion of family relationships? Essay

?How do you respond to the view that in the stories in The Bloody Chamber Angela Carter presents a sinister distortion of family relationships? Within Carter’s short stories, she may present a sinister distortion of family relationships by subverting ‘typical’ family roles, perhaps in a way that has a harmful or negative outcome for particular family members. She could appear to do this through the presentation of the parent and child relationships in The Snow Child, or the husband and wife relationship in The Bloody Chamber. The Gothic element of the stories is emphasised through the ‘sinister’ aspect of these distortions, as the relationships Carter presents can be somewhat disturbing. However, in some of her stories it appears that family relationships are not distorted, such as the mother and daughter relationship in The Bloody Chamber or the father and daughter relationship in The Courtship of Mr Lyon. In The Snow Child, Carter may subvert the typical expected roles of parents as the behaviour of the Count and Countess towards their ‘child’ is deemed very unusual. The Count behaves in a particularly alarming manner, portraying an obvious sexual attraction to the girl who appears before him after listing the qualities he desires. She is a clear manifestation of his fantasy, and is described as the â€Å"child of his desire†, which immediately signals abnormality for the reader as â€Å"desire† perhaps suggests a sexual element whilst â€Å"child† reminds us that she fulfils the family role of a daughter, thus highlighting her childlike innocence. The girl is described as â€Å"stark naked†, implying an eroticism about her, and alluding to the idea of female nudity as a part of male fantasy which is disturbing and sinister for the reader considering the Count is a father figure to her. Also, after the child’s death Carter describes how the Count â€Å"thrust his virile member into the dead girl†, and this explicit, shocking description of the sexual act emphasises the disturbing nature of the father and child relationship. It is possible that Carter chose to describe this act of necrophilia so explicitly in order to emphasise to the reader the harsh realities of some perhaps sexually abusive relationships within families. The helplessness of the â€Å"dead girl† and the Countess simply watching on perhaps highlights how females are often the victims of men and can be powerless, so fulfilling Carter’s feminist agenda that is evident in many of her other short stories. Carter may also present a sinister distortion of family relationships through the husband and wife relationship portrayed in The Bloody Chamber. The Marquis is obviously dominant within the relationship, exercising an excessive control over his new bride that eventually proves to be a serious threat to her once she discovers that he aims to murder her as he did his previous wives. Carter presents the ruby choker as a symbol within the story that represents the Marquis’ control over his bride. It is described as â€Å"clasped around my throat†, the violently threatening word â€Å"clasped† creating a sinister tone as it alludes to the image of strangling, thus suggesting the Marquis has an aggressive control over his wife. The ruby choker is also likened to â€Å"an extraordinarily precious slit throat†, again connoting danger for the bride and perhaps suggesting the potentiality for her to be a victim of murder. The Marquis himself is described as a powerful and dominant figure, as animalistic imagery is used to emphasise his authoritative nature within the relationship. The description of the â€Å"leonine shape of his head† and his â€Å"dark mane† liken him to an animal such as a lion, and so suggest a natural authority about him whilst highlighting his ability to perhaps behave like a predatory animal. The Marquis also has a clear sexual dominance within the relationship, as the bride describes; â€Å"his movements seemed to me deliberately coarse, vulgar†. The adjectives â€Å"coarse† and â€Å"vulgar† suggest a lack of romantic intimacy within the relationship, and the Marquis acting â€Å"deliberately† creates a sinister tone as it suggests he is fully aware of the power he is purposefully exercising over his bride. However, the father and daughter relationship in The Courtship of Mr Lyon may suggest that Carter does not present a sinister distortion of family relationships as despite the father’s recklessness, the paternal love he has for his daughter is evident to the reader. She is described as â€Å"his Beauty, his girl-child, his pet†, suggesting his affectionate love for her and the possessive pronoun â€Å"his† emphasises their physical connection as father and daughter. Beauty also shows her concern for her father and eagerness for him to return home, as Carter describes her thoughts of, â€Å"I hope he’ll be safe†. This makes it evident to the reader that both father and daughter share an emotional bond, so implying they have a healthy and loving relationship. The father also wishes to give Beauty what she desires, in this case a single white rose. He becomes so desperate to fulfil her wishes that he resorts to stealing a rose from the Beast’s garden despite having just heard â€Å"a mighty, furious roaring†; the justification for doing this is â€Å"because he loved his daughter†. This portrays the strength of paternal love, as it has caused the father to go to extreme lengths to please his daughter, in which he is fully aware of the threat it poses to him. The father in The Courtship of Mr Lyon is not without fault; not only does he steal the rose, but the reader learns that he has lost his fortunes through gambling. However, through the portrayal of the positive father-daughter relationship, Carter may be showing how the flaws of the father along with the love he has for his daughter makes him human, which links to the metamorphosis of the Beast to a human in the ending. Therefore, Carter may be suggesting that love and positive family relationships are what make us human. Overall, it appears that in some cases Carter does present a sinister distortion of family relationships, and often it is this element of her stories that emphasises their Gothic aspect. The subversion of typical family roles in a way that is nonconforming to what the reader considers the norm often proves to be disturbing and adds to the suspense of the stories. Carter often uses the distorted family relationships to suggest that danger can come from within the home. However, this is not always the case as some family relationships within Carter’s stories are deemed as normal and positive, and Carter uses other elements of the stories to conform to the Gothic genre. The positive relationships portrayed may be a way for Carter to present other ideology, often about how ‘love conquers all’.

Exploring the Impacts of Migration on UK Labour Market Dissertation

Exploring the Impacts of Migration on UK Labour Market - Dissertation Example The researcher states that one of the strongest trends in the modern world is globalization. The process of globalization has led to creation of united and single world, where national and other barriers do not play significant role anymore. It is more reasonable to talk about one world, rather than about the different countries. We are living in the age of cultural and political mix, global communication and collective responsibility for the future of our planet. Among the factors that have led to a high degree of globalization the following ones may be pointed out. First of all, development of transport infrastructure has decreased distances between the different places in the world. It was almost impossible for people from Europe to visit America in the 18th century. Nowadays, it is a simple thing. Second of all, technological development should be mentioned. For instance, development of Internet has eased communication for people from the whole world. It is not a problem to find a friend on the other mainland nowadays. Finally, the mentioned factors and economic interests has helped international companies to overcome national borders and establish a single global business environment. The words that business interests are among the reasons for globalization can be proved by the following quote. â€Å"In order to remain competitive, companies move as quickly as possible to secure a strong position in some of the key world or emerging markets with products customized for the need of the people in such areas in which they plan to establish. Most of these world markets are attracting companies with new capital investments with very good incentives†. The reasons for globalization have been technological development, growth of transport infrastructure, cultural and political assimilation, internationalization of business, etc. However, we should also talk about consequences of globalization. The main consequence of globalization is, of course, creation of a single global market, political and social environment. Development of a global labour market has also been among the consequences of globalization. One of the main features of global labour market is growing degree of migration of employees between the countries. It is a natural fact that developed countries attract more people from the developing states, who are looking for better quality of life. As a result, immigration to the developed countries has become a typical entity. Influence of immigration on UK labour market is going to be the main object of this research. Labour market is one of the most important areas of national economy along with production area, international area and price area. That is why there have been a lot of discussions among this particular market between theoretical and practical economists. Usually, such discussions have been related to the factor of labour market’s efficiency. There are a lot of characteristics of this efficiency. However, the most important are the level of wages and the level of unemployment. These characteristics depend on the whole range of factors.

National Income Determination Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

National Income Determination - Assignment Example One economist argued that confidence in economic agents could at times be considered as a social capital (Godley, 2009). Therefore, an increase in confidence of economic agents should always affect the macroeconomic variables positively. Consumer confidence – a higher confidence by the consumers will always facilitate them to spend more. Interest rates – it always influence cost of borrowing and mortgage interest payments. Higher interest rates will automatically increase cost of spending on mortgages. Availability of market – the increase in population constantly increases the demand for products that are specifically supporting the modern technology. Investors therefore identify such opportunities and utilize them effectively. Consumer and investor trend reports will automatically affect my spending. This is because i will spend focusing on factors that may hinder my satisfaction as a consumer. I will therefore appropriately plan with the amount of money I have at hand. GDP refers to the measure of total value of all goods produced and services provided in a country during a specific time, which is always one year. For an item to be included in the GDP, it has to be something that is produced within the borders of a country, should not be used to produce other goods and it should be legal. The exclusion therefore does not make GDP less

First 3 pages of a position paper on media globalization and cultural Essay

First 3 pages of a position paper on media globalization and cultural identity - Essay Example plores dimensions of the concept by considering the industry aspects of such glocal programs (programs with mixed global and local aspects) and their scope for the production companies. By providing the series of processes undertaken to Americanize the British sitcom, the paper develops a thorough understanding of various steps and considerations to be kept in mind as television travels from global to local. By discussing the differences between the two versions of the same sitcom in detail, the paper concludes the presence of a strong nexus between Media Globalization and Cultural Identity thereby fading away the misconception about globalization as a solely homogenizing force. According to Held D. in ‘Global Transformations’, â€Å"globalization is a process fueled by, and resulting in, increasing cross-border flows of goods, services, money, people, information, and culture (Guillen, 2001).† In the contemporary world, all the aspects of life are touched by the ravishing presence of globalization. Once comprehended as a mere economic phenomenon involving the flow of goods and services across borders, the term has transcended to reach the exchange of language, culture and media among nations (Suà ¡rez-Orozco ix). Media Globalization refers to the global reach of media which may take different forms like the internet, television and mass media etc. This process is glocal in nature since with the global elements the television also adapts to certain local elements thereby emerging as a mix of globalization and localization (Straubhaar 130). The aspect of localization in a rather global television program is added when the producers add their subjective interests which ultimately change the whole structure of the particular program. This change is not entirely a work of producers as they are profoundly coalesced with the resource of money used by the audience. Therefore, the audience holds the authority to alter the television program structures according to

Describe photograph Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Describe photograph - Essay Example There are two small motorized boats in the middle foreground, one brown and one white, both being driven by single adult males towards the viewer. Other boats are moored amongst the poles on the left, and there are still more boats moving on the water. The canal flows in a sweep of steely blue, from the middle of the picture down to the front and to the right, where it forms the bottom right corner of the picture and turns into a turquoise shade, showing triangular wave patterns in the wake of the boats. There are no trees, and no sidewalks, but the water looks very like a street, because of the busy traffic of boats on it. It dominates the front and center of the picture, and clearly the photographer intended to capture the character of this interesting mode of transportation. Despite the boats which are clearly moving, there is serenity in the picture which comes from the expanse of water and sky, and the lack of human people, despite all the evidence of habitation and city life. The middle section of the picture consists of buildings on both sides, though those on the right are smaller than those on the left. About half way up the photograph on the right there is a large domed building, with several smaller domed towers to its right. This is clearly a special location, because it is much bigger than the other buildings around it, and it forms a striking silhouette against the sky, like a collection of upturned tea-cups on a table. Most of the domestic buildings have red tiled roofs while the domes are a mauve/brown color. Television antennae, flagpoles, and chimneys stick up from all the rooftops. Further up still, and in the distance, compared to the viewer, there is another tower, with a small sphere on the roof, resting on a square roofed building which has two round arches. Above all the buildings, and stretching over the whole top edge of the picture there is

Problems of Managing Joint Ventures in China Essay

Problems of Managing Joint Ventures in China - Essay Example The enterprises are busy in making their products and services more and more attractive for the consumers all around the world. They make changes in their products and services in order to meet the requirements of their culture and society. The cultural changes, throughout the world, act as a strong challenge to the enterprises. Efficient cross culture management can guarantee flourishing worldwide operation of international enterprises in the multi-culture and region. The worldwide business dealings are also flourishing in Chinese enterprises. Chinese enterprises have made it an aim to progress and make their name all around the world. Chinese enterprises are making progress in their fields of expertise to promote their abilities and talents throughout the world market. Foreign companies have been working in China for many years, frequently by joint ventures with local firms and usually in the more developed coastal areas. Nowadays, however, Government is now developing the areas with poor infrastructure and encouraging investment in those areas. The poor infrastructure, illiterate public and employers with less knowledge about market economy concepts made it very difficult for the firms existing there and even for th e firms making joint ventures to progress. In the central Shaanxi province, fifty four interviews were planned with the managers in twenty four join ventures clearly shows the prospective hazard in the way of a thriving join venture. As Chinese market is becoming the centre of attention of more and more foreign investors the pitfalls of Chinese market, management and hurdles in its way to success are given proper thought and suggestions are made to solve these problems (Ahlstrom et al. 2003; Beamish, 1993; Child, 1994; Goodall and Warner, 1999; Peng, 2000). It is already known that in the previous twenty five years, almost 85 percent foreign firms, located in China, are sited along the Coastal belt of China (SSB, various years). Since late 1990s, the Chinese government is busy in the developmental process of the areas with weak infrastructure and poor growth rate in order to get rid of the local regional differences. "The Great Western Development Strategy (xibu da kaifa)" was commenced in 1999 with a motive to encourage local and international investment in the country. It was a categorical effort to increase investment in those regions of China, mainly in need but least likely to attract support on their own. U nder its persuasion, an increasing number of foreign firms and joint ventures entered in the underdeveloped hinterland. In 2002, 31,822 foreign ventures had been set up in China's 18 interior districts and one municipality (SSB, 2003, p.678). All the regions carry some importance. In the same way, China's interior is of great importance, without development of those regions China wouldn't be able to progress in the international market. All facilities and technologies must be equally provided in the underdeveloped regions. For this reason, under the 7th Five Year Plan (FYP) (1981-1985), China's economies were separated in to three regions, namely, the Eastern region, the middle region and the Western region (Linge and Forbes, 1990, p.68 and Chen, 2000, pp.9-10; Wei. 2000, p. 1). Traditionally, the Middle and the Western areas have been considered as one large part, the interior (Chen, 2000, p. 10 and Wei, 2000, p. 1). As stated in the 7th Five Year

Inter-Professional Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Inter-Professional Practice - Essay Example I am further hoping to increase my networking skills to enable me to relate better with others and to stay informed in advance. The way I will achieve these goals is by trusting myself more and not holding back when I feel I need to express myself. To develop my assertiveness, I will challenge myself by pursuing risk. To avoid being directed by others, I will have to train myself to be stronger and to stand my ground. This will also allow me to express my opinion more confidently. To avoid internal distractions, I will train myself to focus more on the subject and less on the contextual emotions at play. The risks I will pursue will include taking a more proactive role, not only in groups, but also in classes. This will require and also allow me to push my limits. To improve my networks, I will build a better rapport with group members. I will engage with them at a personal level and establish contacts with them. I am familiar of some of the barriers that I will face that will make it difficult for me to achieve my goals. I am influenced and held back. I tend to become distracted easily and this will interfere with my listening skills. Low levels of confidence in myself will bar my assertiveness endeavours and my desire to network. The barrier to developing self-confidence is in turn a fear of being judged. To overcome being influenced, I will have to assess what caused me to be influenced or held back and prepare myself for similar scenarios in future. I will need to improve my self esteem and overcome other barriers to self-confidence by training myself to pay less attention to judgement by others. Improving my self-confidence will then allow me to become more assertive and to form more networks. To overcome distractions during listening, I plan to train myself to pay attention first during small forums and increase the size with progress. I also plan to eliminate distractions by removing them and reintroducing

Motives for the voyages of discovery Research Paper

Motives for the voyages of discovery - Research Paper Example Thesis statement: The research work on the film Conquest of Paradise proves that the protagonist’s motives for his voyages of discovery include his personal motive to prove his worthiness as a sailor, to quench the renaissance spirit by going beyond national boundaries, to find out new lands, to extend European influence to new lands, to plunder gold and wealth from the natives, to find out new sea routes, colonization under the crown, to spread Christianity, and to expand trade and commerce in future years. This section is broadly divided into: personal motive, renaissance spirit, to find out new lands, expansion of European influence, to plunder wealth, to find out sea routes, colonization, religious purposes, and expansion of trade. Personal motive: In the movie, the director makes use of the protagonist’s personal motive (say, to prove his value as a sailor) to unearth the importance of the expeditions of discovery. To be specific, the protagonist decides to fulfil his personal aim by conducting a voyage to unseen lands. Deanne Schultz opines that, â€Å"Despite weak condescension to the counter discourse, the film argues that Columbus deserves restoration to a legacy of greatness.†1 One can see that the protagonist tries to convince Queen Isabella I that he is worthy enough to conduct an expedition. This personal motive to prove oneself as a worthy sailor is inherent in almost all sailors. Still, the protagonist fails to convince the queen because the proposed expedition will result in economic burden. But the protagonist does not give up his personal interest/aim. Instead, he tires his level best to gain a ship and crew members. This proves that the protagonist is so obsessed with his personal motive/interest. So, one can see that the director sheds light into the protagonist’s inner mind and unveils the reason behind his passion towards sailing. Renaissance spirit: The protagonist’s expeditions of discovery in the film are symbolic of the influence of Renaissance that urges individuals to go beyond national boundaries. To be specific, the protagonist represents the spirit of Renaissance to explore the unknown. One can see that Renaissance resulted in geographical discoveries. The protagonist is aware that his expedition can help him to gain glory. But, he does not possess a ship or crew members. Still, his unending passion towards adventure forces him to approach the queen. This passion towards adventure is the essence of Renaissance. Somehow, the protagonist convinces the queen and starts his expedition. The director makes use of the protagonist’s effort to portray the human passion to know the unknown. The protagonist is aware that he cannot fulfil his dreams without seeking help from the queen. Besides, he knew that his voyage can help him to be on the pinnacle of success. The protagonist does not like to an idle individual because his destiny is interconnected with the revolutionary spi rit of Renaissance. One can see that the protagonist’s passion towards his profession and its relationship with the rapid change in European mindset helped him to be victorious in the end. So, the director convinces the viewers and proves that Renaissance spirit guides the protagonist towards his expeditions of discovery. To find out new lands: In the movie, the director makes use of historical facts to prove that the protagonist’s aim was not to reach the mainland of America, but to reach Asia. To be

Buddhist Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Buddhist Philosophy - Essay Example The Buddha elucidates immersion into Nirvana as achieving ‘deathlessness’ ( in Pali Amata or Amravati) or ‘ the unconditioned’ and the highest spiritual attainment, which can be acquired through following a life of virtuous conduct in accordance with ‘Dharma’ (Bechert, 154). Buddhism approaches the concept of life through a sense of the higher and inner Soul or the â€Å"I† that describes the notion of void and selflessness. In Buddhism ‘Moksha’ or salvation happens when the soul or ‘jivatman’ recognizes its union with the source of all phenomenal existence – the Brahman. Advaita Vedanta says that the Self or Supreme Soul is formless, beyond being and non-being, beyond tangibility and comprehension (Bhaskarananda). An analogy is that the soul is like a drop of water, which upon salvation, merges with the ocean or the Supreme Soul. The concept of non-duality through enlightenment is best summed through the Sanskrit phrase – ‘Tat Tvam Asi’ or ‘Thou Art That’. The quest of life is to break free of separation of the ‘me’ and ‘you’ and see everything as ‘I AM’ (Bhaskarananda, 177). This is the approach of a dignified self-confidence that should one possess while enduring the stress of a modern job. It should be remembered that the ‘I’ here is not the ego but the ‘True Self’. Everything is part of this larger ‘I’ and when awareness shifts from the egocentric ‘me, mine and I† to the real ‘I’, you actually see all that is just you and break free from all duality (Bhaskarananda, 51). Thus the path to selflessness is a deep, truthful understanding of the self rather than creating a void. Moksha is seen as a final release from one's worldly conception of the self and breaking free of the shackle of experiential duality and re-establishment of one's own fundamental nature (Sinha, 88). The state of salvation is seen differently from each ones' perspective depending on the inner soul. This would be best explained in view of a modern American literature. The basic measures of the story "Exchange Value", Charles R Johnson, can be drawn directly from this phase. Charles R Johnson's empathy towards philosophy drove the conclusion of the story towards an end that could justified as completely philosophic in nature. This philosophy is dominantly backed by the teachings of Buddha where the preacher exerts a similar non utilitarian valuation of riches. It is true that the brothers in the story ere predominantly motivated by greed in the first place and it never seized to exist in any part of the story but the main aspect that the author Charles R Johnson incorporated in the story is the ultimate lack of utility or valuation of the fortune that brothers failed to notice. (Roberts, 14) There is always a value for material that could be evaluated at a scale of money, even if it is not utilized but it is still a greater truth that without proper usage any material would loose its current value is remained unutilized. This is exactly what went wrong with the brothers and specifically with the woman before them in the story. Thus, in a way, it

Incendiary Fire Analysis and Investigation Essay Example for Free

Incendiary Fire Analysis and Investigation Essay The significance of the damages and losses brought by fire incidents is beyond any expression of human measurement, thus, the fire responders and investigators are always tasked with challenging accountability that begins from the incidence response to the cause investigation. The fire needs to be extinguish, not only to prevent further damages to the property and protect the victims lives, but also to protect the integrity of the evidences that will be use to understand the root cause of the incident, as some fire investigation escalates to civil or criminal charges. While the fire department’s investigation results are assisting the judiciary of the government to conclude the issues brought by the parties involved, the jurys decision is equally improving the fire departments standards and practices towards these incidents, from the initial response to complex forensic investigations. The prevention of the tragedy, though exigent in nature, is the goal and hope of every party involved, even the fire department. The paper discusses the laws and different court rulings that affect the fire response and investigation procedures. It particularly discusses the analysis and investigation methodology employed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology over the collapse of the New York’s 7 World Trade Center in September 11, 2001, including the investigation results and the responses of the government and other interested bodies from the investigation results. Laws and Court Rulings Related to Fire Investigation and Analysis The scope analysis of the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution during several court proceedings has found its way to fire incidents and investigations that happened in the past. These amendments have been applied to the responses and investigations of succeeding fire incidents. Among the amendments are the following: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Fourth Amendment Governing all searches and seizures of person or of property, this amendment of the Constitution, states that any search or seizure must have a probably cause and must have a support of oath or affirmation about the details of the search or seizure. (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2002) While the Fourth Amendment limits the authority of the government over the privacy of the citizen, including his or her properties, even at any cases of emergency, the Fire Department response team are excluded from this law, only during these emergency, better termed as exigent circumstances; thus the responders and investigator are allowed to enter the private premises without any warrant. The exigent circumstance exception spans from the actual response time of the Fire Department until the cause investigation. In 1978, during the Michigan v. Tyler case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled out that the fire department, even without search warrant, has the authority to enter, and remain on, the property under the exigent circumstances until the emergency is over, and even after the fire has been extinguish, within a reasonable time.   (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2002). The Fire Department was given this exception, not only to prevent further loss or damage of life and property, and to determine the cause or origin of the incident, but also to prevent damages to the, or protect the, integrity of the evidences that will be used to understand the cause and origin of the fire incident (Herrera, 2003). While this exception is seemingly advantageous for the   fire responders and investigators, fire departments accountability over this kind of emergencies, and even during the cause analysis and investigations, becomes heavier. The pressure for the fire department comes by controlling the fire intrinsically, for even with the yellow fire tape all ready set up, the emotions, intentions and reactions of other people over this kind of scenario could have significant, and sometimes unexpected, effects as revealed during past fire investigations and court proceedings. The media, the victims, and the other civilians within and near the scene are some of the additional factors that the fire responders need to control. For the involvement of the media in fire incidents, according to the twenty   two year veteran of San Diego Fire Department, Fred Herrera, â€Å"The courts have not defined a clear-cut answer that covers all of the contingencies involved. Differing opinions have occurred at all judicial levels and vary widely from state to state.† In 1999, during the the Wilson v. Layne, the Alabama Supreme court ruled out that the media who accompanied a federal marshal with an arrest warrant violated the Fourth Amendment, while, the Florida Supreme Court ruled out, during the Florida Publishing Co. v. Fletcher, in   1976,   decided that the photographer ride along of a fire marshal into a fire scene did not illegally enter a property (Herrera, 2003). 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Fifth Amendment Best known as pleading the fifth, this amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects the suspects from self incrimination, thus giving possible immunity to uncover the cause of, say, incendiary fire incidents (Head). Although during the court proceedings for the Lionti v. Lloyd’s Insurance Co. case, in 1983, where an employee, who allegedly had arguments with the employer, whose business was in financial crisis (the arguments were used as the probably cause for the alleged arson), invoked the Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, the jury still found the employer’s right of no heavy significance to reach the court ruling, since the court favored the testimony of one of the investigators hired by the insurance company. The private investigator testified that the suspected arsonist, the employee, had told the investigator, outside the courtroom, how the employer was suggested by the same employee how to set up the arson (Murphy, 2007). It is true that the Fifth Amendment could be used as a shield for the suspects or anyone in the courtroom, but the counsel nor the investigators should not lose the resources to dig into the truth behind the fire incidents, for that matter. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Sixth Amendment Stating the privilege of a citizen to speedy trial, not in shady manner, including the right to have of counsel from an attorney, and the accused’s right to face the prosecuting witness, this amendments sometimes puts the fire responders and investigators into the test of professionalism and integrity. The fire department’s investigation results will define if a case should be filed, and if so, it will also dictate if the case should be civil or criminal, in nature. From the same report, will the actions of the involved party will be based. In some instances, a third party investigation is being hired to gather more information. For the proceedings of possible arson, the fire responders and investigators would normally be invited to testify their finding before the court. Importance of Fire Analysis and Investigation While for the victims, the extent of the damages and losses due to fire incident cannot be equated to any monetary value, as what is usually being broad-casted on TV, for the fire responders and investigator who acted on those situations, the incidence can equally be life changing. Several court proceedings related to incendiary fire has proven the sensitivity of any actions, from all the parties involved. A veteran of this field can never let his or her guard off to control the situation for all the accountability at hand. It is true that when emergency cases happen, it can no longer be avoided, for the very nature and definition of it, but the lessons from these situations are what the fire investigations aim for. Not only the citizen, but also the government and private companies, depends on the information from these investigations, for learning the root cause of the fire incident is vital formulate actions and countermeasures that will lessen the possibility of the incident from happening.

Ceramic Materials In Cutting Tools

Ceramic Materials In Cutting Tools Traditional cutting tools are mostly made of steels and irons, however, ceramic cutting tools are developed quickly these years. Ceramic cutting tools have a lot of advantages over other cutting tools in certain areas. Ceramics possess a lot of required properties for cutting tools such as high strength and good thermal conductivity. The development of ceramic cutting tools has once been hindered by the high cost and difficulty in manufacturing ceramics. Thanks to the improvement of materials engineering and the advent of composites, both the cost and the difficulty of manufacture have been resolved. The market share of ceramic tools has increased in recent years, which indicates that the ceramic cutting tools are well along in development. With a comparison and evaluation of many processing routes, die pressing and sintering are chosen as the most convenient and appropriate way for the manufacture of ceramic cutting tools. There are a lot of potential ceramic materials can be used in cutting tools and most of them are alumina or silica based. Composites have also attracted much attention with a relatively low cost and high performance. Cutting tools Cutting tools are designed to separate materials. They can be divided into different categories, each of which has its own characteristics and requirements for the materials used. The mostly used materials for cutting tools are steel and iron. However, with the development of materials science and engineering, ceramic cutting tools are playing a more and more important role. Ceramics are usually very hard, heat resistant and have little reactivity with steels, which are properties vital for cutting tools. Hence they can be used at high cutting speed without deformation and dissolution.[1] However, ceramics have their own drawbacks that they lack toughness and are sensitive to mechanical or thermal shock, which has limited the use of ceramic materials in cutting area. Humans have used ceramic cutting tools for more than 100 years. [2] The cutting objects vary from very soft substances (butter) to extreme hard things (steels). In the early days, the major composition of these ceramic tools was alumina. However, the toughness of alumina material then was low and softened by glassy phases, which were the reasons why their applications were limited. [1] With the effort of scientists, materials science and technology has dramatically developed so that the properties of ceramics have been greatly improved. They become harder by improving the purity, less brittle with some additives and tougher with reinforcements. [1] The first ceramic material used in cutting tools was Alumina. [1] A variety of other ceramics have also been produced to be specifically used in cutting tools manufacture. There are three categories available, namely pure oxide ceramics, mixed oxide plus carbide or nitride and silicon nitride based material. [2] Whisker reinforced ceramic materials, with high toughness and hardness at high temperature, has pushed forwarded the development of ceramic cutting tools. Figure 2.1 Cermet indexable milling tools [1] There are a lot of aspects that should be considered when the materials are chosen. The following three aspects were taken into consideration in the design of the tool material. [2] Firstly, the surface layer should possess the highest heat conductivity that is favourable for dissipation of cutting heat. Secondly, the thermal expansion coefficient of the surface layer should be the lowest of all the layers of the materials so as to form residual compressive stresses in the surface layers in the fabricating processing, which may partially counteract the stresses resulting from external loading. Finally, the value of maximum Von Mises stress should be the lowest in order to guarantee the structural integrity of the compact. [2] The properties of the ceramic are not the only factor involved in the material choice, the economic factor has also played an important role in the consideration of the material. [1] One of the main focuses in ceramic industry is how to cut the prime cost and the future developments most important direction must be cost reduction. New kind of raw materials and methods are needed to attain this goal. In the future, with the development of material science and technology, more methods will be used in improving ceramics. The perfection of coating technology and the progresses in composites will promote the usage of ceramics in cutting industry. CMCs (ceramic matrix composites) are considered to be one of the most popular materials used for cutting tools in the future. Current market situation There are three main cutting tools markets. Solid tools and indexable inserts; milling, turning and drilling tools are investigated to show the trend of current market of cutting tools. Grades include carbide, ceramic, cermet, CBN/PCBN, diamond and steel. Products are analyzed by country and end-use markets.[3] The consumer markets are specifically broken down by each of the following geographic regions: [3] à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ China à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ United States à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Germany à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Japan à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Korea à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Italy à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ France à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Taiwan à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ United Kingdom à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Brazil à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Other EU à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Other NAFTA à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Other Europe à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Other Asia/Pacific à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Other Latin America à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Rest of World The geographic regions from top to bottom represent the biggest markets for cutting tools. The United States Cutting Tool Institute which was formed when the Metal Cutting Industry and Cutting Tool Manufactures Association merged is now said to represent 80% of the domestic cutting tool market.[4] Great strides continue to be made in the cutting tool market that result in reduced bench time and additional handwork, as well as heavier depths of cutting which leads to increased productivity and higher accuracy. Over the past ten years the cutting tools market has increased dramatically. The tools have taken on very specific roles depending on the application. Now there are specific carbide grades, coatings and geometries to match the customers needs. The market is predicted to expand and grown and achieve new heights. [4] The majority of end users in industry of cutting tools are listed below: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Aerospace à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Automotive à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Chemical Processing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Communications à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Construction à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Defense/Military à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Electronic à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ General Machining à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Medical/Research à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Oil Gas à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Paper Pulp Industry à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Power Generation Global market for cutting has been captured by the metal cutting tools for a long time. However, some special properties make the advanced ceramics tend to be more inexpensive, longer life, larger range of application, which become a competitive advantage for manufacturers.[4] Therefore ceramic cutting tools are expected to recapture the cutting market. The competition among manufacturers is expected to remain intense, which forces the manufactuers to work harder to get a smaller market share. The three largest competitors focus on carbide-tipped tools and carbide inserts worldwide. Current materials used There are four main ceramic compositions used in the cutting tool industry have been outlined below, the most important aspects of each material have been highlighted. [5] Sialons A sialon is a class of ceramic based on silicon nitride. The ceramic is composed of four different ceramic powders; silica (SiO2), alumina (Al2O3) and silicon nitride (Si3N4). The fourth component is either yittria (Y2O3) or magnesium oxide (MgO). The yittria is used to aid in the sintering process to increase efficiency of the process. [5] Sialons have very low coefficient of thermal expansion meaning that they are good in situations of thermal shock. Sialons are retain their hardness at temperatures of 800ÃÅ'Ã…   C to 1000ÃÅ'Ã…   C which enables them to be very effective when machining heat resisting alloys. They are also effective when machining hardened die steels and cast irons at high speed. [6] Aluminium oxide-based ceramics These ceramics are composed as their name suggests but are commonly found with small additions of zirconia (2-5%).the additional zirconia is added to increase fracture toughness. Al2O3 based ceramics show an increase in mechanical properties above 800ÃÅ'Ã…  C. Below this temperature the hard metals posses a greater strength than the ceramics. The hardness of the ceramic can be increased further by 30-40% with the additions of titanium carbide or titanium nitride. These harder ceramics are generally used for finishing and harder metals. Another common addition to the (Al2O3 + ZrO2) base are silicon carbide (SiC) whiskers at around 25%. The whiskers act as reinforcements to the structure and increase the toughness. This enables the ceramic to be used for cutting nickel based super alloys at high speed. [5] Silicon Nitride The ceramic has a density of around 3.2g/cm3 and the grain size is approximately 2-3 micrometres. Silicon nitride boasts good wear resistance and cutting edge strength as well as high resistance to thermal shock. Si3N4 is generally used in the field of providing a roughing grade for turning and milling cast iron. The bad solution wear properties of silicon nitride restrict the ceramic from being used as a cutting tool for machining steels. The high resistance to thermal shock means the ceramic can be used with and without the use of coolants. Money can be saved on cooling equipment in such a controlled manner. [5] Cubic Boron Nitride Cubic boron nitride is a synthetic compound, in its natural state it has a soft hexagonal crystal structure. Ton achieve a cubic structure it is heated to 1400ÃÅ'Ã…  C in 60kbar of pressure. This has a great effect on the hardness of structure, (Around 4000VDH) this is similar to diamonds hardness. [6] Carbon boron nitride is a polycrystalline and is used in applications where hard metals become limited by the cutting speeds employed. Examples are; high speed steels, tool steels, case hardened steels, chilled cast iron and satellite. Carbon boron nitrides hardness is second only to diamonds, for this reason carbon boron nitride offers great wear resistance and the ceramic will not need to be replaced on cutting tools as much as others. Harder metals are also possible to machine with more efficiency, however carbon boron nitride offers no advantage when machining softer materials. [5] Composites The properties of ceramics are dramatically improved by using some sizes, such as TiC, Co and WC, as dispersed phase, named composite ceramics. The type composite ceramics is the Si3N4 composite ceramics, which hardness, bending strength and toughness is higher than the simple Si3N4-based ceramics. It also has a better thermal impact resistance. Because of its special properties, it is widely used in machining cold hardened cast iron roller, and it can finish the work of coarse and precise machining of roughcast, for overcoming the low machining hardening of steel parts used in the mining facilities. Its disadvantage is poor abrasion machining. [6] Coating material Coating technology plays a very important role during the cutting tool manufacture. It is used to produce the perfect cutting tools which have both hard surface as well as high toughness. With the development in the last 10 years, this technology has made materials with high-speed cutting, hard cutting and dry machining possible. Cutter coating can be divided into four kinds. They are chemical vapor deposition (CVD), Low-temperature chemical vapor deposition (PCVD), Middle temperature chemical vapor deposition and PVD. However, cutting tools are expected to be coated differently to meet the demands for comprehensive mechanical properties. Therefore more attention should be paid to make coating thinner and coating temperature lower. [6] The future materials The future of ceramic cutting tools is dependent on the development of super hard coatings for the cutting tools. A new coating for a ceramic cutting tool is a titanium aluminum nitride coating. The coating helps to control the temperature of the cutting tool when it is used at high speeds. This allows for quicker cutting and therefore a more efficient process. [6] The coating also adds to the lifespan of the tool, in some cases it can make the tool last several times longer. It is important to note that the addition of the coating also adds 10% to the cost of the tool although this is immediately recovered by lasting much longer. [7] Possible processing route Most of the ceramics are processed by shaping and sintering. The shaped ceramics are called green body. The shaping process of ceramics is crucial as it can influence the properties of the sintered products such as porosity. Nowadays, the main methods of forming ceramic green bodies include die pressing, slip casting, pressure casting, and injection molding. Shaping All the methods above start with a suspension where the ceramic particles are mixed with a liquid or a polymer melt, proper dispersant, and possibly further additives such as binders, plasticizers, and antifoaming agents so that a well-dispered, nonagglomerated ceramic slurry can be made. Die pressing can be divided to many different pressing route such as dry pressing, cold isostatic pressing and hot isostatic pressing. Green bodies are manufactured by pouring powders into the die and these granules are formed under certain pressure. [8]The method of dry pressing is almost as the same as the cold isostatic pressing. The two methods are widely used in the industrial production of ceramic materials, accounting for their productivity ,and the development of cold isostatic pressing makes green bodies of higher density possible. Slip casting and pressure casting are included in the drain casting techniques, which invovle a solid-liquid separation process to form a dense green body. [8] The driven force of flow liquid in the two castings is an external pressure gradient. [8] Slip casting is a low-pressure filtration of which the driving force provided for the green bodies forming is the capillary suction.[9] slip casting is slow compared with die pressing but complex figure can be obtain. Pressure casting is usually used to fabricate the traditional clay-based ceramic materials, such as pottery and sanitary porcelain. [9] Pressure filtration is an improved method of slip casting, the casting rate is raised and the green bodies have a higher density. [9] Both die pressing and casting are plagued by some genetic problems. The liquid flow of the suspension is required and the stress gradient may also lead to nonuniform densities of the green body which lead to the pockety mass.[9] Injection molding is an excellent method to form smaller objects. The mixture of powders and binder are intruded to the mould and form green bodies. [9] However, the removal of the binder which can be burned at relative low temperature has been a problem. Crack and imperfections will be introduced during this procedure. [8] There is also a technique called solid freeform fabrication(SFF) by which we can form a ceramic green body without using a mould. All the process is controlled by computer using 3D CAD designed before the process.[10] This method have been used to form complex figures, however, the surface finish is poor. [9] This method has not been widely used for its immature technology. Sintering After shaping, the density of a green body is usually about 50% of its theoretic density. Full densification can be achieved by sintering at temperature up to 1800 °C.[11] During this process, individual powder particles can get enough energy to bond together realize the transformation from the porosity present to the compaction stages. Composites processing Composites are consisted of two parts: the matrix phase and the reinforcing phase. Generally, the combination of the two parts is achieved through a melding event. After the melding event, the part shape is set. According to the melding event, the methods of composites preparation can be classified into four main methods ¼Ã… ¡vacuum bag moulding, pressure bag moulding, autoclave moulding and resin transfer moulding (RTM).[12] Besides, there are some other types of moulding that include press moulding, pultrusion moulding, filament winding and so on. [12] Composites can also be devided into metal matrix composites(MMC) and ceramic matrix composites(CMC) based on the matrix materials. According to the temperatrue of metallic matrix during processing, the processes of MMC can be classified into five categories: [14] 1).liquid-phase processes, 2).solid-liquid processes, 3).two-phase (solid-liquid) processes, 4.) deposition techniques 5) In situ processes. The selection of materials and processing route Then dry processing has much influence on the green microstructure and production rate. We must treat this opreation to avoid the problem of cracking and warping. The desired result in ceramic part production is fast drying, but fast drying causes cracking. It has been studied that decreased drying rates results in the increasing green densities. The size of power also affects ceramics sintering properties. These days, nonasized powder attracts much attention, because of its special properties (mechanical, optical, magnetic and electrical). The compacts of nanosized powder can be sintered at significantly reduced temperatures, thereby lowing the firing cost.[10] And it is possible to get high density ceramic body in the formation of nanosized particles.[11] From the ceramics already discussed the best ceramic to use for this product would be the Aluminium oxide-based ceramic. It is already widely used in the industry so there is no need for testing to make sure it works. When cutting the cutting tools increase in heat rapidly, sometimes this has an effect however with Al2O3 their mechanical properties get better the hotter they get. The ceramics hardness will also be increased further with addition of silicon carbide whiskers. These whiskers add reinforcement to the structure and increase it toughness. Therefore the cutting tool can be used at higher speeds. Not only will our ceramic have added strength from the whiskers but with have a tough outer shell from a coating of TiAlN. This coating has a high bond strength, high hardness, abrasion resistance and high cutting speed.[8] From all of the possible processing routes in the industry, it has been decided that Dry Pressing would be the route which is most beneficial to the company. Dry Pressings most appealing feature is the productivity factor. Its fast productivity means that the product quantities are increased therefore meaning that costs will be reduced. Ben Franklin one said Time is money, he was right. Reducing production times reduces the amount of time staff needs to work, it reduces the amount of time that machines have to be on, and therefore it reduces the costs of production. Dry Pressing is conducted with granulated or spray-died powder containing 0 to 4% moisture which is where Dry Pressing gets its name from.[1] There are some disadvantages of using this process but the many disadvantages overrule this fact. One of these disadvantages is that high pressures are used in the process, but then again these high pressures are not as high as the ones used in pressure casting. Dry pressing can only gain good results if all the steps prior of the forming or pressing is kept under careful control. The product once leaved the die cavity is in a plastic condition and if not handled carefully, may deform. With dry pressing there is no limit to the compositions which can be used because the plasticity of the body is not relied on to aid the forming. Under normal conditions and supervision it is possible to produce ceramics to very good tolerances. In special cases with very close controls tolerances can be kept which are considerably better than usual. Slip casting is in need of too much careful control to be able to mass produce at a beneficial production rate, especially with the long time it takes to cast articles on the mould. Pressure casting is pretty much the same as slip casting but with added pressure to speed up the casting time. This added pressure is not justified because it is too expensive and does not take enough time off the process. Injection Molding has a few defects, which can occur to the product. There can be an incomplete fill within the mould, knit lines, and microcracking, which will all, have a visual defect on the finished body. Concluding, the dry press process has the least amount of possible defects to occur in comparison to other process routes. It is the quickest route with great productivity and can offer very high tolerances. These are the main reason for our choice of dry pressing process route. 7. Reasoned argument for RAC The ceramic that has been selected to be taken forward is Al2O3 + (2%Zr) + (20%SiC whiskers), there is no issue in using this composition legally. However the methods of using the cutting tool must be reviewed as such patent 4,879,277 which claims . In a method of cutting metal wherein a cutting tool is brought into contact with a metal workpiece and the cutting tool and metal workpiece move relative to each other whereby metal is removed by the cutting tool from the metal workpiece, the improvement comprising using a sintered composite cutting tool having a matrix consisting essentially of alumina and 2-40 volume percent silicon carbide whiskers distributed therethrough. [14] A work around the patent would have to be implemented if the material is to be used in such a way. A variation in whisker content or physical machining could help to deviate from the patents claims. RAC could create a competitive edge for themselves by proceeding with this option as it will help them to differentiate themselves to most of their competitors. The material selected is a very cutting edge material with extremely high levels of performance. Many of the competitor businesses would not have adopted this material and may continue to use a lesser and cheaper material such as unreinforced aluminium oxide based ceramics. RAC will be able to offer a faster and more efficient cutting solution to their clients. The superior technology is likely to attract new customers to the business leading to a larger market share. The harder cut edge and faster cutting speed will lead to a greater cutting quality also, the tools will be able to be smaller in size and so more precise machining is possible. The business will be able to supply their service to a wider range of clients requiring different finishing qualities. From the market analysis carried out previously it is clear that the cutting tool industry is a blooming one. It is encouraging that the market has grown so dramatically over the last ten years and that there is an increased demand for new cutting tool technologies. The need for faster and more accurate methods will remain the same as the products on the market continue to develop in complexity. To conclude the ceramic and manufacture process put forward can be projected to be a positive step for RAC after considering the factors involved. The only problem to resolve before proceeding with the decision is the patent on the ceramic and its method. Once this is resolved the decision to proceed is an easy one and should lead to business success.

Varieties of English: Effects on Teaching English

Varieties of English: Effects on Teaching English The Varieties of English and Its Affects on Teaching English as a Foreign Language English is considered to be the most important language and has gained importance internationally. The English is treated as a means of communicating in the areas of the economy, technology, science, arts, tourism, and sports. English language can be described as a truly global language that people all over the use more than any other language and it functions as an international or world language and it serves as lingua franca for facilitating communication between people who do not share the same first (or even second) language (Harmer, 2007). Since English is considered to be the most important tool for communication globally, the understanding of its varieties also becomes necessary. To give clear view of the use of English in different countries, Kachru (1992) presents the three concentric circles of language. The inner circle represents the places where English is used as first or native language such as Britain, the USA, Australia etc. According to Crystal (2006), there are 400 million native speakers of English language. The outer circle includes the places, such as India, Nigeria, the Philippines, Singapore etc, where English is used as an official language or second language. Crystal (2006) states that there are 400 million speak English as a second language. The Expanding circle represents the countries where English plays no special status but widely used as a lingua franca or medium of international communication and studied as a foreign language, for example, Japan, Egypt, Mexico, Indonesia etc. There are around 600-700 million people use English as a foreign language around the world (Crystal, 2006). These circles clearly show the high status of Englis h language as it becomes an official or second language in more than 100 countries. There are about 2 billion people, one third of the world population speak English all over the world. Varieties of world English include American English. British English, Singapore English (Singalish), Indian English, Australian English, Philippine English, Scottish English, Spanglish, Taglish etc. The existence of different varieties of English around world is because of the spread of English. The spread of English is the result of a number of historical and pragmatic factors (McCrum, 2010). The first factor is the expansion and the influence of British colonization to many parts of the world in the nineteenth century. The second factor is the great influence of United States in world economy and military and Harmer (2013) states that these influences make English to become one of the main language of international businesses. Thirdly, according to Crystal (2003), American technology takes a leading role in the world technology. Besides, the great deal of advertising, broadcasting, popular music and literature around the world use English to express the ideas around the world. Moreover, in education, the most of the academic discourse use English language and it can be one of the main reasons why many countries use English as the foreign language or medium of instruction in schools. Therefore, it is obvious that English becomes a global language as it is the most commonly used in many important fields such as business, education, media, science and technology. According to Greenbaum and Quirk (1991), there are five reasons why varieties of English has evolved: regional, social group, field of discourse, medium and attitudes. The variation occurs in the distinctive features of English which include spelling, pronunciation, lexis, grammar and preferred usages. The varieties of English, as shown in the verbal structures, which express the variations in the aspects are commonly seen in all the varieties around the world. Pronunciation and morphology can be classified in accordance with the frequency of variation seen in the non-standard forms of the English language. The variation in vocabulary is restricted to two types. First, the presence of archaic words and second, the presence of flora and fauna words. The phonological, morphological and syntactical features are the three main features which show the variations in the English language as compared to be the standard form of the language. Out of all the countries around the world, Britain and America are the two main countries that have used a standard form of English. In Britain, the standard form is called as received pronunciation (RP), and in America, the standard form is called by various names, but most common being- general American and network American. Maximum people in America, use General American while speaking. Whereas, a very few people in Britain, use Received Pronunciation while speaking. Other than these two standard forms of English are considered to be the varieties of English. The varieties of English (Fairclough,2014) spoken out of Britain and America are called to be overseas or extraterritorial varieties. English is considered to be an official and often native language. English fulfills the function of a lingua franca (ELF). Many countries, like Nigeria, have used English as a lingua franca (which means a general means of communication). More attention shall be given to the varieties in ELT from various perspectives like grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary (Pennycook.2014). The variations are least at the level of grammar. Thus, are not to be addressed in the English language classroom in detail. But if we talk about pronunciation, the case is totally different. It requires to be studied in detail. The role of varieties of English in ELT to some extent also depends on the teacher. It has been seen that the prospective teachers of ELT are not prepared properly for coping up with the variety-related problems that arise in the classroom. Due to lack of proper training, teachers hesitate to include varieties of English in ELT as they consider it a complex thing (Llurda, 2016). Also, varieties are not considered important by teachers as they usually are not important in exams. The challenges of variation of English language in ELT context can be overcome by strengthening the regional and social varieties in the areas where English is used traditionally as the traditional language by the majority of the population, by growing the self-confidence of the native and non-native users of English to use the regional varieties in the English language without sticking to the norms of using the traditional language as standard as exposing students to as many varieties of English as possible would do more to ensure intelligibility than trying to impose a single standard on everyone (DSouza, 1999) and by adopting ELF in the ELT, due to globalization as English learners will most likely to communicate in English with other non-native ELF speakers in ELF interactions. Although it is impossible and unnecessary to teach all varieties of English in the classroom, students should be given proper training to be able to understand the speakers from different geographical and social differences which needs to include more exposure to varieties and variety-related training in ELT to create awareness, for example, teaching listening skill with the recordings of different speakers with different accents. To conclude, because of the spread of English in British colonization and the influence of USA in economic and military and a wide use of English language in different areas to share the ideas with the world such as media, technology, science and education can make English to become global language. As English become global language, there are many users of English around the world and this lead to different varieties of English. The existence of varieties of English influence in teaching English as the role of varieties in the ELT classroom has gained major importance and thus, can be said to be the most promising way to provide users of English an education which makes them highly competent in terms of communication globally.

Global Atrocities :: essays research papers

Our Global Behavior and Acceptance   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When considering what our future society will consider as evil, such as we view slavery today, we must look to the past to estimate the future. The past two hundred years have led to enormous changes in the way we treat our fellow man. The next two hundred years, I believe, will lead to much more legislation and concern for the global impact of nation states and their practices. The human race has come to a point where we need to take careful concern for all issues. The bar will be raised so to speak concerning global injustices. I have laid out a few current events that will be considered global injustices in the future.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With globalization becoming more and more of a necessity in this world, the future would naturally weed out isolationist countries. It seems that a nation state could not survive without some economic interaction with the rest of the world. Furthermore it would be advantageous to take advantage of outside offerings. There is always a need and a resource within a nation. The trick is to tap into the resource and aid in the need. Not to just dominate a market and leave the problems to the people of the market one dominates. Of course it is not written, but should there not be common courtesy in global affairs? This globalization will also eventually lead to the apparent obligation to aid in the success of humans across the globe, rather than an individual group of humans (ie.states, governments, etc.) When this apparent process   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Page 2 becomes evident in society, people naturally will consider crimes against humanity as more and more unacceptable.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Director General of The World Trade Organization, Mike Moore, said at the last World Economic Forum, that, â€Å"It’s not politically correct to say, but the big economies have needs too. And frankly... if the big economies get the sniffles, the rest of us get pneumonia.† This leads to the acknowledgment and realization of the domino effect, and how important it is to consider the implications of what we do. In the future, common society will consider isolationism and lack of willingness to aide others as evil. Humans will accept the notion that we are all related, and that all of what we do affects each other directly.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A secondary thought looks at current issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The main thing besides the fact that these holy wars are wrong, is that they are obsolete. They serve no apparent purpose that I have been informed of. There are reasons to the conflict, but these reasons

Four Views of The Sick Rose :: sick

Four Views of The Sick Rose Four Works Cited By analyzing more information from different authors, I was able to draw a greater amount contrast from the authors. I had a better feel for what they were trying to convey when they wrote their critical essays in their books. Whatever the case, it was easier to judge "The Sick Rose" by having more sources to reflect upon. Michael Riffaterre centers his analysis of "The Sick Rose" in "The Self-sufficient Text" by "using internal evidence only [to analyze the poem] and to determine to what extent the literary text is self-sufficient. It seems to [Riffaterre] that a proper reading entails no more than a knowledge of the language" (39). Riffaterre identifies psychological, philosophical, and genetic interpretations (connected to "mythological tradition") as "aiming outwards." These approaches find the meaning of the text in the relationship of its images to other texts" (40). Riffaterre argues for a more internal reading of the poems. Riffaterre emphasizes the importance of the relationships between words as opposed to their "corresponding realities" (40). For example, he states that the "flower or the fruit is a variant of the worm's dwelling constructed through destruction. Thus, as a word, worm is meaningful only in the context of flower, and flower only in the context of worm" (41). After Riffaterre's reading and interpretation of the poem, he concludes that "The Sick Rose" is composed of "polarized polarities" (44) which convey the central object of the poem, the actual phrase, "the sick rose" (44). He asserts that "because the text provides all the elements necessary to our identifying these verbal artifacts, we do not have to resort to traditions or symbols found outside the text" (44). Thus, "The Sick Rose" is a self-sufficient text. Hazard Adams takes a different approach to reading "The Sick Rose" than most critics by cautioning the reader that often one "overlook[s] the fact that a literary image primarily imitates its previous usages and secondarily what it denotes in the outer world or in the realm of ideas" (13). Adams begins his analysis with examining the rose, and by reminding the reader that in a "literary world where the rose is seen archetypally, all things have human form" (14). Thus he allows for the rose to be able to become part of the speaker. He carries his idea one step further by suggesting that the speaker always "address[es] some aspect of himself" when speaking to an object.

Mission Critical: A Closer Look into the Performance Appraisal Process Essay

The performance management cycle begins with objective setting where the appraisee ought to be oriented about performance expectations for the given performance period. Throughout the period, performance is measured officially through the performance appraisal exercise, where the appraiser is given the chance to give performance feedback through an interview. The performance management system is meaningfully linked to rewards based on outcomes or results. Following all these, modifications are implemented to objectives and activities, including the drafting of an individual development plan for closing competency gaps (Clarke, Rogers, & Miklos, 1996). Types of Performance Appraisal Systems Traditionally, employee performance has been evaluated solely by supervisors. Recently, however, organizations have realized that supervisors see only certain aspects of an employee’s behavior. For instance, a manager might see only 30% of his staff’s behavior; the rest is observed by customers, peers, and support staff in other parts of the organization. Furthermore, the staff might behave differently around her supervisor than around other people. Consequently, to obtain an accurate view of the staff’s performance, these other sources should provide feedback. The buzzword for using multiple sources to appraise performance is 360-degree feedback (Gruner, 1997). Sources of relevant information include supervisors, peers, subordinates, customers, and self-appraisal. According to Conway and Huffcutt (1997), there is often very little agreement in the way that two supervisors evaluate an employee or that a supervisor and a peer might rate an employee. Interestingly, supervisors whose self-ratings agree with others’ ratings tend to be better performers than supervisors whose ratings are not consistent with others’ (Witt, 1996). Supervisor Appraisals By far, the most common type of performance appraisal is the supervisor rating. In fact, Bernardin & Beatty (1984) estimated that over 90% of all performance appraisals are conducted using supervisors’ ratings of performance. Supervisors are best able to evaluate the extent to which an employee contributes to the overall success of the organization. Through supervisors may not see every minute of an employee’s behavior, they do see the end result. A superior may not actually see a staff sign up customers but will review the overall output for the day. Peer Appraisals Whereas supervisors see the results of an employee’s efforts, peers often see the actual behavior. Peer ratings usually come from employees who work directly with an employee. An employee may be rated by those in the same level or position. However, other employees in the organization, those who often come in contact with the employee, can also provide useful information. Research has shown that peer ratings are fairly reliable only when the peers who make the ratings are similar to and sell acquainted with the employees being rated (Mumford, 1983). Most important, peer ratings have been successful in predicting the future success of promoted employees as they correlate highly with supervisor ratings (Cederbloom, 1989). But even through peer ratings appear promising, few organizations use them. One reason could be that peer ratings are lenient when used for evaluation purposes bit not when they are used only to provide feedback (Farh, Cannella, & Bedeian, 1991a). Research suggests that certain employees are more lenient in their peer ratings than are other employees. Saavedra & Kwun (1993) found that high performers evaluate their peers more strictly than do low performers. This difference in ratings is probably because employees compare others to themselves. Thus, the average employee does not appear impressive to a high performer but may to a less productive employee. Though peers may provide a unique view of performance, employees tend to react worse to negative feedback from peers than they do to feedback from experts (Albright & Levy, 1995). Employees who score high in self-esteem, high in self-monitoring, and low in individualism react most favorably to peer ratings (Long, Long & Dobbins, 1998). Subordinate Appraisals Subordinate feedback, also called upward feedback is an important component of 360-degree feedback, as subordinates can provide a very different view about a supervisor’s behavior (Whetstone, 1994). However, with the exception of students rating teachers, formal methods are neither common nor well regarded by managers (McEvoy, 1990). Subordinate ratings can be difficult to obtain because employees fear a backlash if they unfavorably rate their supervisor, especially when a supervisor has only one or two subordinates. However, subordinates’ feedback can be encouraged if supervisors appear open to employee comments (Baumgartner, 1994) and if the ratings are made anonymously (Antonioni, 1994). Interestingly, subordinate ratings correlate highly with upper management ratings of supervisors’ performance (Furnham & Stringfield, 1994). Research indicates that subordinate feedback can enhance managerial performance, especially that of poorly performing managers (Walker, 1997). This improvement in performance holds especially for areas targeted for improvement (Clarke et al, 1996). Customer Appraisals Though it would be unlikely that an organization would ask customers to fill out a performance appraisal instrument on an employee, organizations do value customer feedback. Informally, customers provide feedback on employee performance by filing complaints or complimenting a manager about one of his subordinates. Formally, customers provide feedback by completing evaluation cards (Farh et al, 1991a). Self-appraisal Allowing an employee to evaluate her own behavior and performance is a technique used by 12% of a sample of organizations (Lazer & Wikstrom, 1977). Research on self-appraisal, however, has demonstrated that self-appraisals tend to suffer from leniency (Meyer, 1980) and correlate moderately (r=. 29) with actual performance (Mabe & West, 1982) and poorly with subordinate ratings (London & Wohlers, 1991). However, when evaluations are made with clear rating standards and social comparison information, agreement is increased between self- and supervisor ratings (Keeping & Sulky, 1996). The leniency found in the self-ratings of US workers may not generalize to other countries. Farh, Dobbins, and Cheng (1991b) found that the self-ratings of Taiwanese workers suffered from modesty rather than leniency However, Furnham & Stringfield (1994) and Yu and Murphy (1993) found leniency in the self-ratings of Mainland Chinese employees. Further research is still needed to investigate potential cultural differences in Mainland Chinese ratings. Self-appraisals of performance appear to be the most accurate when the purpose of the self-appraisal is for either research or performance appraisal review interviews rather than for such administrative purposes as raises or promotions (Williams & Levy, 1992), and when employees believe that an objective record of their performance is available with which the supervisor can compare the self-appraisal (Farh & Werbel, 1986). Systems for Evaluating Performance  Trait-focused appraisal systems. A trait-focused system concentrates on employees’ attributes such as their dependability, assertiveness, and friendliness. Though commonly used, trait focused performance appraisal instruments are not a good idea because they provide poor feedback and thus will not result in employee development and growth (Kingstrom & Bass, 1981). For example, in a performance review meeting in which the supervisor tells an employee that she received low ratings on responsibility and friendliness, the employee is likely to become defensive. Furthermore, the employee will want specific examples the supervisor may not have available (Kingstrom & Bass, 1981). Behavior-focused performance appraisal systems. Behavior-focused instruments focus on what an employee does. Instead of rating them on personal traits, a behavior-focused instrument would rate him or her on specific behaviors. For example, in the case of a bank teller, some behaviors that may be rated on are as follows: â€Å"Knows customers’ names†, and â€Å"Thanks customer after each transaction. The obvious advantage to a behavior-focused system is the amount of specific feedback that can be given to each employee. Further, the focus on behavior rather than traits does not only reduce employee defensiveness but reduces legal problems (Kingstrom & Bass, 1981). There are various methods for rating behavior, as follows: Graphic rating scales. The most common rating scale is the graphic rating scale. Such scales are simple, with 5 to 7 points accompanied by words such as good and poor anchoring the ends of the scale. The obvious advantage to graphic rating scales is their ease of construction and use, but they have been criticized because of their susceptibility to such rating errors as halo and leniency (Kingstrom & Bass, 1981). Behaviorally anchored rating scales. P. C. Smith and Kendall (1983) developed behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARSs), which use critical incidents (samples of behavior) to provide meaning to the numbers on a rating scale. To use the scale when actually rating performance, the supervisor compares the incidents she has recorded for each employee to the incidents on the scale. This can be done in one of two ways. The most accurate (and time consuming) method compares each of the recorded incidents to the anchors and records the value of the incident on the scale that most closely resembles the recorded incident. The value for each incident is summed and divided by the total number of incidents recorded for that dimension; this yields an average incident value, which is the employee’s rating for that particular job dimension (Smith & Kendall, 1983). In the second method, which is easier but is less accurate, all of the recorded incidents are read to obtain a general impression of each employee. This general impression is compared to the incidents that anchor each scale point. The scale point next to the incident that most closely resembles the general impression gained from the incidents then becomes an employee’s score for that dimension (Smith & Kendall, 1983). Evaluation of Performance Appraisal Methods We now come to the question of assessing which appraisal method is best. Research has shown that more complicated techniques such as BARS, forced-choice scales, and mixed standard scales are only occasionally superior to inexpensive and uncomplicated graphic rating scales (Giffin, 1989). In fact, behavioral anchors sometimes bias supervisors’ ratings by forcing them to concentrate on specific behaviors (Murphy & Constans, 1987). Yet graphic rating scales are seldom superior to these more complicated rating methods. Although the more complicated techniques are only more psychometrically sound, they still have some advantages over graphic rating scales. Because employees are directly involved in creating techniques such as BARS, they tend to see performance evaluation results as being more fair. Furthermore, many supervisors who make such ratings prefer many of the more complicated behavioral approaches. Finally feedback from BARS may lead to greater increases in future performance than feedback from graphic rating scales (Hom, DeNisi, Kinicki, & Bannister, 1982). Though many of the behavioral methods yield similar results, the same is not true when comparing subjective and objective ratings. A meta-analysis by Bommer, Johnson, Rich, Podsakoff, and Mackenzie (1995) indicated that objective and subjective results are only slightly correlated (r=. 39). Interestingly, there was a stronger relationship between objective and subjective ratings of quantity (r=. 8) than between objective and subjective ratings of quality (r=. 24). From a legal perspective, courts are more interested in the due process afforded by a performance appraisal system that in its technical aspects. After reviewing 295 circuit court decision regarding performance appraisal, Werner & Bolino (1997) concluded that performance appraisal systems are most likely to survive a legal challenge if they are based on job analysis, if raters receive training and written instructions, if employees are allowed to review results, and if ratings from multiple raters are consistent. Rating Errors Some of the errors that may be committed in appraising performance are discussed below: Distribution errors. A common type of error in evaluating employee performance involves the distribution of ratings on a rating scale; such errors are known as distribution errors. One kind of distribution error is called leniency error because certain raters tend to rate every employee at the upper end of the scale regardless of the actual performance of the employee. A related error is central tendency error, which results in a supervisor’s rating every employee in the middle of the scale. Still another error, strictness error, rates every employee at the lower end of the scale. These types of errors pose problems for an organization because two employees doing equal work will receive different ratings if one employee is supervised by a lenient rater and another by a strict rater. This problem can be eliminated partly by having several people rate each employee (Kane & Lawler, 1979), although this is not often feasible, especially in small brand offices with only one manager or supervisor. Halo errrors. A halo error occurs when a rater allows either a single attribute or an overall impression of an individual to affect ratings that she makes on each relevant job dimension. Halo effects occur especially when the rater has little knowledge of the job and is less familiar with the person being rated (Kozlowski, Kirsh, & Chao, 1986). Usually, halo error is statistically determined by correlating the ratings for each dimension with those for the other dimensions. If there are highly correlated, halo error is often said to have occurred. However, some authors argue that many times consistent ratings across several dimensions indicate not error but actual employee performance. Halo errors may or may not be a serious problem, but they can be reduced by having supervisors rated each trait at several times. That is, the supervisor might rate the employee on attendance one day and then rate her on dependability the next day (Balzer & Sulzky, 1992). Proximity errors. Proximity errors occur when a rating made on one dimension affects the rating on the dimension that immediately follows it on the rating scale. With proximity error, only the dimensions physically located nearest a particular dimension on the rating scale are affected; the reason for the effect, in fact, is the close physical proximity of the dimension rather than the overall impression (Balzer & Sulzky, 1992). Contrast errors. The performance ratings one person receives can be influenced by the performance of the previously evaluated person. These errors can occur between separate performance evaluations of the same person. That is, the ratings received by one person on one performance appraisal will affect the ratings made on an appraisal six months later (Bravo & Kravitz, 1996). Contrast effects occur only when the person making the evaluation actually sees the employee perform and rates the employee during both rating periods. Even if a new supervisor reads that an employee’s previous evaluations were excellent but observes poor performance by the employee, she will probably continue to give excellent ratings – even though the employee’s performance deteriorated. Smither et al (1988) call this rating error assimilation. Sampling Problems Recency effect. Performance appraisals are typically conducted once or twice a year. The evaluation is designed to cover all of the behaviors that have taken place during the previous 6 months to a year. Research has demonstrated, however, that recent behaviors are given more weight in the performance evaluation than behaviors that occurred during the first few months of the evaluation period. Such an effect penalizes workers who performed well during most of the period but tailed off toward the end, and it rewards workers who save their best work until just before the evaluation (Bravo & Kravitz, 1996). Infrequent observation. Another problem that affects performance appraisals is that many managers or supervisor do not have the opportunity to observe a representative sample of employee behavior. Infrequent observation occurs for two reasons. First, managers are often so busy with their own work that they often have no time to â€Å"walk the floor† and observe their employees’ behavior. Instead, they make inferences based on completed work or employee personality traits (Conway & Huffcutt, 1997). This problem can be alleviated somewhat by having several raters evaluate the employee. Other raters can be other supervisors, peers, and even customers. A meta-analysis conducted by Conway and Huffcutt (1997) indicated that supervisor ratings on the average correlate . 34 with peer ratings. Thus, even though the two groups tend to agree with one another, the agreement is certainly not perfect. Cognitive Processing of Observed Behavior Observation of behavior. Just because an employee’s behavior is observed does not guarantee that it will be properly remembered or recalled during the performance appraisal. Cooper (1981) indicates that raters recall those behaviors that are consistent with the general impression of an employee (a halo). And the greater the time interval between the actual behavior and the performance rating, the greater the probability that halo and distortion errors occur. Furthermore, raters who are familiar with the job being evaluated recall more judgments about performance but fewer behaviors than do raters who are unfamiliar with the job (Cooper, 1981). But even though memory-based ratings lead to more distortion, in many circumstances they are more accurate than ratings made immediately after the behaviors occur (Murphy & Blazer, 1986). The reason for these increases in halo and accuracy is not clear. Supervisors perhaps realize that it will be a long internal between observation of employee behavior and the formal evaluation of that behavior and that they will not be able to remember specific behaviors. Thus, they form an overall impression of the employee and an ideal and a poor employee and evaluate the employee on the basis of comparison with the ideal (Murphy & Blazer, 1986). Emotional state. The amount of stress under which a supervisor operates also affects her performance ratings. Srinivas and Motowidlo (1987) found that raters who were placed in a stressful situation produced ratings with more errors than did raters who were not under stress. This finding is important because performance evaluations are often conducted hurriedly as supervisors evaluated employee performance so that they can return to their â€Å"real† work. Raters who like the person being rated may be more lenient and less accurate in rating employees than are raters who neither like nor dislike their employees. But this does not mean that a person who is liked will always receive higher ratings than someone who is disliked. The rater may overcompensate in an effort to be â€Å"fair†. The rater’s feelings or affect, toward an employee may interfere with the cognitive processing of actual performance information (Srinivas and Motowidlo, 1987). Research has also indicated that racial bias exists in performance evaluations. Kraiger and Ford (1985) conducted a meta-analysis of 74 studies and found that White raters gave higher performance ratings to White employees and that Black raters gave higher ratings to Black employees. Interestingly, this bias occurred only with studies involving real organizations; laboratory research seldom reveal racial bias in rating. Communicating Appraisal Results to Employees Perhaps the most important use of performance evaluation data is to provide feedback to the employee and assess his or her strengths and weaknesses so that further training can be implemented. Although this feedback and training should be an ongoing process, the semi-annual evaluation might be the best time to formally discuss employee performance. Furthermore, holding a formal review interview places the organization on better legal ground in the event of a lawsuit (Field & Holley, 1982). Normally, in most organizations a supervisor spends a few minutes with employees every six months to tell them about the scores they received during the most recent performance evaluation period. This process is probably the norm because most managers do not like to judge others; because of this dislike, they try to complete the evaluation process as quickly as possible (Field & Holley, 1982). Furthermore, seldom does evaluating employees benefit the supervisor. The best scenario is to hear no complaints, and the worst scenario is a lawsuit. In fact, one study demonstrated that dissatisfaction and a decrease in organizational commitment occurs even when an employee receives an evaluation that is â€Å"satisfactory† but not outstanding (Pearce & Porter, 1986). Finally, in the â€Å"tell and sell† approach to performance appraisal interviews, a supervisor â€Å"tells† an employee everything she has done poorly and then â€Å"sells† her on the ways in which she can improve. This method, however, accomplishes little. There are certain techniques that will make the performance appraisal interview more effective, and these are discussed in the following sections. Both the supervisor and the employee must have time to prepare for the review interview. Both should be allowed at least 1 hour to prepare before an interview and at least 1 hour before the interview itself (Pearce & Porter, 1986). The interview location should be a neutral place that ensures privacy and allows the supervisor and the employee to face one another without a desk between them as a communication barrier (Rhoads, 1997). Performance appraisal review interviews should be scheduled at least once every 6 months for most employees and more often for new employees. Review interviews are commonly scheduled 6 months after an employee begins working for the organization. It is important to note that while formal performance review interviews occur only twice a year, informal â€Å"progress checks† should be held throughout the year to provide feedback (Rhoads, 1997). While preparing for the interview, the supervisor should review the ratings she has assigned to the employee and the reasons for those ratings. This step is important because the quality of feedback given to employees will affect their satisfaction with the entire performance appraisal process (King, 1984). Meanwhile the employee should rate her own performance, using the same format as the supervisor. The employee also should write down specific reasons and examples that support the ratings she gives herself (King, 1984). At the outset of the interview, the supervisor should communicate the following: 1) the role of the performance appraisal – that making decisions about salary increases and terminations is not its sole purpose; 2) how the performance appraisal was conducted; and 3) how the evaluation process was accomplished. It is advisable that the supervisor also communicate her own feelings about the performance appraisal process (Kelly, 1984). The review process is probably best begun with the employee communicating her own ratings and her justification for those ratings. Research indicates that employees who are actively involved in the interview from the start will be more satisfied with the results. The supervisor then communicates his ratings and his reasons for them (King, 1984). At the conclusion of the interview, goals should be mutually set for future performance and behavior, and both supervisor and employee should understand how these goals are met (Cederbloom, 1982). On the whole, the performance appraisal process, with its inherent difficulties, may be leveraged on to improve organizational productivity. Proper management of this process shall help motivate employees, and ultimately, bring more to the enterprise’s coffers.