The Role of Local Culture and Context in English Language Teaching Free Essays

string(145) " states that the target language culture should be taught in ELT in order to help learners to acculturate into the culture of English countries\." The Role of Local Culture and Context in English Language Teaching -Mabindra Regmi The Relation between Language and Culture The structuralists portrayed language as an entity that could be segmented and through learning these segments, the totality would also be learnt. This method has been tested, challenged and in many cases discarded in the world of linguistics. The conception, propagation and inevitable discontinuation of ever new methods has prompted Sowden to express â€Å"there has indeed been methodological fatigue, leading many to the pragmatic conclusion that informed eclecticism offers the best approach for the future. We will write a custom essay sample on The Role of Local Culture and Context in English Language Teaching or any similar topic only for you Order Now (Sowden, 2007, p. 304). Perhaps, eclecticism is the right trend while implementing ELT methods. One of the factors that should be considered, however, is that there seems to be a deep connection between language and culture unlike the belief of the structuralists. The concept of language teaching now is that of concentration in what the learners learn or want to learn rather that what is to be taught. As the classrooms get more learner-centered, it can be assumed that the attitude and the initiatives from the learners’ side will be more prominent. Since a person is shaped by ones culture and local setting, we can assume that the importance of cultural context in language teaching will grow as learning becomes more learner centered. It is in conjunction with this shift of emphasis away from teaching and towards learning, that there has appeared a growing awareness of the role played by culture in the classroom. (Sowden C, 2007, p. 304) It is not only the learners that come with their own culture in the classroom, the teachers also bring their own culture. This is particularly true if the language teacher is not from the locality. Sowden warns the teacher â€Å"to be aware not only of the cultures of their students and their environment, but also of the cultures that they themselves bring to the classroom† (Sowden, 2007, p. 305). Thus, it can be seen, however inconclusive, that culture of both the teacher and learner plays an important role in the language learning environment and they have to be addressed for effective learning to take place. This intricate mutual relationship between language and culture may be the key to unlock the language teaching methodologies of the future. Whenever we talk about anguage and its use, it is important to figure out the relation between language and culture. There are few things we need to ask ourselves in this regard. Can language exist independent of culture? Is learning a new language (English) definitive of learning the culture of native speakers of English? Who are the native speakers of English? Will the culture of the native speakers be appropriate in the set ting of the language learner? Can language exist independent of culture? A language cannot exist in vacuum. It has to express some objective function when utterances are made or some text is written. When we do make use of language, the production made is generally about what we know or what we have experienced. What we know and experience mostly confines within the local setting that we have grown up and where we are residing. Thus, local context becomes inseparable from the use of language. Is learning a new language (English) definitive of learning the culture of native speakers of English? When we learn a new language, we need to adopt the culture of the target language to a certain extent because the cultural aspect comes amalgamated with the target language. But what about the learners? The learners have their own set of cultural experiences and objectives of using a language. They have their own cultural amalgamation which has to be addressed during target language learning process to make it meaningful and relevant to the learners. We can assume that integration of local culture and context is inevitable while learning a target language. Who are the native speakers of English? The distinction that makes a native speaker is generally very vague and often misleading. It might be important to look into the terminology if we are to explain what English is. A dictionary definition might say that native is belonging to a certain geographic location. In the case of English we must consider the fact that it is spoken in many parts of the world and more and more people are adopting it as the first language of communication. In this setting we must consider the appropriateness of calling certain speakers native and others not. Furthermore, even within the native speakers we find many varieties as in the British English, American English, Australian English, or South African English. If the English language is to be made a ruly global one, one must leave the notion of ‘native speakers’ behind. Will the culture of the native speakers be appropriate in the setting of the language learner? The culture and context of the learner and the native user of English may differ very contrastively. The traditional native speakers of English have their own cultural and contextual setting and it creeps into the language that they use. It should not be surprising thus, that the English used in non-native setting has the purpose of academia without much cultural interference. But can English have the same purpose if it were to only transfer the cultural and contextual nature of the target language? In order to make English learning a holistic experience, it is important that culture and local context are integrated so the learner has a more comprehensive grasp of the language. Different Views Regarding the Role of Culture in Language Class Different people have expressed their opinions regarding the role of culture in language class. Phyak, P has collected four such opinions from various personnel in his article integrating local culture in the EFL context of Nepal: An ignored agenda? The first view expressed by Byram and Flemming (Byram, 1997; Byram and Fleming, 1998) states that the target language culture should be taught in ELT in order to help learners to acculturate into the culture of English countries. You read "The Role of Local Culture and Context in English Language Teaching" in category "Essay examples" The second view expressed by Karchu, Nelson and Canagaraja (Kachru, 1986; Kachru and Nelson, 1996; Canagarajah, 1999) opines that there is no need of teaching target culture especially in the contexts where different institutionalised varieties of English are in practice. Similarly, the third view by Kramsch and Sullivan (Kramsch and Sullivan, 1996) states plainly that ‘local culture’ in TEFL should be taught. Finally, the fourth view by Alptekin, Jenkins and Seidlhofer (Alptekin, 2005; Jenkins, 2005; Seidlhofer, 2001) says that since English is a lingua franca, it should be taught in a culture-free context. In the same article Phyak gives a fifth opinion regarding the use of culture in language class by assimilating the highlights of the above opinions where he advises the teachers to use both target and native cultures with priority to local culture (Phyak, P). Whatever the views of applied linguists all over the world, we cannot disregard two core realities. The first is that while learning a second language, the influence of the culture of that language is inevitable. The second fact is that the learner of second language comes equipped with the culture of the first language. If no association is made between the culture of the first language and the learning of the second one, the learning will not be as effective. Therefore, inclusion of local culture and context should be more prominent in the initial phases and gradually gear more towards the target culture so that the integration is seamless in the end and language skill transition is more comprehensive. English as an International Language Hegemony of English language is a global phenomenon and the onset of modern technology, the computer; and as the choice language of the academia will further strengthen it. Eventually, the spread of English will probably be the root cause for disappearance of majority of world languages. Having said that, one must accommodate the fact that the use of English in international communication is increasing, and thus, it is gaining momentum as being an international language. The rise of English as an international language has created many concerns among the laymen, experts, anglophiles and chauvinists alike. The concerns can be divided into two factions. The first leads us towards convergence of all world languages into one giant English language. Because of the advent of printing, and more recently, media; languages, specifically English; are being standardized so that there is uniformity in the manner we write and speak. Many believe this to be a positive step towards world unification. There may be advantages to uniformity, but the question is; does it outweigh the disadvantages that it might bring in the form of ‘language death’ as expressed by David Crystal or loss of identity? The other faction is made up of personnel who are asking this very question. The prominence of English might be an indicator of decline of other languages. When a language is lost, it is not only the means of communication that is lost with it. There are contextual and cultural associations with languages, and in addition; it also forms the corpora of accumulated knowledge of a community. All this will also be lost with the dying language. Moreover, there is a strong affinity of the language with the identity of a person or a community. Although English may provide with alternate identity, as shall be discussed later in this paper, the primary form of identity shall be lost, especially if the learning of English is subtractive in terms of the first language. Discrepancies aside, internationalization of English is inevitable. The question now remains is how we are going to bring about policies for other languages that are in existence. In order to understand why English is fast becoming a global language, we must try and analyze why is it important for us to learn English. There are many reasons why an individual would want to learn English. i. English may be a factor for obtaining better employment opportunities. ii. English is the medium of communication for business, recreation and competitive tournaments. iii. English is almost mandatory for learners pursuing higher academic achievements and publishing of one’s findings. iv. The knowledge of English may provide higher social standing or identity in many cases. We can see that English language empowers a person both in terms of social and material power. Thus we can see the attraction towards learning English. The choices that the language communities have is either to have subtractive learning of English and forget one’s own linguistic heritage, as is happening mostly in developing countries like Nepal; or to make the learning process additive by retaining one’s own language intact. It can be assumed that the later alternative is more acceptable. The reason for the long windedness of the explanation above brings us back to the core discussion of this paper: local context and culture in teaching or learning English. Now as we have made a huge circle from the inevitable internationalization of English to the better alternate of additive learning of English; it is time to ponder over how we are going to teach English language. English Language, Local Culture and Social Identity If we want to have mastery over English language, then I believe we must find a way to make the language practical to its learners. Just reading the literature of the language or using the language in stereotype British or American cultural setting will not hold much significance to the learner of English as a foreign language. What needs to be done is to bring about association between the language being learnt and the experience of the learners. This will provide platform for practicality of the language being learnt. In order to understand why local context and local culture must be integrated into teaching of English language, we must also be familiar with how culture and local context plays a role in language learning. Culture and Language Reflect each other The common notion regarding the purpose of language learning has been related to communication. Because of the researches done in sociolinguistics and discourse, we should consider the fact that language is not only ‘understanding’ what the other person is expressing but it is also necessary that we understand the text at a discourse level where cultural and individual background conveys deeper meaning to the language items used. Language is not only communicating with words but we have deep rooted cultural and contextual schemata and frames which are reflected in the language that we use. Thus it is important to analyze the meaning of discourse at cultural and contextual level. The reason that we should consider the Frame and Schema theories of discourse analysis when talking about the language is that if we are not able to express or comprehend the schema created through cultural setting, only understanding the text in communication will not be able to justify the meaning that should have been understood. Only through associating and integrating the language that we are trying to learn (English) into social and cultural setting shall we be able to exploit the nuances of the expression made in a language. Englebert believes that there is a cultural variation between the learner and the language and that the â€Å"teacher hosting foreign students must come to terms with the fact that those students are immersed in a culture with which they are not familiar, and that they bring with them not only their limited knowledge of the language, but a myriad of assumptions based on generations of cultural indoctrination†. (Englebert, 2004). These assumptions based on â€Å"cultural indoctrination† are at the core of schema of the learner. Not only the culture of the target language but even the prescribed packaged methodology might create confusion in teaching English as a foreign language. In her study among the Asian students studying in New Zealand, Li found that â€Å"the interactive teaching methods adopted by New Zealand teachers are culturally incompatible with Asian students’ learning conceptualizations. The findings suggest that some teachers’ adoption of the communicative or interactive teaching approach led to Asian students’ negative learning experience in New Zealand† (Li, 2004). This shows that the cultural background and the mindset of the learner should be considered while teaching English. Subsequently, it also indicates the integration of local context and culture of the learner for smoother and more effective teaching learning experience. If the learner of English is only familiar with her own experience based on her own cultural and local setting, trying to incorporate a different language with a different setting will make it literally ‘foreign’. The ‘foreignness’ can be significantly eliminated if local context and culture of the learner is being used in the target language. Thus integrating the cultural and contextual setting in language learning will be important. English Language and Social Identity Bonny Norton has explained that in the current social situation, English language helps create a more powerful identity for the individuals because of the advantages associated with the proficiency of English Language (Norton, 2007). She further explains that construction of identity through learning English are complex and dynamic. The five examples that she has taken in her article all give different perspectives people have for English language based on their cultural and contextual backgrounds. If individuals from different social and ethnical backgrounds have different concepts about how English should be taught and learnt, then we can assume that it is the experience of the learner that is influencing such perspectives. An individual is the product of the local culture and context, so we cannot ignore the importance of inclusion of local context and culture in English pedagogy. Norton recommends that we should not overlook the focus on individual account while teaching English. She further explains that the researches on language teaching and identity is fragmented and it has to be made more organized, and if English belongs to the people who speak it, expansion of English in this Global era is better (Norton, 2007). Inclusion of Local Context and Culture in ELT in Nepal Along with the gathering momentum of inclusion of local culture and context in language teaching across the world, an initiative has been started in Nepal where linguists and social activists are advocating for inclusion of local context and culture, namely, ethnic languages in mainstream education. Alongside with this initiative there are many linguists and teachers of English language who are advocating for inclusion of local context and culture in English Language Teaching. The problem that the Nepali society is facing is how to bring about the implementation of such content and context in English language. Looking at the coursebooks and educational materials, it is evident that the English teaching is heavily influenced by the culture of target language users. Although some content and stories seem that they have local context, but the exercises that follow again reflect to the target language culture. On the other hand, the teachers are also imparted trainings and education aligning with the target language culture. In this ambience, it will be difficult to implement inclusive local content and culture while teaching of English. In order to overcome this impasse, some measures can be taken so that there is a momentum towards progressive implementation of the discussed issue. First, the language policy makers and the educators of the country need to come together to make a master plan on how to develop materials, train teachers and set objectives on inclusion of local culture and context in ELT. Only when a concrete set of objectives and a clear vision of the implementational procedures have been codified, the initiative can move forward. Second, there has to be a mass drive for collection of local content in the form of stories, poems, articles and the like which also reflects local culture. The content corpus has to be exhaustive so that all the major aspects that need to be covered are covered. Agencies like Nepal English Language Teachers’ Association, NELTA, can be instrumental in taking the necessary initiatives. It is wise to include people from different academic, professional, age group, ethnic, gender, and geographical backgrounds to make the corpus comprehensive and complete. Third, the gathered content has to be carefully cataloged, edited and selected for practical use. There may be many ways by which the content can be used. The content can be an integrated one where a little of everything is included, or it might also be ethnic or locality specific where different communities make use of different relevant parts of the corpus. The fourth, which might also be the most important, is to enable the teacher of English to believe that local content and context is not only necessary but is the most effective way of teaching or learning a language. The teacher should also have autonomy to develop content from her own locality adjusting to the need of the learners there. Perhaps the most difficult part of this endeavor will be to discard the prevalent target culture based content in favor of local culture based one. But once the importance is felt and the initiative commenced, language learning process will take a meaningful and applicable turn. The learners then will not be learning English in vacuum but they can associate their own life experiences to the language being learnt. Finally, a monitoring and evaluation mechanism should be developed in order to judge how successful the implementation of the initiative has been. The monitoring and evaluating body can also make necessary changes in the whole process as the problems arise. Association and Comprehension through Local Context in ELT If there is association between the local context and culture, and English Language teaching; the learners might benefit in many different ways. As Lengkanawati states â€Å"we can conclude that the choice and the intensity of using language learning strategies is influenced by many factors, one of which is the students’ cultural background† (Lengkanawati, 2004), the association of local culture and English language teaching might help the learner build better learning strategies. It will lead the learner to grasp deeper meaning of the target language and use it efficiently and productively. Moreover, the differences that lie within the variations of English will make the learner appreciate that context and culture are essential for language learning. All this will lead to a global culture where one retains her native culture while learning that of the target language and thus of the whole world. We have discussed previously about the nature of association between language and culture. In addition, we also discussed about the emergence of English as an international language and the advantages of learning it. Then we went on to how local context and culture can be integrated into teaching English in Nepal. Now, we shall focus on advantages there might be in integrating local context and culture while teaching English in three different stages. The association of local context and culture can be done in three levels: using local context and culture while learning English, Using the context and culture of the target language, and integrating the two cultures to create multicultural or global comprehension. 1. Using the local cultural and contextual setting while learning English. Using local context and culture will enable the learners to grasp the deeper meaning of English because they can associate the cultural and contextual meaning that they are familiar with. In Barfield and Uzarski’s findings, â€Å"the classroom observation showed that students in pair and group works were more interactive when they had to discuss on their local cultures than when they had to discuss on different stories or texts which they were not familiar with. † Contextualization will further enable the learner to be proficient in the language at a faster pace. The learner will understand how a different language is not very different from one’s own. This methodology needs to be applied on the learners at least at the beginning. The learners must be given ample opportunities to interact in the target language. This is only possible if the content that is being used is related to local context or culture. If target language culture is given as a topic of interaction, the learners may have nothing to contribute and will be less willing to proceed further. 2. Using the culture and context of the target language The users of the target language are varied. There is no single context or culture that defines a language like English. Therefore, it will be difficult to identify the target culture when we talk of English. This also indicates that even within the same language there is influence of local context and culture. This will make the learner understand that the language is not entirely free from the culture and context of a community. For example, we can take metro English that the Londoners’ use. It is very different from the traditional Standard or BBC English that we learn in Nepal or the other parts of the world. Sometimes there is a discrepancy in lexical meanings and pronunciation too. A pavement for the British might be sidewalk for the Americans. A mate is a friend in Australia and spouse in England. The fact that even among the native speakers of English in different countries the linguistic items have different meanings will enable the learners to realize that culture or local context is the key factor in using and understanding a language. It will also give an insight that language is culture and context specific and not medium specific. To clarify this statement we can safely assume that the people coming from same cultural and contextual setting will share more meanings than people from cross-culture sharing the same language. This demarcation will be of vital importance because the learner will be able to comprehend that to understand a person is not only understanding the language but understanding the local context and culture as well. It will further inspire the learners of English to be familiar with different cultural settings of the people that use the language. This kind of interpretation of language should be carried out at intermediate and advanced levels where the learners have been made familiar of the inclusion of their own cultural and local contexts while learning English. 3. The emergence of a Global culture When more and more people start becoming familiar with the local culture and context of more and more places, then a common, integrated culture will emerge. This is the Global phenomenon that has been extensively discussed in every sphere of modern human civilization. This global concept of the language and cross-cultural integration should be the ultimate outcome of language learning. When we are able to identify issues of global importance and contribute to it in a local way, then we will be adherent to the post-modernist maxim of â€Å"think globally, act locally†. This is a concept that might be difficult to understand for many learners. There is also a paradox of going local to harbor a global outlook. This in turn complicates the nature of language that we use in the modern world. The learners of languages, and specifically of dominant language like English, should consider the integration of local context and language. Considering the complexity of the process and inputs, learners of the tertiary level of English should be taught at this comprehensive level. Assimilation of Various Cultures for Global Interpretation Barfield and Uzarski have a very interesting notion regarding language integration when they opine that even if an indigenous language is lost, which is happening at an alarming rate all over the world, through integration it can be preserved within another language like English. Interestingly, despite the loss or future loss of an indigenous language, the â€Å"roots† of that indigenous culture can be preserved through the learning of another language, such as English. (Barfield and Uzarski, 2009) This is one notion that can be construed as positive aspect of assimilation of local culture into a Global one. Even though we might have strong opinions regarding local languages and cultures that we have inherited, and feel strongly towards dominance and ultimate displacement that a language like English will do to other local languages, the only way to actually save a part of the culture and local form of language might be through English. In order to achieve this, it would be important to integrate local context and culture in teaching languages like English. On the other hand, because English is fast becoming the lingua franca of the world, there should also be a global ownership of the language. If we consider only one of the cultures of the native speakers then the globalization of the language will not be possible. In order to truly make a language like English a global one, and for all the cultures to feel that they are also a part of this global phenomenon, integration of local culture and context is important. So, at the end, every individual language community can feel the ownership of global English through integration and assimilation. Contrastively, the cultural and local contexts of societies that use English language are varied and it would be impossible to integrate everything about all the cultures. To make it comprehensible in the global arena, we should find out commonalities that exist in all the cultures and localities across the world and try to establish a common contextual and cultural condition for the language to evolve into a Global Language. Such understanding and cohesion will provide â€Å"the abilities to perform effectively and appropriately with members of another language-culture background on their terms† (Barfield and Uzarski, 2009). Conclusion This article has assumed certain developments in English language based on current global trends. It has assumed that English is fast becoming a global language and it will become more so in the future. It has also assumed that the local languages will decline and decay in the face of English as their adversary. Considering these base assumptions, the article has provided insight into understanding the importance of English language and equal importance of using local context and culture while teaching English. In conclusion, we can reaffirm the essence of the whole discussion in the following manner: first, we need to understand that we use English as a method of communication and this language is fast becoming a global anguage. Because we use it in our communication, the language cannot be excluded from the local context and culture because they are what we are likely to be communicating about. There may be differences in opinions regarding how or if local context and culture should be used in teaching English, but it is essential that we integrate local context and culture. Se cond, use of local context and culture in teaching English will depend on the nature of the local setting. Same system may not be applicable in all communities. Therefore, how the integration is to be done should be tailored to suit the needs of a particular community or a country. In case of Nepal, this can initiate with development of content corpus based on multilingual communities existing in the country and making a broad plan on what and how to integrate the content thus collected and selected. Third, the use of local context and culture can be done following a procedural format where local context and culture can be given more priority in the earlier stages of learning English language. Slowly, learning of the culture and context of the target language is to be achieved for more comprehensive understanding. When integration is done among various communities and language groups, then English will emerge as a true global language with global ownership. Finally, we should also consider the possibility that many present languages of the world might one day die. And the only possibility of its context and culture to be passed on may be through integration into a dominant language like English. All these expositions make the use of local context and culture in English Language Teaching a necessity. How to cite The Role of Local Culture and Context in English Language Teaching, Essay examples

Passionate Destruction a Comparison of Wuthering Heights and Twilight free essay sample

On the other hand, there is the Twilight saga by contemporary young adult author, Stephanie Meyer. She brought forth a new kind of vampire who is not destroyed by sunlight but instead is transformed into a mesmerizing diamond studded Adonis. The love of Edward and Bella is all consuming and, in many, cases painful. With the happy ending Catherine and Heathcliff never got, is it truly possible that these two novels have anything in common? The evidence proves that it is. Despite having been set many years and miles apart, Wuthering Heights and Twilight have many similarities in the authors’ exploration of unhealthy relationships, masochism and insanity. Be it real or fiction, relationships are volatile cocktails of love, lust, honesty and secrets. There are the healthy ones that benefit both parties and protect them both from constant harm. In Wuthering Heights and Twilight we see examples of unhealthy relationships. These relationships always include more than the two people involved, are complicated and the people involved seem almost eager to hurt themselves and each other. Catherine and Heathcliff are the ultimate anti-love story. They are two people cut from the same cloth, both cruel, masochistic beings that enjoy inflicting pain upon themselves and others. Though Catherine says she is completed by Heathcliff, she marries Edgar Linton. Edgar is not much better than either Catherine or Heathcliff. He is solely devoted to his wife who is in turn, obsessed with another man. To simply complicate things, Bronte? throws in Isabella Linton who is infatuated with the man she believes Heathcliff to be. Heathcliff marries Isabella not for love but revenge, to torture Catherine and Edgar. This is not wholly different from the relationships in Twilight. Bella is a simple minded girl who becomes infatuated with Edward, a century old vampire who feeds on animal blood. As with Edgar being thrown in to complicate things, in comes Jacob Black, a shape-shifting Native American. He is in love with Bella and pursues her endlessly starting in New Moon and continuing into Eclipse and the first two thirds of Breaking Dawn. This only ends when Bella gives birth to her daughter, Renesmee. Upon sight of the newborn, Jacob imprints on her, effectively linking himself to the child in a relationship that will become romantic at some point in the rather near future. To summarize, there is a woman obsessed with one man, but marries another and a girl who marries a man who sees her as revenge in Wuthering Heights. In the Twilight saga we have two men in love with one simple girl and a seventeen year old boy involved with a baby. All the while these couples are doing nothing but inflicting pain upon themselves and the people they are involved with. For the characters of these novels, the infliction of physical and emotional pain upon themselves and others is nothing new. Whether it is Catherine breaking Heathcliff’s icy heart with her marriage to Edgar or Heathcliff remaining near Catherine though she is married and with child by her husband, they inflict pain upon themselves and those who care for them. Then there is Edgar Linton who is deeply in an obsessive love with Catherine Earnshaw and still he remains with her though she has only room for one man in her lost soul. While Wuthering Heights has a focus on emotional masochism, Twilight uses both physical and emotional pain to further the self destruction of its characters. Edward, the vampire, falls in love with Bella, the human whose blood sings to him. According to Edward, every vampire has a human or two whose blood they cannot resist and, for him, it is Bella Swan’s that acts like a drug to him. A cocktail of plasma and cells that is specifically designed to make him act like the animal he believes himself to be, but he denies his cravings at a cost. When a vampire in Twilight is hungry their throats get dry, causing a painful burn. This is something the Adonis that is Edward Cullen must face whenever he is with his â€Å"la tua cantante†. Edward is not alone in his masochistic ways. Bella inflicts her own emotion self harm when she supposedly falls in love with a vampire who will not turn her and let her remain with him for all of eternity. Later, in New Moon, Edward leaves Bella for her own safety and instead of letting him go, she sinks into an almost zombie-like depression. She is revived by Jacob, but the life she has with him does not last as she finds Edward and leaves Jacob on the sidelines. This doesn’t stop Jacob’s feelings for Bella as he continues to be around her in Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. The fourth novel in the Twilight saga brings the pregnancy of Bella, a pregnancy that is almost guaranteed to kill her. Jacob must sit back and watch as Bella kills herself to carry her daughter to term. This is similar to how Heathcliff sat back and watched Catherine grow with Edgar’s child and then die giving birth. Obsessive relationships, stalker tendencies and the enjoyment of self destruction are enough to convince almost anyone that these characters are insane. This is not the end of their lack of mental faculties. Insanity is the abnormal behavior of an individual. Within Wuthering Heights and Twilight, we see insanity in more characters than simply the main four. In the classic novel we see Catherine Earnshaw’s brother, Hindley, lose his mental faculties at the loss of his wife, Frances. He fell into a deep depression, abandoning his newborn son and falling into a self-destructive cycle of drinking and violence until it killed him years later. Hindley’s actions speak of an obsession with his wife. As much as he wished to be with his wife, it does not hold a candle to how obsessed his sister was with Heathcliff. How obsessed does a person have to be in order to consider themselves the same as them? Catherine goes so far as to claim to be Heathcliff in a conversation with the nanny, Nelly Dean, as shown in the following excerpt: My great miseries in this world have been Heathcliffs miseries, and I watched and felt each from the beginning: my great thought in living is himself. If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger: I should not seem a part of it. My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods: time will change it, Im well aware, as winter changes the trees. My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff! Hes always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being. (Bronte? , 1943) Though she marries Edgar, it is not for love, but to help elevate Heathcliff’s standing, not believing he could do anything like that himself. The subjects of loss and obsession are also very present in Twilight. At the loss of her mate, James, in the first novel, Victoria, a carnivorous vampire, spends the next two books in the Twilight saga planning and attempting to kill Bella as revenge against Edward. In Victoria’s deranged mind, it is just: one mate for another. However, it must be asked: how much of a mate did Edward consider Bella at this point? Arguably the reason Bella fell into a depression in New Moon was not at the loss of her own lover, but at the loss of her potential future. Many times throughout the Twilight saga it seems as though Bella is not in love with Edward so much as she is in love with the idea of him and what he could give her. Who would not drink blood in exchange for being immortal? Vampires have become the romantic heroes of the fictional world, many even taking it a step further and pretending to be these immortal lovers. After the first book, Twilight seems to be little more than Bella trying to get Edward to turn her into one of the mythical night time predators. Bronte? ’s Wuthering Heights and Meyer’s Twilight are simply two sides of the same coin. Though they take place centuries and continents apart, the evidence is conclusive, they are similar. Both authors advocate unhealthy relationships, doomed and obsessive love. They both use their characters to inflict damning pain upon the characters themselves and the people they interact with. As if that were not bad enough, they bring to light the insanity that comes along with such self-destruction. Though they add drama for entertainment value and one delves into the supernatural, the main ideas of these novels holds true for the world today. Love is an all consuming thing and with it comes pain for those involved. It is simply unavoidable.

Implementation of Evidence based Nursing-Free-Samples for Students

Question: How does evidence based practice improve patient outcomes? How evidence is based practice applied theoretically and clinically? Answer: Evidence-based research (EBP) in nursing involves collection, evaluation and implementation of medical data that would help improve the care service and outcome of the patient in a healthcare setting (DiCenso, Guyatt Ciliska, 2014).Clinicians and registered nurses rely on their own experience and expertise to analyze research findings that would benefit patients. EBP understands the patients requirements, preferences and values while respecting boundaries and provides a safe clinical service (LoBiondo-Wood Haber, 2017). It has to be kept in mind that registered nurses have a big responsibility when it comes to patient safety and care, even if doctors and perform first hand assessment of the patients situation before nurses. So, the Position Statement for this paper is: Registered Nurses are required to critically analyse a situation and formulate a strategy based on best available evidence- Standard 1 of Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. There are many benefits of implementing evidence based practice in nursing like, predicting better patient outcomes, improving the safety measures for patient as well as improving the quality of life (Cook, Tankersley Landrum, 2013). The recent development of the healthcare industry has made patient demand state of the art treatment which has to be provided with efficiency (Cook Odom, 2013). The whole basis of incorporating research in clinical practice is to ensure that the best possible treatment is provided to the patients with minimum damage in the shortest possible time. According to Standard 7 of standards of practice NMBA, nursing staffs are expected to critically evaluate the patient outcome of the patient and take responsibility in doing so as well as planning and assessing the situation which cannot be done without having a prior research based on evidences and develop nursing wisdom (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia - Registered nurse standards for practice, 2015 ). Certain medical conditions make it difficult for nurses to treat patients, for which they rely on traditional guidelines to avoid risk of mis-assessment (Kavalieratos et al., 2014). Treatment of critical care patients is such a situation, in such cases nurses only rely on the age old methods to help the patient recover. The common practices nurses follow in a critical care are as includes, helping the patient turns in a position where maximum air can be inhaled, Administering the patient with sedatives that help them sleep in critical care conditions so that the body can function without any tension, When dealing with infant or child, the critical care nurses always prefer feeding tubes, Critical care nurses always make sure to prevent the venous thromboembolism in the patient to avoid complications. Research helps to develop knowledge about current issues and how can that be dealt with. In nursing as well, importance of research cannot be denied (Gray et al., 2013). The practice of implementing research findings in clinical practice develops the analytical assessment abilities in a registered nurse. The clinical expertise like wisdom, reasoning, understanding patient history analyzing patient data, collection of those data and utilizing the resources available make influence the clinical decision making process of the nurses (Brownson, Colditz Proctor, 2017). Understanding the importance of patients preferences and values regarding the treatment also ensures the establishment of trust in the patient-care giver paradigm (Schneider Whitehead, 2013). It is the duty of the nursing staff to maintain the homeostasis of the patient-caregiver relationship transparent so as to ensure better care service (Dawson et al., 2014). All this affect the well being of the patient and ensures th e positive outcome of the patient care. It is generally preferred to perform EBP as it is known to reduce risk of rehospitalisation, progression of a chronic diseases, cost of treatment, reduce post operative complication, infection and spreading of diseases from an infected patient. Prevention of wrong medication administration and gap in patient handover is not possible without evidence based practice (Hoffmann, Montori Del Mar, 2014). According to Standard 6 of the NMBAs RN standards, an RN Provides safe, appropriate and responsive quality nursing practice, by meeting the goal of patient care and adhering to their own scope of practice to provide patient with safe and quality of service and minimize risk of assessment (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia - Registered nurse standards for practice, 2015). Theoretical knowledge helps develop am framework for nursing strategies that could be gathered from traditional knowledge, authoritative advice and current scientific data. The concepts and theoretical understanding create the basic knowledge needed for clinical assessment in care givers (Thomas Law, 2013). The development of reasoning skills of deduction, innovation of ideas and inductive reasoning develops from general assumptions is facilitated by theoretical knowledge (LoBiondo-Wood Haber, 2017). This helps to apply a direction for a common goal, leading to develop strategy for improved patient care and rationale to take clinical decisions. It is important to develop the EBP to promote change in the healthcare institution. The integration of EBP in the clinical practice can be done by formulating a framework of care plan. Incorporating scientific analysis into the care plan has become a necessity in todays day and age. The following step is to develop a set of questionnaire that will help both the nurse and patient cooperate and devise a clinical action. The main parameters of this questionnaire are as follows- P: type of patient and population which includes a patients ethnicity, race and problem, I: interventional procedure and treatment method, C: considering alternative methods of treatment in case the patient does not respond properly to the current regimen, O- deciding for the outcome of the treatment and T: stands for deciding the timing of the treatment (Melnyk et al., 2014). The similar practice is set by the standards of NMBA, Standard 5 when an RN Develops a plan for nursing practice, this plan of action requ ires understanding of the patient situation, formulate a contingency based of the available evidence that comes from prior research will only help in the betterment of patient outcome (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia - Registered nurse standards for practice, 2015). According to the standards of registered nurses set by the Nursing and midwifery board of Australia (NMBA), The standard statement 1, it is expected of a registered nurse to use a variety of clinical strategies from the best option available while making clinical decisions to provide safe, and quality care by using patient centric, assessments using frameworks of evidence based practice guidelines (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia - Registered nurse standards for practice, 2015). The International Council of Nurses (ICN) Australia, Clause 3 of also has a set of Code of Ethics for nursing staff, which states that evidence based practice is the root cause that defines the activity of a registered nurse and links clinical practice with patient care (The ICN code of ethics for nurses, 2012). There are many barriers when it comes to evidence based practice in nursing which are time management, access to evidence, knowledge and skill and patient preference. Time management: This is the most important aspect of evidence based practice. The growing rate of hospitalizations and illness all over the world has made it difficult for nurses to find time for research. The registered nurses has to check many patients dealing with different problem under one single ward which makes it difficult for them to appraises research data in the duty routine. Access to evidence: it is not possible for registered nurses to have access to peer reviewed journals and understand the level of all clinical research papers Knowledge and skill: the registered nurses do not have as much knowledge as a practitioner which would enable them to understand the scientific implications of clinical research, which makes it difficult to practise evidence inclusive clinical assessment (Gray et al., 2013). Patient preferences: it is important for a nurse to value the preference of patients when it comes to good clinical practice. Sometimes, that becomes a barrier to make clinical judgement, for which it is required to gain trust of the patient and make them understand the importance of the agreed upon intervention (Hoffmann, Montori Del Mar, 2014). The discussion above makes it clear that evidence based practice improves the outcome of patients and that evidence could be based on traditional knowledge or current scientific research. Nurses hold a responsible position in the healthcare industry which makes it difficult for them to assess the patient situation as good as the practitioner, similarly it is expected that registered nurses have the minimum skills and knowledge to perform procedures before the expert arrives in times of emergency. There are many barriers to practising evidence based clinical practice, one of which was appropriate skill and knowledge to assess the situation of application of research ideas, another important aspect is management of time which is less in case of nursing staff as they have to check multiple patients at the same time. Patients also have opinions and preferences in regards to their treatment which makes it difficult to apply new research based knowledge. The overall essay aims to address t he issue that it should be encouraged from the nursing training to correlated research evidence in clinical practice so that in times of professional decision making the issue can be surpassed to some extent. References: Brownson, R. C., Colditz, G. A., Proctor, E. K. (Eds.). (2017).Dissemination and implementation research in health: translating science to practice. Oxford University Press. Cook, B. G., Odom, S. L. (2013). Evidence-based practices and implementation science in special education.Exceptional children,79(2), 135-144. Cook, B. G., Tankersley, M., Landrum, T. J. (Eds.). (2013).Evidence-based practices(Vol. 26). Emerald Group Publishing. Dawson, A. J., Stasa, H., Roche, M. A., Homer, C. S., Duffield, C. (2014). Nursing churn and turnover in Australian hospitals: nurses perceptions and suggestions for supportive strategies.BMC nursing,13(1), 11. Gray, M., Joy, E., Plath, D., Webb, S. A. (2013). Implementing evidence-based practice: A review of the empirical research literature.Research on Social Work Practice,23(2), 157-166. Hoffmann, T. C., Montori, V. M., Del Mar, C. (2014). The connection between evidence-based medicine and shared decision making.Jama,312(13), 1295-1296. Kavalieratos, D., Mitchell, E. M., Carey, T. S., Dev, S., Biddle, A. K., Reeve, B. B., ... Weinberger, M. (2014). Not the grim reaper service: an assessment of provider knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions regarding palliative care referral barriers in heart failure.Journal of the American Heart Association,3(1), e000544. LoBiondo-Wood, G., Haber, J. (2017).Nursing Research-E-Book: Methods and Critical Appraisal for Evidence-Based Practice. Elsevier Health Sciences. Melnyk, B. M., Gallagher?Ford, L., Long, L. E., Fineout?Overholt, E. (2014). The establishment of evidence?based practice competencies for practicing registered nurses and advanced practice nurses in real?world clinical settings: proficiencies to improve healthcare quality, reliability, patient outcomes, and costs.Worldviews on Evidence?Based Nursing,11(1), 5-15. Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia - Registered nurse standards for practice. (2015).Nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au. Retrieved 27 March 2018, from https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines-Statements/Professional-standards/registered-nurse-standards-for-practice.aspx Schneider, Z., Whitehead, D. (2013).Nursing and midwifery research: methods and appraisal for evidence-based practice. Elsevier Australia. The ICN code of ethics for nurses. (2012) (p. 3). Geneva. Thomas, A., Law, M. (2013). Research utilization and evidence-based practice in occupational therapy: A scoping study.American Journal of Occupational Therapy,67(4), e55-e65

Globalization in Politics and on the World peace

Introduction Globalization greatly affects both domestic and international politics. There exist different views and ideas on the effects of this complex multifaceted concept on politics. The cross-border economic and technological activities instigated by international relations have resulted into political changes in international politics.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Globalization in Politics and on the World peace specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Globalization has created an environment for economic interaction among different states of the world. It has resulted into freer movement of goods, finances, and ideas across the different corners of the globe. Economists view globalization as a platform for equal economic growth in the world as it encourages fair distribution of resources. Political leaders, especially in the poor countries, oppose globalization on the grounds of preserving the nationa l sovereignty of their states. In social perspective, globalization is a phenomenon for enhancement of world social integration. For realists in general, globalization provides an opportunity for powerful nations to exploit the less powerful and poorest countries. In addition, politicians (in poor countries) view the phenomenon as the great perpetuator of hegemony in the world. Neoliberals and the proponents of globalization argue that, globalization is the means to liberalization of the new world order. Other scholars treat globalization as an emerging form of imperialism, which is likely to ruin governance and the political leadership of the less powerful countries. Although there have been significant studies in politics and globalization, there exists very little work on its impact on peace and unity in the world. As argued in this paper, globalization in politics will result into more conflicts in the world. Globalization in politics and the peace in the world Globalization has led into loss of sovereignty in governments. Through globalization, people, goods, money, and ideas have become freer to move than they were before. The government’s control over people and their businesses has therefore reduced (Neil 2004, 123). As a result, people from different states have migrated into nations with favourable trading policies. The high rates of immigration of people due to trade with little control by the government pose a great threat to the peace and unity in the future. First, with the freedom from the government to carry out businesses anywhere in the world, there is likelihood of exchange of illegal goods such as drugs and arms. Such goods, especially drugs, enhance violent acts. Increase in such goods in a state whose sovereignty is low will lead to more people consuming the goods. Availability of drugs for instance, results into increased number of drug abusers within a country. On contemplation, this retrogressive trend subsequently increases the poverty levels since majority of drug abusers do not or are unable to work. Poverty has direct correlation with violence.Advertising Looking for research paper on political sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In fact, violence characterizes the poverty-stricken nations, with African countries serving exemplarily for this argument. Since the government does not have control in face of globalization, people may engage in violent means such as theft and looting to satisfy their needs. Secondly, the continued loss of sovereignty by most states in the world, due to globalization, may lead to loss of stability of security in the countries. Globalization and the inability to control people may extend to the military forces such that, these forces enjoy freedom analogous to the people in the business world. This phenomenon will expose the state to internal and external attacks such as terrorism. Since globalization enhances fre er mobility of people, it will be difficult to maintain security in such low sovereign states, which would degenerate into conflicts. Thirdly, loss of sovereignty encourages creation of illegal groups, which pose threat to the peace of the world. Political competition within a less sovereign state will result into formation of such groups. In fact, majority of the gangs in the world are results of political competition. These groups further pose threat to the peace in the world. Therefore, through globalization, there is continued loss of sovereignty among states, which exposes nations to more conflicts. The conflicts may further result into violence and therefore destabilizing world peace. Globalization enhances flow of information and ideas. The cross-border flow of economic activities has enhanced the transfer of information across different political states, which affects both the international and domestic politics in a number of ways. First, it influences people in different s tates to demand for transformation of political governance from their states. According to Berger, globalization has enhanced the growth of international media coverage (2000, 47). As a result, it is now easy and cheap for information about the political activities of a particular country or region to flow to the rest of the world. Since the populace make decisions based on the reports from the media, the activities in other countries may instigate actions in other regions of the world. The current unrest in the Muslim countries in Africa and Middle East originated from Tunisia. Given the media coverage, the situation in Tunisia received, other countries such as Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Venezuela, and Yemen became critical to their political leadership. This resulted into mass action to demand for political transformations in these countries. Globalization therefore encourages political liberalism, which may further result into degradation of peace and unity. The political leadership of countries marred by mass actions such as Libya are reluctant to reformation and as a result, these governments initiate counter forces in order to calm the situations.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Globalization in Politics and on the World peace specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Subsequently, this results into conflicts between the activists and the government forces, which leads to violence. Secondly, the spread of information also results into exchange of political strategies among states or politicians. Because of globalization, politicians of different backgrounds, experience, and ideologies are able to mingle and exchange political ideas. While some of the ideas may be for the good of the public, experience evidences that most of them concentrate on maintaining the political supremacy and self-interest of the politicians. Majority of the African countries face peace threats due to the strong p ositions held by their political leaders. Interestingly, such leaders remain applauded by their international counterparts even though they enjoy less support from their citizens. Through the advice, which these leaders get during international meetings, such as the UN, Common Wealth and African Union conferences, they gain confidence to cling to power against the wish of majority, which is the founding principle of democracy. With this trend, the leadership in most African countries will continue to infringe democratic rights of the people and since globalization continues to promote the flow of ideas on ‘people’s liberalization’ in the world, more politically-instigated violent acts are likely to occur in future. Globalization results into loss in community values including cultural and traditional values. Globalization encourages interaction of people of different social and cultural backgrounds. Cross-cultural adoption among people of different spheres of lif e has been vivid since the 20th century. Blend of cultures and traditions has therefore resulted into loss of the community values in different regions of the world. Loss in community values has adverse effects on domestic politics of a country. Constitutional violation by the political leadership is the obvious effect of loss in community values. A constitution upholds the values of the community, which it governs. Therefore, political leadership’s disregard of these values implies a constitutional infringement. This may result into conflicts between those critical to the constitution and the values and the leadership. Conflicts create tension and uncertainty among people and may lead to wars. Another significant impact of loss in community values to politics is the adoption of practices by the public, which threatens security and hence peace of a nation. Due to globalization, people adopt values of other communities at the expense of theirs. Such practices, which include dr ug abuse among others, encourage deviant behaviours among the people. These behaviours threaten the political stability of the state as such people may involve in violent acts. A state, which does not uphold its community values, is subject to malpractices by the leaders. Corruption and dishonesty are among the malpractices experienced in such states. These practices compromise the governance of the state and could result into conflicts between the people and the leadership, thereby threatening peace and unity.Advertising Looking for research paper on political sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Through globalization, corrupt officials conceal their ‘ill-acquired’ properties and funds in other countries. Political theorists attribute the advanced forms of corruption in African countries to globalization. Generally, loss in community values results into loss in confidence among the citizens to their leaders and this may result into more conflicts and hence wars in future. Conflicts in the Muslim world are results of loss of values of Islam. The influx of non-Muslims and the interaction between the region and other non-Muslim regions through trade and international relations has prompted the loss of Islamic values in those regions. The result has been the disregard of the Sharia law, which forms the basics for governance in the Islamic countries. The Egyptian and Libyan situations apparently illustrates the results of loss of community values to politics, peace, and unity of the world. As previously mentioned, globalization encourages freer flow of goods. This ha s considerable impact on politics, especially when dangerous goods come into play. Trading in arms has become easier and convenient with the globalization and the loss of sovereignty in the states. Due to international trade, militia gangs in Somali and other war-torn countries are able to acquire arms. With the freer trade in culmination with less government control of businesses and mobility of people, there is increased accessibility to guns and other arms. If this trend continues, more than 67% of the population in the world will own these arms in the next 3 years (McGrew 2001, 98). Such statistics are alarming and indeed, indicates a threat to peace and unity. Increase in number of people owning guns and other forms of arms poses security threats in that, people will result into use of violence to resolve their disputes. With the increased armament, there is likelihood to increase in terrorism in the world. Terrorism creates tension and results into conflicts. The long lasting conflicts between the United States and the Middle East are results of terrorism. Tension results from mistrust between the perceived terrorists and the target nations. In such conditions, there is likelihood of conflict, which results into violence and therefore destabilizing peace in the world. Countries with free flow of arms experience conflicts and are centres for prospective wars. It further destabilizes the political order of these countries and may subsequently result into collapse of leadership and governments in such countries. Countries marred by political wars have readily available arms. The availability of these arms in most of the politically war-torn countries such as Somalia is a result of globalization. Through inter-border interactions, government rebels acquire weapons and arms to fight the government thereby causing political instability. Countries with political instabilities pose threat to their security and that of their neighbours. Therefore, with the curren t trends in globalization, the world continues to experience spread of arms and growth in armament and the plausible prediction would be the increase in political instabilities in the world. As a result, globalization will perpetuate conflicts and therefore destabilize peace in the world. Globalization enhances migration of people within the cross-border economies. This has considerable impact on the world politics and peace. Because of international trade, business people move freely to favourable regions (target) of their businesses, which results into increase in population in the target regions. Population increase affects the politics within an economy in two ways: first, it presents a challenge to the political leadership with an extra responsibility to plan and provide for the increased citizens; and second, the political responsibility to control such populations is indeed a challenge. The opportunity provided by globalization for freer movement of people across different st ates is subject to exploitation by non-business people (McGrew 2001, 13). The result will be strain in the budget of these states, as some of the immigrants are not involved in production or business and this trend results into poverty in the highly populated areas. For instance, majority of the poor population of the United States compose of the Southern Americans, most of which are immigrants. Poverty poses threat to peace and unity of a country. The migration encouraged by globalization provides a mean for mobility of the terrorists in the world. Since people are free to move around, there is ease in spread and expansion of terrorism in the world. Through globalization, people of different nationalities are able to shift their originalities to other nationalities to become full citizens by right in the new countries. Such individuals have political rights like any other citizen in that state; they can vie for political positions and get involved in decision-making of vital matter s of the country and this transforms the domestic politics of countries as such people introduce novel strategies of political competition. The outcome of the transformation may however be conflict and tension among the competitors. In fact, the Rwandan genocide was a result of conflict between the perceived immigrants, the Tutsis, and the ‘real’ citizens, Hutus. From the Rwandan case, it is imperative to point out that the growing immigration and changes in nationalities due to globalization may lead to replication of such violence in most countries, especially those with political contentions. The migration, as aforementioned, leads into loss in community values and as previously argued, loss in community values creates tension and hence conflicts. Interrelationship, a result of globalization, enhances power struggle among nations. Globalization enhances interrelationship among different nations. The interrelations may be economic, social, or political. In whatever ca se, the member nations must collectively make decisions in the interrelationships. However, it becomes difficult to ensure equal rights in decision-making for situations of rich-poor country relationship. The rich and powerful countries, especially the developed, tend to believe that their views supersede those of the poor and developing countries (Ian 2000, 169). For instance, European countries such as France and Britain enjoy voting rights in the UN unlike their African counterparts. In the Common Wealth, Britain is the most powerful and major decision maker. Political critics impute the inequality to the rich-powerful dominance over the poor-weak countries. Such inequalities pose threat to the peace in the world. First, the poor countries perceive the inequality as a means of oppression by the powerful countries. Since globalization encourages liberalization and freedom, these countries protest against such oppression by the developed countries. The result is a continued tension among the rich and poor countries. This tension may lead into conflicts and wars between the rich and poor countries. Therefore, the struggle for supremacy puts the world peace at stake. Secondly, the inequality among these nations results into imposition of policies to the poor countries by the rich nations. Some of the policies may be practically inapplicable in the politics of the developing countries; the policies may either enhance violence or interfere with the ‘order of politics’ in those countries. Political disorder creates anxiety among the citizens, which is a threat to peace. The power struggle among the rich countries is another factor threatening the peace in the world. Some nations struggle to prove the most powerful over the others. The result is therefore that the decisions made in the international politics do not focus on improving the ‘world order’ rather than a revelation for power and influence by majority of the richest nations. This may lead into competition among these countries to prove their mighty. Lessons of the 1990’s Cold War show that, competition for the mighty may lead to conflicts and wars; it was due to competition for ‘who is powerful’ that led to the infamous Cold War (conflicts) between the former Soviet Union and the United States. As long as globalization bears, power struggle among various nations will continue and the future peace of the world will remain uncertain. Globalization enhances exchange and imposition of policies by the rich countries to the poor countries. Through the international relations and cross-border economic activities, countries are able to exchange policies. However, the exchange has resulted into imposition of policies to the weak nations by the powerful countries (Leo 2006, 500). The colonization of most African, Asian, and South American countries by the European countries during and before the 19th century presents a lesson to the today’s historians and scholars on the intention of the rich and powerful countries to the poor nations. Analogous to the colonial times, the aim of the rich countries is to assimilate the developing countries into their policies. It is important to note that such ‘imported policies’ cannot work in the indigenous countries. Instead, such policies transform the political situations into arenas of conflicts and such conflicts often result into violence. In addition, the imposition of policies results into loss of the sovereignty of the state, which further threatens future peace of the specific country. The contention in the rich-poor relationship is due to the imposition of policies to the poor countries by the rich countries. The current increasing protests to the International Criminal Court by most of the African countries clearly illustrate the effect of policy imposition. Assimilation into other policies interferes with the legal framework of the indigenous countries, ther eby contravening the rights of the citizens in these countries. In the face of globalization, people across the world have become resilient and sensitive to oppression. The result of imposition would therefore be mass actions and political unrest in these countries. Although globalization encourages policy exchange among the rich and poor countries, the rich stresses on the adoption of theirs. To political critics, the imposition is a tool for oppression to the poor countries and its perpetuation presents the cause for prospective conflicts and wars. The imposition is another form of colonization in the 21st century, which is advancement of neo-colonialism. Since developing countries would like to maintain their sovereignty and independence, such impositions receive wide oppositions from these countries. Probably, the opposition may be through mobilization of the public actions, which may interfere with the peace of these nations. Globalization enhances exchange and imposition of po licies among various nations in the world and therefore, transforming the political situations of various countries. The transformation may create tension and thus conflicts. According to international trade theory, globalization is a phenomenon that greatly alters the principles of politics, both the international and world politics. â€Å"It is a further development of a growing interdependence, which further transforms the principles of world politics† (Kapitoneko 2009, 589). Globalization achieves this through â€Å"bringing in non-state actors†¦and shifting their strategies from military and strategic to economic and social needs† (Kapitoneko 2009, 589). As discussed earlier in this paper, these factors have resulted into polarization of the borders of various states. Furthermore, it has led to freer movement of goods and labour. Based on the second factor of shift on focus from military empowerment to economic and social expansion, it is clear that globaliza tion focuses on economic efficiency at the expense of the military. Since the state engages in long-term co-operations in order to achieve the above strategies of globalization, it encourages more people to cross into their borders. This poses great threat to the peace of the state. The opening of the borders for freer accessibility of the country by more people in the name of partners in cooperation provides an opportunity exploitable by people with bad intentions. In addition, since the states’ support to the military has greatly reduced, it becomes easier for such people to enter these states. Such people may be terrorists or other kinds of illegal gangs in the world. The co-operation for economic expansion at the expense of security of the state simply exposes states to the attacks by such gangs. Further contemplation reveals that the diminishing focus on military and security in favour of economic growth through globalization will result into creation of more gang groups like Al Qaeda; a threat to the peace in the world and therefore cause political disarrays in the world. The growth in interdependence due to globalization further makes some governments passive in decision-making. Interdependence promotes collective making of vital decisions and as a result, some states leave some decisions for advice from their international co-operation. Based on the earlier argument, this may result into conflict. Again, due to perception of the rich and powerful countries on the poor states, some decisions may be biased and offensive to the rights of the citizens. Subsequently, this may result into tension and therefore conflicts. Therefore, by altering the principles of the world politics, globalization creates tension and a prospective for future conflicts and wars. The movement of some states to the territories of others facilitated by globalization presents potential causes of conflicts. With the globalization and the international co-operation, states are freer to enter into other states and such entrances influence the politics of the both states in two ways: first, it transforms the politics of these states since the co-operation may involve influencing some key policies. For instance, the entry of the United States into Iraqi government influenced the nation to persecute and execute the former president, Saddam Hussein. The entry may call for constitutional changes and thereby considerably changing the politics of such states. However, some entry of states into others may result into chaos. Although, for instance, the American entry into Middle East in search of terrorists seemed justifiable, it resulted into resistance by majority of the people in that region. This further degenerated into conflict between the citizens and the US soldiers. The entry into other countries, accelerated by globalization, may lead to conflicts and wars. Secondly, the entry interferes with the ‘political order’ of the other nations. When a country enters into the matters of another state, it disrupts the order of the ‘operation of political’ systems in that country. This disruption may be either because of the adjustments required for the issues raised by the other state or due to disorganization, which the entry brings into the other state. Entrance, which disrupts the policies of a state, also creates friction between the states and may result into conflicts. The entrance is more detrimental when it comes into rich states entering into poor states. Critics perceive the entrance as â€Å"hegemony and a means to exploit the poor state† (Monbiot 2001, 45). Again, this results into conflict between the states. While liberals argue that the relationship between such states enhances checks and balances against the states’ governments, to critics, it is an opportunity by the powerful nations to exploit the weak states. The political entrance of states into other states may influence the policies of governance of such states to infringe the rights of the citizens, thereby calling for unrest within those states. Political unrest is a prospective cause of future conflicts and wars and indicates the instability of peace in the future world. Conclusion The globalization effects on politics will result into increase in conflicts in the world. As argued in the preceding discussion, globalization has led to loss of state’s sovereignty in the world. The result of loss in sovereignty is the increased mobility of people, finances, ideas and goods, with little state’s control. The high rates of immigration of people due to trade with little control by the government, pose a great threat to the peace and unity in the future. The freedom by the government to carry out businesses anywhere in the world increases the likelihood of exchange of illegal goods such as drugs and arms. Such goods, especially drugs, enhance violent acts. Increase in such goods in a state whose sover eignty is low, will lead to more people consuming those goods. High number of drug abusers within a state puts the peace and unity of a country at risk. Globalization enhances flow of information and ideas. The cross-border flow of economic activities has enhanced the transfer of information across different political states. The information flow through the liberalized media sensitizes the public, which further enhances violent acts. Loss in community values has adverse effects on domestic politics of a country. Constitutional violation by the political leadership is the obvious effect of loss in community values. A constitution upholds the values of the community, which it governs. Therefore, if the political leadership disregards these values, it implies a constitutional infringement, which may result into conflicts between those critical to the constitution and the values and the leadership. Trading in arms has become easier and convenient with the current globalization and the loss of sovereignty in various governments. In the light of international trade, militia gangs in war-torn countries are able to acquire arms. With the freer trade in culmination with less government control of mobility of people, there is increased accessibility to guns and other arms. In making decisions in international relations, the rich and powerful countries, especially the developed, tend to believe that their views supersede those of their poor and developing countries and this creates tension among the nations thereby causing conflict. The movement of some states to the territories of other states presents potential causes of future conflicts. With the globalization and the international co-operation, states are freer to enter into other states. This, as argued, further results into conflicts. It is therefore justifiable that globalization will promote conflicts in the world. Reference List Berger, Suzanne. 2000. Globalization and Politics. Annual Review 3, no. (August/Sep tember): 43-62. Ian, Holliday. 2000. Is the British State Hollowing Out? The Political Quarterly 71, no.2 (February/ March): 167–176. Kapitonenko, Mykola. 2009. Globalization, nation-state, and global security arrangements. Europolis 6, 586-603. Leo, Christopher. 2006. Deep Federalism: Respecting Community Difference in National Policy. Canadian Journal of Political Science 39, no. 3 (July/August): 481-506. McGrew, Anthony. 2001. Globalization and global politics. Cambridge: Polity Press. Monbiot, George. 2001. Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain. London: Pan Press. Neil, Brenner. 2004. New State Spaces: Urban Governance and the Rescaling of Statehood. New York: Oxford University Press. This research paper on Globalization in Politics and on the World peace was written and submitted by user Chase Stein to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Total Quality Management (TQM) 5 performance objectives

Total Quality Management (TQM) 5 performance objectives Free Online Research Papers Q a) Explain the 5 TQM performance objectives. Discuss these with the help of a real life example of a process involving products services, and analyze how the process can be improved upon? b) Illustrate explain your chosen process with the help of a transformation model. Answer a) â€Å"Many methodologies and techniques for improving operational performance have been developed over the years – these provide structured ways of improving company performance, but they do not explicitly tell us where to start. To be able to improve performance effectively, it is important to identify the particular factors of performance to work with. Furthermore, it is important to find those factors that have a high impact on performance.† (www.emeraldinsight.com) Performance improvement highlights processes and systems that need to be improved. Then, there is a follow-up with an action plan to improve the outcomes. The five main performance objectives are: Speed Cost Quality Dependability Flexibility We will discuss these five objectives using the drive-thru process of McDonalds: Speed- How much time does a customer spend in McDonalds drive-thru? McDonalds’ drive-thru target is 90 seconds. But, is it really able to achieve this target? No, not all the time. Many people have complained about drive-thru errors, waiting for their meals in busy times, being stuck in the queue, etc. As the line gets longer, more people choose to bypass the restaurant and dine elsewhere. So, how can McDonalds overcome these problems? ? Proper drive thru management: Since queuing is on a strict first-in first-out basis; later customers are generally not served until all previous customers have been taken care of. Therefore, a whole line of people with quick orders can be held up by a single complex order. McDonalds can instead have a dual line layout if the second customer’s order is ready first, then a green light can be used to signal the second car, so that the person takes his/her’s order goes. Service times are improved dramatically for short orders, yet not impacted for longer orders due to multiple wait queues. The disadvantage of adopting the dual line layout is that it will take up a lot of time be costly for McDonalds to change the layouts of all their restaurants. Plus, some customers will get really annoyed if they came in first but served second. To overcome this, McDonalds can have two windows (both left right), the left one for large orders the right one for small orders. Again, the question is how the small order meals will be bought to the right window if the kitchen is on the left side. Well, an employee can be especially dedicated to transfer the meals from the left window to the right one! ? Introduction of the use of mobile order entry terminals: will allow a restaurant employee to physically go to the drive-through lane and enter orders, which increases through-put by providing two points of entry: the menu sign and the mobile order entry terminal. Problems associated with this option include: (1) interfacing the mobile entry terminal to the current POS (Point of Sale) system; (2) supporting multiple languages and interfaces; (3) constant menu changes and additions; (4) safety of the employee; (5) weather conditions; (6) hardware costs; (7) order sequencing; and (8) the customer is unable to review the menu prior to ordering. ? Adopt a new system: McDonalds can also adopt a new system called Delphi Order Confirmation where a digital camera is attached to the drive-through menu system. â€Å"When an order is placed, a photo is taken of the car and/or the driver from approximately the same angle and distance that the drive-through employee would view when the car is at the payment or presenter window. The digital photo would be matched to the order record created by the POS system. The photo and order record could be presented in a variety of fashions, including a print out on the receipt with the itemized order and number. Alternatively, a touch screen with the patrons picture and order record for each of the cars currently in the drive-through, and when the order is complete, the presenter would tap the photo on the touch screen indicating the order has been filled and the photo record would be removed from the system. This system will help shave about eight seconds from the order to delivery time. Besid es order accuracy, it will also aid in speeding up the drive-thru process and address customer courtesy issues. Specific benefits to this system include easy installation and implementation with existing QSR (Quick Serve Rest) drive-through installations; minimal ongoing support required; limited risk of hardware loss/damage; increased employee safety; fully supported in multi-language settings; and continues to provide the customer an opportunity to review the menu!† (www.freepatentsonline.com) People will be uncomfortable: with the idea, that theyre being photographed every time they make a quick stop for a double cheeseburger with fries. Though, it’s a non-invasive procedure the photos arent stored in the system. Theyre deleted as soon as the order is completed. A lot of restaurants already have surveillance cameras on their premises that photograph people. Another trouble is that it will be costly for McDonalds to implement this system. But then again, it will show good results in the long run! Cost- Is McDonalds charging a lot to its customers? Can they bring down its costs further? ? Value meal strategy: McDonalds can employ the value meal strategy which allows customers to buy a sandwich, french fries, and beverage at a discount when purchased together. Moreover, it can also offer daily specials of special menu items, such as â€Å"9 Dhs Happy meal on Thursdays, from 4:00 PM 8:00PM† or other similar specials. More number of people will be attracted by such offers hence McDonalds’ average cost will decrease. However, the limitation is that these daily specials will bring in a lot of customers but also make it harder for McDonalds’ staff to handle so many people together serve quickly!!! So, they should anticipate having so many customers moulding their operations according to that. ? During busy periods, McDonalds requires more than two to three people who are dedicated to the drive-through process. If it adopts the Delphi order system mentioned on page 2 3, it will not require a lot of employees to take the orders, enter in the system make mistakes in matching the orders with the cars, hence cutting down on its costs. However, this might lead to some employees being made redundant. ? Use Customer order Display: When a drive through worker is taking an order, it can be displayed automatically on a screen available to the customer outside, called the Customer Order Display (COD). The customer can review the COD and correct any mistakes, thus making the ordering process more precise. More precise orders eliminate time wasted from correcting mistakes the cost arising from order errors. ? Energy management: Energy costs represent a significant portion of restaurant expenses. Parking-lot lighting, cooking appliances, ventilation systems, other utility expenses can add up. These are very real costs that impact the profitability of a restaurant. McDonalds can invest in new equipment (which might be costly but beneficial in the long run), maintenance practices and revising some operating procedures. â€Å"Some cost-cutting strategies include are, investing in energy-saving equipment, securing long-term energy contracts, joining energy co-ops, controlling lighting schedules more efficiently, tinting windows, contracting with new energy providers, hiring energy consultants and decreasing deliveries, regular cleaning and upkeep of refrigerator coils. Furthermore, a calendar with the recommended maintenance dates for all parts and equipment, including monthly, quarterly and annual checks can be made.† (www.restaurant.org) Quality- Where does McDonalds stand in terms of is service? Not as good as it used to be. Probably the meals are okay, but what about the employees serving the customers the overall experience which the customers go through? ? Surprise quality checks: For sure, all McDonalds restaurants already go through periodic inspections in terms of quality checks, but they can have more surprise checks if the store fails to pass the inspection the second time, the corporate can take over the store and bring in better employees to ensure that the proper processes and equipment are being used properly. ? Improve the training process taking care of employees: McDonalds can include online e-learning tools for its restaurant staff. In addition to this, it should make sure that the needs of its staff are met they are given recognition for good performance. Once this is done, automatically they will be happy to do their jobs of course happy employees will lead to a better service eventually happy customers! Dependability- How can McDonalds make its processes more reliable? ? If McDonalds opts for dual line layouts a reliable system like Delphi order confirmation system (mentioned on pages 2 3,) then without any doubt its customers can rely on its operations. They will be sure that their meals will always be ready within a specified time without any errors they’ll be able to get out quickly with the dual line layout. Flexibility- Can McDonalds adjust its processes to meet customer requirements? ? Multiple trained staff: McDonalds can have a multiple trained staff in order to be flexible. Again, this will cost money but be beneficial in the long run. ? Ordering on a toll free number: McDonalds can give their customers the option to place their order by calling on a toll free number giving them a unique order number so that their meals are ready when they come to pick them up. The drawback is that an employee will have to be specially delegated to take the orders when customers call! Answer b) â€Å"A transformation process is any activity or group of activities that takes one or more inputs, transforms and adds value to them, and provides outputs for customers. Where the inputs are raw materials, it is relatively easy to identify the transformation involved, as when milk is transformed into cheese and butter.† (openlearn.open.ac.uk) Where the inputs are information/people, the nature of the transformation may be less obvious. For example, a hospital transforms ill patients (the input) into healthy patients (the output). Figure 1: The transformation model Source: (openlearn.open.ac.uk) The transformation model of a McDonald’s drive-thru process will look something like this: Feedback Figure 2: Transformation model of McDonalds drive-thru A customer enters the drive-through in his/her vehicle along a path and stops at a sign/menu-board that contains a menu. The customer is prompted by an order-taker to order his/her’s desired meal. Once the order has been confirmed, the driver proceeds (while his/her meal is prepared packed) toward a drive-through pickup window, in queue behind any previous cars, where the driver submits his/her payment to a window person and then receives his/her food. Some restaurants use a two-window system during busy times, whereby the driver pays at a payment window and receives his food at the pickup window. Figure 3: Drive-thru process shown in pictures Source: (www.google.com) Inputs Output Some inputs are used up in the process of creating goods or services; others play a part in the creation process but are not used up. Three types of resource that may be transformed in operations are: materials – the physical inputs to the process information that is being processed or used in the process customers – the people who are transformed in some way. Many transformation processes produce both goods and services. For example, McDonalds provides a service, but also produces goods such as food and drinks. Transformation processes may result in goods/services (output) that are designed to deliver. Feedback A further component of the transformation model in Figure 1 is the feedback loop. Feedback information is used to control the operations system, by adjusting the inputs and transformation processes that are used to achieve desired outputs. For example, a chef relies on a flow of information from the customer, through the waiter, about the quality of the food. Adverse feedback might lead the chef to change the inputs (for example by buying better quality potatoes) or the transformation process (for example by changing the recipe or the cooking method). Feedback is essential can come from both internal and external sources. Internal sources include testing, evaluation and continuously improving goods and services; external sources include those who supply products or services to end-customers as well as feedback from customers themselves. To sum up, operations performance is an important functional area because it plays a crucial role in determining how well an organization satisfies its customers. Moreover, an understanding of the principles of operations management is important for all organizations, because they provide a systematic way of looking at its processes. Furthermore, the overall transformation process can be further broken down into a series of micro-processes. Attention to processes ‘within’ organizations can provide a powerful tool for understanding organizational performance minimize errors. Bibliography 1. emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do?contentType=ArticlehdAction=lnkhtmlcontentId=851437 2. www.freepatentsonline.com 3. http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=161703 4. http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=161697 5. restaurant.org/news/story.cfm?ID=349 Research Papers on Total Quality Management (TQM) 5 performance objectivesRiordan Manufacturing Production PlanBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfThe Project Managment Office SystemOpen Architechture a white paperIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductDefinition of Export QuotasResearch Process Part One

History The World Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

History The World - Essay Example China enjoyed its last golden age under the Ming dynasty, which was characterized by economic, political, and cultural revolutions. Under Zheng’s leadership, the Chinese navy developed tremendously and carried out numerous explorations around the world. This essay explores the different ways in which people experienced their giant Chinese neighbor. The essay also explores reactions towards the Chinese self-contained civilization. Chinese growth and prosperity had significant influence on its neighbors, particularly India and Korea. During the era of imperial China, neighboring people considered China a source of intellect. The height of Chinese inventions in science and technology was realized during the Tang and Song dynasties. The Tang dynasty is considered the most prosperous dynasty in terms of science and technology. Remarkable inventions during the two dynasties can be traced in the fields of agriculture, medicine, marine and transport. Although the Chinese community made the invention for their own interests, most of the inventions trickled down to their neighbors in a variety of ways. Firstly Chinese neighbors experienced Chinese inventions through military conquest. China remained aggressive towards its neighbors throughout the history of the ancient Chinese monarchies. Chinese inventions led to dramatic expansions in its military capabilities, which promoted numerous raids on its weaker neighbors. The concept of Confucianism founded during the Yuan dynasty is also a pillar of Chinese philosophy and intellectual freedom. The concept advocated for individualism and innate morality and, had significant impact on Chinese neighbors. Neo-Confucian social and government structures can be traced among most of the Chinese neighbors such as Japan and Korea. The giant neighbor exerted numerous pressures on the nearby neighbors to a point of creating conflicts. Although

The Role of IMF in providing assistanse to countries to overcome their Assignment

The Role of IMF in providing assistanse to countries to overcome their economic problems - Assignment Example The study aims to explain the procedure based on which IMF contributes towards the development of economic conditions of several countries. Also main functions of the IMF is under consideration. IMF is an international organisation that has been established in the year 1944. The organisation is headquartered in Washington D.C., United States. The organisation has been a significant consideration for developing the global financial condition. After the establishment of IMF, the condition of world economy has dramatically changed. To operate the global financial development, IMF has introduced few improvements in its policies for managing the needs in terms of balance of payment. IMF has been developed with the aim of managing macroeconomic factors and to implement structural policies for every poor, rich and middle-income member nations. In this context, the mission of the organisation has been to monitor and manage economic trend that prevails in the global economy The IMF provides necessary policies, advice and financing to member countries of the organization. IMF is an international organisation that has been dealing with global financial or money market. The function of IMF has been helpful in supporting the member countries of IMF. It enables the availability of resources and develops a fund including general resources for low-income countries. IMF has made a complete contribution towards the development of the global economy. IMF has achieved certain success in providing financial support to the member countries.