Monday, September 30, 2019

Overpopulation: Research Paper Essay

Overpopulation: Research Paper Introduction A. Noticing the situations of several people in poverty, otherwise those devastated by natural disasters, pollution, crimes, etc, we have come to conclude that the reason for this suffering is essentially the rapid growth of population, and thus, with this mindset, we decided to uproot the cause further so as to be able to contrast it. B. The objectives of this research are: 1. To make people aware of the crisis of overpopulation 2. To lessen the number of people each year by making them aware of the effects C. Definitions of terms: 1. overpopulation – condition of having a larger population than normal 2. human resources- people with ability and skill as the wealth of a nation 3. accommodate- to provide or supply for someone 4. contraceptives- drug, medicine, chemical agent or device that prevent impregnation 5. natural disasters – occurrences in nature that damage poverty and lives 6. pollution – â€Å"dirtying† or â€Å"killing† nature 7. [global] economic crisis- a depression; a state of unemployment and little or no trade and investment over a long period of time [in the world] 8. poverty- a state of being poor, with no money or goods to support oneself 9. succumb- to give up; to give in to something far more superior 10. decline- a gradual decrease in strength and power [of a nation]; deterioration 11. chaos- a state of disorder, confusion disorganization of something; one in disarray 12. prosperity- a state of success or thriving; flourishing financially and socially D. Data-gathering procedures 1. Interviews 2. Internet Resources Presentation of Gathered Data A. Interviews 1. Annabelle Tee â€Å"For me, overpopulation is not good†¦ because there will be more pollution and this will result to more natural disasters forming around the world. As you can see right now, there have been many strong and deadly typhoons such as Ondoy entering the Philippines. Overpopulation, however, can result to some good things, such as our own country will progress†¦Ã¢â‚¬  2. Richmond Tee â€Å"Overpopulation is when there are more people than there should be. We must lessen the population of the Philippines (and the world) because we need to also put a stop to global warming. Since many people aren’t even aware of this yet, it is becoming more deadly. You see, there have been many natural disasters recently. I really think that overpopulation is bad†¦ Even our family is overpopulated†¦ *laughs*†¦Ã¢â‚¬  3. Izen Lao â€Å"For me, overpopulation will make our country bad because there are a lot of pollution. Mas grabe pa nga sa U.S. eh†¦ *laughs* So thus†¦ overpopulation is bad.† 4. Jan Adrian Chan â€Å"Overpopulation, in my opinion, has two sides: the good and the bad. On the good side, with a greater population, we have more people to help in progression. More people equals more manpower, and manpower means a lot to a country. Even if there aren’t many job opportunities here in the Philippines, workers, or OFWs, they may go abroad to work and bring back some money to enrich our economy. On the other hand however, too many people can cause several things such as traffic congestions, crime, poverty, pollution, etc.† 5. Ninyo Vasquez â€Å"Overpopulation can be good for the economy and at the same time bad because there are positive and negative effects. I think that’s it. B. Internet Resources â€Å"In a corner of the Northern cemetery, Venanjo Sison is standing on top of a coffin and taking a bath. Like many other of Manila’s residents, he is forced to live wherever he can. His home is made of wooden planks and scrap pieces of plastic.† The capital of the Philippines is a very overpopulated place. An average of 41,282 people live in 1 square kilometer; in slum areas the rates rise to even 88,000 people in 1 square kilometer. For Manila, people simply are running out of space. Some live in home-made shacks in cemeteries, railroad tracks or even under bridges. Some even take residence in toxic garbage dumps just to get whatever food they can. A big percentage of the 11 million residents of Manila don’t even have clean water to drink, proper jobs and medicine or education. With such a large population, our resources cannot accommodate everyone anymore. â€Å"Charito Esponilla’s dream is to give her children an education. That is what her neighbour with only two children has done. But the Esponilla family can’t afford to send their children to school. As it is, they have a hard time making ends meet and when the family runs out of money, they are forced to live on the charity of neighbours. â€Å"’Our neighbours are so sweet,’ explains Charito Esponilla, while she washes children’s clothes in three large buckets of laundry. ‘Sometimes they give us a little rice, but a lot of the time they are short on food just like us. Then we have no other choice but to go hungry to bed. On those nights, it’s very hard to fall asleep. The children cry and wake me up all night long. But I don’t have anything to give them. What can I do?’ â€Å"Even though Charito Esponilla loves her seven children, she doesn’t want any more. Like most other Filipinos she doesn’t use contraceptives, and never has. She has considered the birth-control pill, but she doesn’t know much about them and is afraid of what they might do to her body.† Lack of information is one of the main causes of Philippine overpopulation. Dr. Emily Bernardo, the leader of a family-planning unit at the public Jose Fabella Hospital in Manila, says, â€Å"The poorest social groups are incredibly ignorant. They don’t even know how a woman becomes pregnant. Some of them believe they are infertile while they are still breast-feeding their  new-borns and others have never even heard of prevention or contraceptives. Others are still terrified of unknown side effects. That’s why women keep having more children, even though they neither want to nor have the economic means to provide for them.† The Catholic Church, however, is against Dr. Emily Bernardo and the center for family planning. They are against abortion, sterilization and all other forms of contraception, and even sexual education. Women are encouraged instead to guess their egg cycle to prevent pregnancy. Being a very religious country, the Philippines and its government policies are still influenced heavily by the Church. A lot of governmental campaigning on prevention of pregnancy and sexual education never pushed through due to this influence. Interpretation of Data Based on the conducted interviews and the process of surfing the Internet for the data we gathered in this research, we have come to see many points of view concerning the national —or rather worldwide— issue that continues to be an increasing problem in society. Overpopulation, as we now see it, has conflicting good and bad effects to the community. On the one hand, having a lot of people means more human resources, which would be very useful for further growth of national wealth. But on the other hand, the strain on economy and natural resources will be too much for the Philippines—and eventually the whole Earth—to handle, and the world may be left in poverty and chaos, and humans will be left to the mercy of what our once more peaceful world would become. We do not only observe this, though. We can also see that both sides are only possibilities, meaning they may potentially not happen at all. It all depends on what we, as the people, do about our situation. Even if we have manpower to support the nation, the country could still fall into depression if this manpower is not used efficiently. If most Filipinos in their working age, if not all, do not have jobs and sit idly in the streets, definitely the economy would fall. If we  take full advantage of the fact that we have a lot of human resources, we may just prosper. Even if we suffer from a global economic crisis, we could either succumb to the continual decline, or we could try to counteract the problem. After our endeavors, only time can tell what would happen after. How we handle our problems could mean all the difference between prosperity and chaos. Insights Based on Gathered Data Big Ideas: ï‚ · All things, no matter how good or bad they may seem, have both positive and negative sides to them. ï‚ · It’s not so much as what problems we face as how we face them. Sources/Bibliography Interviews: Annabelle Tee and Richmond Tee: parents Izen Lao: close friend Jan Adrian Chan: classmate and insightful peer Ninyo Vasquez: friend from Mindanao

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Amir as the Narrator Essay

The novel The Kite Runner is narrated by the main character, Amir. The novels follows Amir’s struggling path from adolescence to manhood. Amir tells the story of his life growing up in Kabul with his father, Baba and their two Hazara servants Hassan and Ali. Hassan is Amir’s half brother and best friend growing up; testing friendships, keeping secrets, accepting faults and gaining understanding. The two spent many years enjoying playing and kite fighting together as brothers. Amir describes his relationship with Hassan as very close and personal; he enjoys learning and growing with Hassan even though Hassan is considered below him in their society; expected to be a servant to Amir, not a companion. Although Hassan and Amir’s relationship seemed unbreakable, the winter of 1975 changed everything. Amir tells us of the major â€Å"kite fighting† competition that happens every year with all the local kids. Soon after Amir wins the competition that year, tragedy occurs with Hassan in a back alley, he is raped by a neighborhood boy, Assef. Amir witnesses this and tells no one about it. This later unravels the relationship between him and Hassan resulting in Hassan and Ali leaving Amir and Baba’s home. Throughout the novel, Amir is completely changed from this event. Throughout the book Amir struggles to be the son his father, Baba wants him to be. He feels that his father burdens Amir with the death of his mother because she died giving birth to Amir. Amir tells how Baba is very critical of him and makes him feel as though he can never reach his father’s expectations. Amir feels as though he needs to fight with Hassan for his father’s approval. Although he never had an ideal relationship with Baba, Amir loves and respects him to the fullest. Baba guides Amir through life helping him in becoming the best man he can be. Later in the novel Amir realizes how much he appreciated Baba.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

A Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Kansas with Academ Personal Statement

A Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Kansas with Academic Preference in Mathematics Intends to Get a Major in Statistics in the University of Kansas Module Personal ment Growing up, I wanted to pursue my education in the United s owing to the fact that it has the best institutions of learning and offers competitive career opportunities for graduates. I was born in China but moved to the U.S. to pursue my undergraduate degree. In the four years that I have lived in the country, I have learned a lot from the diverse population and on top of this, I recently graduated, with a bachelor of science degree in May 2014, from the University of Kansas. I majored in mathematics and minored in business. My academic preference has always been inclined towards the field of mathematics. This has given me a firm foundation for statistical and mathematical inquiry and equipped me with the skills and competencies that are needed to survive in a professional career in the same field. My job at Nantong Chengchang Mechanical Engineering Co. Ltd. gave me a chance to experience the practical aspect of business. Additionally, it gave me diverse knowledge in various sectors including mathematics and statistics. I served as a teaching assistant at the University of Kansas, School of Liberal Arts and Sciences. This experience taught me how to interact with people from various backgrounds. This experience also improved my public speaking capabilities. Through other work experience I have learned the value of leadership skills, customer services, and the significance of thoroughness and dependability. I have a wide range of core competencies that I have acquired over the years. I am flexible, meticulous and analytically minded and possess strong logical reasoning skills, all of which are important for the study of mathematics and statistics. I deal with challenges head-on and have excellent multitasking capabilities. I am a supportive team player and have demonstrated dedication and positive work ethics over the years. I am a fast learner and have excellent public speaking and excellent interpersonal communication, as throughout my stay in the United States I have interacted with individuals from different socio-cultural backgrounds. My bilingual competency is demonstrated through my fluency in English and native Chinese. I have an excellent understanding of MS Office including PowerPoint, Excel and Word. I am also highly skilled in C++ and STATA software. I am familiar with programming languages such as Java and Pascal. This is definitely an advantage in the study of statistics a nd mathematics. My academic qualifications are a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and a minor in Business from the University of Kansas. My work experience at Nantong Chengchang Mechanical Engineering Co. Ltd. was eye-opening and helped in developing requisite skills. In this company I productively took part in controlling various daily operations. I actively participated in streamlining the setting-up of a production and safety management technique. This resulted in improved efficiency in plant management. Additionally, I engaged in the formulation of two tender processes during the entity’s bid on two contracts with China International Marine Containers. The company, as a result, won one of the tenders. My experience as a teaching assistant at the University of Kansas, School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Mathematics Department, taught me valuable lessons. I developed a plan that helped students achieve a better understanding of the course materials. The students recorded improved performance in their tests and assignments. I have excellent leadership skills since I served as an orientation volunteer in the International Student & Scholar Services (ISSS) in the university. I have won awards in the National Olympiad in Informatics (NOI) in 2003 (Second Prize), 2004 (Third Prize) and 2006 (Tenth Place). This demonstrates my spirit to compete and succeed in all that I do. To sum up, I am a highly motivated, dynamic and focused undergraduate with a passion for statistics and mathematics, database management, and strong research inquiry. I am also keen on details. I am enthusiastic and self-driven, and seek an opportunity to study in a healthy and supportive learning environment that fosters leadership skills and professional growth while encouraging development of the team spirit. I believe that my core competencies, educational background, work experience, and awards demonstrate why I am an appropriate candidate to pursue a major in statistics in the University of Kansas.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Book reaction of the book Human Cargo by Caroline Moorehead Essay

Book reaction of the book Human Cargo by Caroline Moorehead - Essay Example This is a hard-hitting book which tries to illuminate these problems from the point of view of refugees, rather than from the comfortable position of the observer who is fortunate enough to have a homeland and to be settled and secure in that place. In reading this book, I was prepared to hear moving stories about individuals who had been caught up in wars, famines and disasters of all kinds. This expectation was more than met in descriptions ranging from cases of rape in Sierra Leone and Liberia, to shipwrecks on the way to Sicily. The grim and horrifying violence and lawlessness in some developing countries is clearly the cause of most large scale refugee movements and the book confirmed my view that these problems are increasing in the world, and that arrangements to care for refugees are not adequate for the volume of need that is there. What I did not expect to read about was the suffering that refugees had to endure on their journey away from horrific situations, and in camps a nd detention centers once they had arrived in places where they had hoped to find relief and a place to stay. This dimension of the book was truly shocking. Apart from highlighting the suffering of refugees, Moorhead has a secondary aim in her book, and that is to bring public attention to the way that affluent governments make the situation of refugees even worse than it already is. The book shows how throughout the twentieth century, systems and processes were invented to keep refugees out of certain countries, such as Australia, for example, and to make sure that they were locked up and kept under very close observation, as in the United Kingdom. The international laws that are designed to protect refugees seem to be very ineffective in doing exactly this. In addition to these political factors, which are no doubt driven by economic forces, since few countries want to take on the financial burden of finding homes, jobs and healthcare provision for the many hundreds of thousands o f refugees, there are also cultural factors. Thinking back over recent decades, there has been a tendency for Western Europe and North America to react to particular waves of refugees, such as the so-called Vietnamese Boat people, for example, with one-off and temporary measures. Newspapers latch on to the drama of these situations, but once the story becomes old news, the funding dries up and the problem remains. Some groups of refugees are demonized by the media, as for example in the case of the Romani people, and also Serbs, Kosovans and other Eastern European groups who were displaced in the fall of communism as small states gained independence and began to implement rules based on ethnic origin. Sadly, these trends seem to be repeated all over the world. My own reflections on this book were first a feeling of shock, since I had not realized that things were so very bad for refugees, and then some thoughts about the current situation in the United States where politicians are a rguing about what to do with the thousands of illegal immigrants who arrive from Mexico and beyond. I think the situation is more complex than it appears on the surface. Many of the people at the center of current debates in America are economic migrants, which means they are seeking better opportunities for themselves and their children. Negative attitudes against this kind of migrant spill over into negative attitudes towards refugees, who truly have no choice in the matter and are moving

Thursday, September 26, 2019

New Media & International Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

New Media & International Communication - Essay Example The media influences with sports apparel are created through various forms of communication that are based on commercialization. The types of media are inclusive of more traditional forms of media, such as print ads, newspapers, magazines and TV advertisements. These forms of commercialization are known to carry a specific number of advertisements or highlights that are based on sports apparel. There are also newer forms of advertisements through the dispersal of information on the Internet, specifically which creates a different relationship with potential customers interested in sports apparel. These various forms of communication become the most essential components of media influences as well as the relationships which are created with sports apparel. The main association with each of these is to transform the ideas of sports apparel into one which becomes attractive to those who are interested in sports of various forms.... For example, many of the sports coverage that is available come through television and sponsoring organizations. These include live coverage of specific games that may be more important to a group of individuals. The exposure continues with endorsements and sponsorship of top athletes for commercialization, specifically based on the performance of the games played in the past. These two interlink to news related stories that highlight the sports games and the top players. The news stories, coverage and responses then continue with social media and Internet exposure that highlights and creates responses with what is happening. Each of these build a different type of exposure through the media and interlink where the commercial aspects relate directly to exposure of the games and the fan base that identifies with this (Uhler, Lanter, 2008: p. 52). Communication of Sports Apparel The use of media and communication for sports apparel is unique because of the characteristics it holds and the type of consumers interested in the apparel. The main association is based on forms of advertising that are associated with adventure and living in the extreme. Through a recent study (Puchan, 2005, 171), it was found that sports activities have vastly increased in the last 20 years. This increase in sports is one which is directly related to the media sport and the world of sports that are associated with ideas of sports. Remaining healthy, living for adventure and having extreme associations then creates a different sense of communication. Sports apparel then links to communication that targets individuals interested in specific activities. The forms of media which are used will target these individuals and will communicate this specific message while showing

Xerox Corporation Case Study 03066 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Xerox Corporation Case Study 03066 - Essay Example One of the major and unexpected cases was of Xerox Inc., a huge reputed global technology entity. It was reported that the company practiced creative accounting techniques to manipulate its performance during the period from 1997 to 2000. Considering the case, below presented is a critical review of the case via investigating the underlying matter deeply with its circumstances and consequences. The discussion will be an effort of aligning and comparing case evidences with the defined code of conduct in the regard by authorities and authentic literature of the underlying discipline. Being a global entity in document technology business, Xerox inc., is known for quality and innovation in the field (Mui, 2012). Founded in 1906, Xerox is currently working with around 140000 employees, 12000 active patents and reported $19.5 Billion revenue for the year 2014 (Xerox, 2015). The company got entangled in an accounting scandal for the period of 1997-2000 by SEC. At that time, company’s worth was 92,500 employees, 87th rank in Fortune 500 and reported $18.7 billion sales for the year 2000 (Jessup, & Nance, 2011). Known for innovation in document technology, Xerox deals in a variety of products and services related to the digital documentation measures (Xerox, 2014). The portfolio of the company holds mainly ranges of printing devices, scanning machines, communication devices, publishing systems (Jessup, & Nance, 2011) and a wide range of offered outsource services as well (Girod, Alter, Harris and Junglas, 2011). Claiming to be the leader in document technology, Xerox admits the volatile nature of its business due to the association with the ever-changing technology. Girod, Alter, Harris, and Junglas, (2011) suggest that technology businesses work under high pressures of current competitive scenario. Slow paced innovation, technologically outdated products,

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

The Production of Fashion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The Production of Fashion - Essay Example The essay "The Production of Fashion" focuses on the alteration of the characteristics of fashion industry under the influence of branding, as related to the changes on consumer preferences worldwide. The review of appropriate literature has revealed that brands developed in the fashion industry have led to the differentiation of the industry’s trends, including the use of superseded garments. It is also proved that the structure and the characteristics of the fashion system allow the expansion of the above trend: by focusing on increase of their profitability, industry’s brands had to increase productivity, even if quality was decreased, more or less. Moreover, it could be supported that the increase of demand worldwide would not allow the industry’s brands to follow a different strategy, an issue that it is critically discussed below. The fashion industry, as part of the economy, is quite complex. Apart from a system for the achievement of profits, the fashion industry can be also characterized as a framework for the development of culture. In this context, the industry’s development is not an easy task. Influenced by economic recessions and changes in consumption trends, the fashion industry has suffered strong pressures that have caused the limitation of the industry’s profitability. For example, reference can be made to ‘the industry’s workforce in the UK for the period 1996-1997 which was estimated to 150,000 workers’, a number rather low if taking into consideration the size of the particular market.

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Substance Abuse Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Substance Abuse - Research Paper Example This paper shall discuss substance abuse and its impact to the human body and the daily functioning of a person. This paper shall also evaluate how the work environment I am currently part of is affected by substance abuse. Possible solutions which can be carried out through social controls will also be discussed. The different social and economic benefits which can be seen after implementation of these social controls will also be discussed. This paper is being conducted in order to establish the different important details which are needed to understand substance abuse. Discussion Substances which are subject to abuse include drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. People often have different reasons for such abuse and more often than not, society pays heavily the price for substance abuse. The impact of this abuse can be seen in the increase in admissions in the hospitals for drug overdose, alcohol poisoning, and other more encompassing incidents like road accidents caused by drunk or drugge d drivers. The courts are also often tied up with a long list of crimes where drugs and/or alcohol are involved in their commission. Substances subject of abuse These substances which are considered addictive contain ingredients which produce symptoms of dependence. Tobacco for example contains the addicting substance known as nicotine. Inasmuch as people use tobacco or cigarettes to relieve stress, to improve performance and vigilance, to relieve depression, and to control weight, it also contains thousands of chemicals which impact negatively on our body. Such effects may come in the form of heart disease, lung disease, peptic ulcer, stroke, and lung cancer (WebMd, 2011). Alcohol also contains addictive elements. It is used by people as a â€Å"pick me up,† however it can also cause decreased muscle control, can slur speech, and it can decrease inhibitions. It is also attributed as the cause of thousands of car accidents – some of them fatal. Illicit drugs like marij uana, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines, and other so-called club drugs (ecstacy, PCP, ketamine, GHB, and similar drugs) are also used to produce various effects, including pleasure sensations, and general feelings of well-being or â€Å"high†. It can however cause massive organ damage, as well as cause heart, lung, and kidney problems. Impact on the current work environment In my current work environment, substance abuse impacts in terms of the quality of work given to each task by each employee. For those who suffer from an addiction problem, I noted that their addiction is sometimes so debilitating that it incapacitates them – making them frequent absentees and slackers at work. These workers can also make the workplace a dangerous environment with some of them showing up drunk and disorderly or hung-over (OSH, 2008). In carrying out their duties, their concentration can sometimes be compromised and in the process, they can place their lives, as well as the lives of other co-workers in danger (OSH, 2008). In the area I work in – in the Quality Control division of a cosmetics company, substance abuse affects the quality of work. For those who are alcoholics and drug addicts, I noted that they were often inconsistent in their attendance. They were often absent or late. As a result, the rest of us had to make the necessary adjustments to make up for their absence or their lateness. They were able to

Monday, September 23, 2019

History final in-class essays Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

History final in-class essays - Essay Example These empires are one of the most important empires because they provide a lot of information and important documents concerning the Islamic culture and beliefs (Bryce, 2013). To begin with, the Ottoman Empire was formed around the beginning of 14th century and was the first empire to be formed among these three empires. It covers areas such as the North Africa region, Egypt, Syria, Arabia, Iraq, and the Balkans region. It was founded by a sultan known as Sultan Selim in 1512 and its boundaries covers Atlantic Ocean region to the whole Persian Gulf (Dinc & Yetim, 2012). The empire went in first battle of the Lepanto at around 1571 and later went in a battle where it was defeated in 1683 in Vienna. In addition, the empire is remembered as one of the great Islamic empires that brought modernization in the late 19th century that. Although it failed to improve the economic, political, and social process in its regions, it was seen to provide bigger impact on the cultural Islamic historic al life (Carnegie, 2013). The empire ruled until around 1600, where it reached its peak and later started to decline due to some internal lack of organization. Again, the decline was due to enemy pressure that was inflicted to the empire by the Europe and Asia enemies of the empire. Although the empire faced various challenges, it was it came to an end in 1918 after World War I. The empire is remembered as one of the great Islamic empires that gave rise to the present day country called Turkey. Again, the empire is also remembered as one of the empires that provided the link between the medieval revolution and the current Islamic historical information (Guidetti, 2013). The second great Islamic empire is known as the Safavid Empire that was founded in 1501 as a result of political changes in Persia. The empire is come from the name Safavid that was the name of Sufi order formed by the Sunnite mystic. Although Safi-ad-Din died in around 1334 the empire name was passed to Shiism at ar ound 1400 hence the name the Shiite Safavid Empire. Ismail became the head of Safavid in 1487 and ruled up to 1501 where he declared himself the Shah of Iran and established a dynasty that united and brought together Iran people and ruled them up to late 1722. Iran became more influenced by the western culture in the early 19th century leading to modernization, which brought about the Islamic religion of today. Besides the empire although formed in 1501was one of the great Islamic empires that was originated as a result of religious sect and acquired most of political as well as military characteristic. This empire was officially the empire of Shiite and some of the religious diversity he has led to conflict between it and the Sunni neighbors. Besides this is one the empires that ruled within the shortest time and was greatly affected by the invaders such as the Afghans which attacked them in around 1722. The empire is greatly remembered for its nationalism and it led to the formati on of the present day Iran country (Behbudi, 2013). The third empire is the Mughal Empire that was based in India and was founded in 1526 (Garcia-Rivero, 2013). The empire faced many challenges and was affected British empires. In addition, the empire gained from the succession of strong rulers that gave him the Hindu population

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Educational psychology Essay Example for Free

Educational psychology Essay Assessment is the process of collecting, interpreting, and synthesising information in order to make decisions about students; provide learners feedback about their progress and their strengths and weaknesses; judge instructional effectiveness and inform educational policy (American Federation of Teachers, et al. , 1990 as cited in Gage and Berliner, 1998). On the other hand, motivation is simply what moves learners from boredom to interest so that they continue learning. It arouses and directs learner’s activities towards learning over time. Assessments can motivate learners if teachers and students roles are effectively performed. For instance, the role of a teacher can be designing tasks in a way that learners can complete with reasonable amount of effort. Difficult tests should be divided into subgroups that are achievable without excessive effort. The role of the teacher even includes ability to inform learners in advance about the nature of the assessments. In this way, assessments are able to motivate student’s effort to learn. Furthermore, Nicholls (1999) as cited in Stepleton (2001) states assessments will motivate learners if they are not seen as a form of torture to the students. The teacher should ensure that students understand that assessments are only meant to assist learners towards achievement of effective learning and attainment of educational goals. If students understand this, they will value assessments and form a positive attitude towards assessments there by getting motivated to learn. Assessments, if used judicially as in grading t tests and scoring of marks, can motivate learners to learn (Gage and Berliner, 1998). Similarly, it is pointed out that given that learners are labelled on the basis of assessments and that these labels create expectations about learner’s ability, characteristics and educational competence. Teachers have to be careful in labelling students. Stepleton (2001) states that according to self-fulfilment prophecy theory, students learn to behave in line with the label or characteristic that has been applied to them. Hence, if assessments are to motivate students, teachers must avoid labelling learners as poor, dull, incompetent or failures on the basis of quantitative results of assessments in the class. If a student feels the teacher knows him or her as an underperformer, the learner may cling to that mentality. On the other hand, good labels such as excellent, good and wonderful should be encouraged and used appropriately to increase motivation on the students learning efforts.

Friday, September 20, 2019

The Catcher In The Rye English Language Essay

The Catcher In The Rye English Language Essay Considering an English novel as the source document and its Persian translations as the target text, we mean to answer this question. Extracting idioms and non-idioms from the first chapter of J. D. Salingers The Catcher in the Rye, is the first step to start. Then we made a comparison of gathered information with their Persian translations by Najafi and Karimi for the next stage. Following compensation strategy by adding target language idioms somewhere in the translated texts by the Persian translators, is an open door to manage the idiomatic loss in their translations. This indicates that, if in any case its not possible to translate a source language idiom as an idiom in target language, the translator can compensate the loss of the idiom by adding a target language idiom to places where there initially was a non-idiom. Key words: English Idiom, Persian Translation, Translation Strategies, Compensation Strategy, Source Text (ST), Target Text (TT), Source Language (SL), Target Language (TL). Introduction: Translation is generally explained as a process in which the translator transfers the meaning of a SL text into TL under the circumstances of preserving the content and accuracy of original text, as far as it is possible. Where there is no equivalent for a SL idiom in the TL, the translator gets throughout compensation strategy to fill this incurred gap. The more skilled the translator is, the better will be the translation. If you are enthusiastic to this issue as we are, this is the paper you can refer to and take your answer. Theoretical Background: Translation Bell (ibid.: 6) argues that a total equivalence between a source language text and its translation is something that can never be fully achieved. According to Bassnett-McGuire (1980: 2), the aim of translation is that the meaning of the target language text is similar to that of the source language text, and that the structures of the SL will be preserved as closely as possible, but not so closely that the TL structures will be seriously distorted. In other words, the source language structure must not be imitated to such an extent that the target language text becomes ungrammatical or sounds otherwise unnatural or clumsy. Idiom: Idioms are the major and natural part of all languages as well as a prominent part of our everyday discourse. Idioms are such a normal part of our language use that we hardly even notice how vastly we use them in our everyday speech and writing. English is a language full of idioms, so, learners of English should be aware of their nature, types, and use. Using many idioms in English language is one of the aspects that makes it somehow difficult to learn for a Persian learner. They can be used in formal style and in slang. Idiom is defined as a group of words which have different meaning when used together from the one they would have if you took the meaning of each word individually (Collins Cobuild dictionary, 1990 edition). Indeed, the meaning of idiom can only be inferred through its meaning and function in context, as shown in the examples below (from Fernando, 1996). bread and butter, as in `It was a simple bread and butter issue (see further below); bless you, which is usually used in the context of cordial expressions; go to hell, which indicates that there is a conflict among interlocutors in an interpersonal contact; In sum, which indicates relations among portions and components of a text. Idioms are a set of phrases have different meaning from its individual parts of the phrases. Sometimes it is hard to recognize the meaning of a phrase just by knowing the meaning of the words including in it e.g. paint the town red is a phrase which has a meaning other than the meaning of its words separately, it means having a good time! Some traditional theories of idiomaticity assumed that idioms are frozen, semantic units that are essentially non-compositional (Hambin Gibbs, 1999, p.26). However, there have been a number of semantic classification systems proposed since 1980 for rating the composition of idioms which basically give differing names to the same concepts (Grant Bauer, 2004). Translating Idioms: working with English, the translator may easily recognize if an idiom violates `truth conditions, as in `it is raining cats and dogs, `storm in a teacup, jump down someones throat, etc. It may be hard to recognize, if the idiom is not of this nature, and translators may just think of it as an ordinary expression, with the consequence of either losing its tone or losing its meaning. There are two sources which may cause misinterpretation: The first possible source is that there are idioms which can mislead readers/users; they do not sound idiomatic at all, but at a closer look, careful readers would find the hidden idioms. An example given by Salinger in The Catcher in the Rye is `got the axe in the following text: The manager warned me, but I didnt notice, so I got the axe. On the first look, readers may interpret it in terms of a person who took an axe and wanted to do something with it like cut a tree but at a closer look, a careful reader may find out that means to lose the job. The second source of misinterpretation occurs when the words in an idiom have equivalents in the target language (i.e. in Persian) but with totally different meaning. Another good example given by Salinger is the idiom: for the birds. Winter weather is for the birds. At first it may be understood that this sentence means winter weather is good for the birds but it makes no sense because the meaning is really different and it means worthless; undesirable. Strategies used translating idioms Idioms are culture bound and this is another challenge for the translator to transfer the exact meaning and content of SL idiom into TL idiom perfectly. For the sake of solving these difficulties the translator may apply a strategy. Using the appropriate method in this process, the translators can get over the difficulties easily and it is valuable and useful for their works. Mona Baker, in her book In Other Words (1992, pp. 72-78) ,defines the following strategies for translating idiomatic expressions: 1) Using an idiom of similar meaning and form, 2) Using an idiom of similar meaning but dissimilar form, 3) by paraphrase, 4) by omission. (1) Using an idiom of similar meaning and form: The first translation strategy by Mona Baker is translating TL idiom similar in its form and meaning to the SL idiom. For example: Tooth and nail ((Ø ¨ÃƒËœ Ú† Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒÅ¡Ã‚ ¯ Ùˆ Ø ¯Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   (2) Using an idiom of similar meaning but dissimilar form: Another strategy suggested by Mona Baker is translating a SL idiom into TL idiom the same meaning but different form. In this case, the translator does not preserve the lexical items and translate as a semantic equivalent. For example: Acid tongue in her head. (Ø ²ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨ÃƒËœÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Ù† Ãƒâ€ºÃ…’Ø ´ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ€ºÃ…’ Ø ¯ÃƒËœÃƒËœÃ‚ ´ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ) (3) Translation by paraphrase: The most common strategy in translation of idioms is paraphrase. Translators often cannot translate a SL idioms as a TL idiom, therefore they use the paraphrase strategy by using a word or a group of words in TL exactly related to the meaning of that idiom in SL which may be a non-idiom. Newmark (1988, p.109) says that while using this strategy not only components of sense will be missing or added, but the emotive or pragmatic impact will be reduced or lost. Still, paraphrase is usually descriptive and explanatory; sometimes it preserves the style of the original idiom as well. For example: On tenterhooks. ((Ù†¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ «Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ ØÙÅ  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒÅ¡Ã‚ ©Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ Ø ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ€ºÃ…’ Ø ªÃƒËœÃƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ Ø ¢ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ´ Ø ¨ÃƒËœÃƒËœÃ‚ ´Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ (4) Translation by omission: This strategy is not used very frequently. In fact, it is not approved by many scholars and some of them do not include it among other translation strategies (Veisbergs, 1989). However, sometimes its impossible to translate a SL idiom into TL, so the translator may use another strategy called compensation. In this strategy the translator omit an idiom and may put another idiom elsewhere in the TL text by preserving the effect of SL idiom. Compensation Strategy: Compensation is a strategy most definitely worth considering, while it can be used as one possible strategy for dealing with idioms and quite an effective one for compensating the loss caused by translating. Therefore, in order to preserve the idiomaticity of the original text and to avoid the mentioned loss, many translators resort to compensation in translating idioms as their final but workable strategy. That is when an idiom is not possible to be translated into TT, a translators last effort is to compensate an idiom by omitting that and putting an idiom in another place, by preserving the usage effect of idiom in the ST. Nida and Taber (1969) mention that, whereas one inevitably loses many idioms in the process of translation one also stands to gain a number of idioms (p. 106). Baker (1992) indicates that in compensation, a translator may leave out a feature such as idiomaticity where it arise in the ST and introduce it somewhere else in the TT (p. 78). In support of this idea, Newmark (1991) suggests that all puns, alliterations, rhyme, slang, metaphor and pregnant words can be compensated in translation. Though he further adds that, compensation is the procedure which in the last resort ensures that translation is possible (pp.143à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 144). Theoretical framework We agree with Lorenzo, M. et al., in that the first step a translator must take is to clearly define his objective before producing a translation which is as true as possible to the original text. One of the aspects of Hans Vermeers concept of skopos (1989:227) is the establishment of a clearly defined objective or purpose for translation; Any form of translation, including translation itself, may be understood as an action, as the name implies. Any action has an aim, a purpose. The word skopos is a technical word for the aim or purpose of translation. Nidas Dynamic Equivalence In the process of translating idioms, the translator may face many difficulties which is not a simple task to overcome. The major problem is the lack of equivalence in the process of translation. It would be desirable if a translator could find a TL idiom which is the same as that in structure and content of SL idiom. Anyway every language, both source and target, has its own idioms and it may be hard to find the precise source equivalent in the target language. The definition of dynamic equivalence is initially given by Eugene A. Nida in his book Toward a Science of the Translation (Nida, E.A., 1964:161). Nida is an American translator, scholar, teacher, leader, influencer, conceptualizer, innovator, and influential theoretician. Nida argued that there are two different types of equivalence, namely formal equivalence-which in the second edition by Nida and Taber (1982) is referred to as formal correspondence-and dynamic equivalence. Formal correspondence focuses attention on the message itself, in both form and content, unlike dynamic equivalence which is based upon the principle of equivalent effect (1964:159). Dynamic equivalence connects the target language and culture in order to make messages comprehensible to target language receptors. For instance, if we translate a phrase like two hemorrhages apiece literally into Persian, it will produce a nonsensical meaning for the Persian receptor. Idiomatic expressions may not seem understandable when translated from one language to another. In such cases the equivalence counterpart Ø ®Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ ÃƒËœÃ‚ ´ Ø ¯Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€  قؠ¨ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¶Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ can be used to make it understandable to the receptor. In this view the translator has brought an equivalent which the original author most likely meant. Method: Corpus: The study is based on a contrastive comparison between the two Persian translations of The Catcher in the Rye by Muhammad Najafi and Ahmad Karimi. In this study we tried to achieve which of these translators has followed the compensation strategy in his own translation, and whether they have been successful in this process or not. Gathering the data: Collecting the data, of course, is as important as other stages (like conclusion) and even more important. Because the more accurate the gathered data is so, the more favorable the result will be. Focusing on the process in this study, we long to explain the steps in data collecting, respectively. At the earliest step, we extracted English idioms and non-idioms from the first chapter of the novel, then found their Persian equivalents from two Persian translations by Najafi and Karimi of the same novel. We aimed to know whether English idioms are translated into Persian idioms or not and whether English non-idioms are translated into Persian idioms or not. Then we read the aforementioned translated chapter by two translators several times to clarify if they may be idioms. We looked up English idioms in Idioms Oxford Dictionary, although we had difficulty in recognizing the exact idiom at first. On the other hand, as we are Persian students, it was not hard to find Persian idioms as difficult as English idioms, anyway. But on non-idioms, we considered the most English phrases or sentences which translated as idioms in TL. Maybe you ask why we chose this novel. As you know, of course, this novel is rich in idioms and it makes the work for researcher to access the idealistic results easier. Then we counted the idioms and non-idioms in both original text and its Persian translations by two translators. Table 1. Total Number of Idiomatic and Non-Idiomatic Translations of the Salingers Idioms J.D. Salingers Idioms Total Translation Najafi Karimi 44 Idiomatic 22 18 Non- Idiomatic 22 26 In this table, we calculated the total numbers of English idioms (N=44) which is translated by translators, either idiomatic or non-idiomatic. As you can see, here, Najafi translated more English idioms (N=44) into Persian idioms (N=22) than Karimi. We guess, this table will confirm our claim that Najafi has translated much more skilful than Karimi, because he got use of compensation strategy by adding more Persian idioms than Karimi. Anyway, our purpose is not to compare persons and is just to determine if there is any use of compensation strategy in each of these translations. Table 2. Total Number of Idiomatic and Non-Idiomatic Translations of the Salingers Non-idioms J.D. Salingers Non-Idioms Total Translation Najafi Karimi 42 Idiomatic 42 26 Non-Idiomatic 0 16 This table also illustrated that Najafi translated 42 English non-idioms out of 42 as idiomatic. On the other hand, Karimi translated 26 English non-idioms out of 42 as idiomatic. This table shows how Najafi and Karimi have functioned in translating non-idioms into idioms. By total non-idioms, we mean those which translated as idioms by Najafi and it will be our criteria for counting Karimis idioms and non-idioms. Table 3. Total Number of Different Data Extracted from Both Translations and the Original Text Data J.D. Salinger Najafi Karimi Idiom 44 64 44 Non-idiom 42 22 42 Total 86 86 86 This table confirms that Najafi has translated the novel more idiomatic (N=64) than Karimi (N=44). Classifying the Data: After extracting and counting the total idioms in both original text and its translations, it revealed that translators had applied 3 different translation strategies for idioms. These strategies were: Translating English Idioms into Persian Idioms Translating English Idioms into Persian Non-idioms Translating English Non-idioms into Persian Idioms Analyzing the Data: In this stage, we analyzed the whole collected data and calculated frequency and the percentage proportion of each strategy in the same translations. The results are shown in the tables below; Table 4. Frequency and Percentage of Idioms Translation Strategies Applied by Najafi Strategy Frequency Percentage Translation of idiom with idiom 22 50 Translation of idiom with non-idiom 22 50 Total 44 100 Table 5. Frequency and Percentage of Idioms Translation Strategies Applied by Karimi Strategy Frequency Percentage Translation of idiom with idiom 18 40.90 Translation of idiom with non-idiom 26 59.10 Total 44 100 Table 6. Frequency and Percentage of Non-Idioms Translation Strategies Applied by Najafi Strategy Frequency Percentage Translation of non-idiom with idiom 42 100 Translation of non-idiom with non-idiom 0 0 Total 42 100 Table 7. Frequency and Percentage of Non-Idioms Translation Strategies Applied by Karimi Strategy Frequency Percentage Translation of non-idiom with idiom 26 61.90 Translation of non-idiom with non-idiom 16 38.10 Total 42 100 Table 8. Percentage of each Applied Strategies in both Translations Strategy Najafi Karimi Translation of non-idiom with idiom 100 61.90 Translation of non-idiom with non-idiom 0 38.10 Total 100 100 Results: The results show that both translators, Najafi and Karimi, have applied three strategies in translating idioms: translating English idioms with Persian idioms, translating English idioms with Persian non-idioms, translating English non-idioms with Persian idioms, and translating English non-idioms with Persian non-idioms. One of the translators, Najafi, used more frequently the first and the third (translating English idioms and non-idioms as Persian idioms) strategy in his translation, on the other hand, the latter translator, Karimi, used the second and the last (translating English idioms and non-idioms as Persian non-idioms) strategy more often. Discussion and Conclusion: As mentioned before, its hard to translate a SL idiom into TL idiom regarding the accurateness and the faithfulness of SL into TL. In this stud, out of 44 extracted idioms from J.D. Salingers novel, 22 (50%) of the expressions have not been translated as idioms by Najafi. In the same case, Karimi has translated 18 (40.90%) of the idioms with Persian idioms and the remaining 26(59.10%) idioms have been translated non-idiomatically. This imbalance between the total number of idioms and their non-idiomatic translations causes a loss of idiomaticity in the Persian translated texts. Some of these idiomatic losses have been compensated for elsewhere in the text, since the translators have replaced some English language non-idioms with Persian idioms. By this strategy, Najafi has added 42 idioms and Karimi has added 26 idioms to their translations. We recognized that theres not the exact contrast in numbers of idioms in two languages(SL,TL), but its very common in translation. The translators were somehow successful here in compensating idiom gaps in the TL. Furthermore, they compensated those non-idiom expressions in the original context to function better on their translations. Compensation strategy is considered here as the best to translate idioms, non-idioms and figure of speech as well.