Management accounting and control (s-12 -1-4)) Coursework

Management accounting and control (s-12 -1-4)) - Coursework Example In this control model, there are several actions that ought to be subjected to control as argued by Otley and Berry (1980). In their argument, the authors point out four conditions of control. i. Existence of clear organisation’s objectives ii. The outputs of the budgetary process should be measurable iii. The effect of the control actions must be predictable iv. The organisation should be able to implement a corrective action throughout the budgetary process. Existence of clear organisation’s objectives Management of public and large private organisations is sometime hard to attain the desired ends. Activities and various operations should be monitored closely and action should be taken in order to achieve the intended objectives. Objectives drive an organisation in pursuing any activity. It dictates what ought to be done at specific period of time. An organisation has objectives and subsidiary objectives that influence its course of actions. Setting clear objectives i s one of the functions of modern management both in private and public sector. Measurement of goal attainment both financially and in terms of meeting demands of stakeholders is paramount. The issue of goal attainment cannot be achieved without confronting the issue of organisation’s effectiveness and efficiency, which means have direct effect on organisation’s budget (Bunce et al., 1995). The extent to which clear objectives apply in the context of budgeting As suggested by Otley and Berry (1980), objectives for budgetary process under control must exist; otherwise without them the control process is meaningless to the organisation. Well defined objectives compel an organisation to work without certain resource and time constraints. Most organisations around the world defined their objectives which ought to be achieved within budgeted resources. The objectives act a guide to the utilization of the existing resources as reflected in the budget. The authors further sugg est that the budgeting control process is influenced directly by the objectives to be attained during a specified period of time. It is demeaning for organisation to spend its resources on unbudgeted things since it will undermine the attainment of well defined objectives. Without objectives, the budgeting process will be aimless hence the entire concept of budgetary control becomes inappropriate. As the business operations progresses, an organisation continually monitors the world around and compares its current state with its objectives. Is the organisation in the correct route in respect to its budgeting process? Is its spending within the appropriate budget limit? Is the organisation avoiding resource strain? The objectives helps an organisation makes a budgetary observations by the use of measurable aspects of budget. The outputs of the budgetary process should be measurable Most literature advocate for adoption of performance based budgeting (PBP) as a primary way of attaining efficiency in the management of public resources. The sole aim of this concept is to link performance information with effective management and allocation of public or organisational resources. It emphasizes the significance of singling out measurable outcomes and effectively allocating resources to facilitate the realization of these outcomes. According to Otley

Trade measures and commodities tariff and non-tariff barriers export Essay

Trade measures and commodities tariff and non-tariff barriers export taxes quantitative measures subsidies consumption taxes the - Essay Example Following is the discussion regarding the impact of measures in an in-depth manner. The aspect of tariffs and non-tariff barriers has been long noted to have a direct impact on the trade sector. In order to understand the impact of these barriers on trade; it is imperative to understand these barriers. Tariff barriers are basically inclinations of taxes which are posed on the products and articles which are imported from other regions of the world. It should be noted that over the years, government has made use of the tariff barriers to control economic activity (Hont). The impact of the tariff barriers can be noted briefly as positive and negative as well. Since these tariffs limit the amount of products to be imported in the country, it is significant for the domestic brands to get maximum reach to the consumers. This makes it easier to note the articles which are more needed in the country rather than overly filling the shelves. But the fact remains that this limit also diverges t he foreign investors to replicate their business in the region (Rawley and Behrendt). On the other hand, non-tariff barriers (NTBs) are notably more limiting when it comes to international trade. The non-tariff barriers undertake a number of generalizations including the licensing of the import, content regulation which is applied till the time it is sent to the market shelves (Klien). Also, technical barriers have also been considered as a more prominent limiting aspect of the NTBs. The trade barriers are merely applied to increase the trade, weaken the trade or restrict the trade. All the mentioned focus of the trade barriers are being observed in the international trading widely (Bowden). The biggest impact which has been noted over the years is that tariff barriers weaken not just the supply and demand pricing but also international trades between different countries. Overall, the border taxes, and other voluntary costs of the imports allows the government to keep a balance betw een the in-house domestic articles as well as international product saturation in the market (Hirschman). The major concern which has been enhanced by the international economic authorities is that the non-trade barriers have merely limit the underdeveloped countries to trade their product for economic activity since the taxes and licensing needs a lot of cost (Ransom). Also, export tax is another trade measure which has a very divergent effect on the trade which totally depends upon the market structure. It should be noted that the positive impact of the export tax on any country’s economy is in terms of domestic production (Hunt). It must be taken under account that if a country has a wider share of the international market with a respective product that it can be easier for it to reflect change on the price of the product in the international market. It is due to the aid of export taxes that these countries can exploit price of a product in the international market. Overal l, it can be said that with the help of export taxes, the export of the tax-imposing nation can be reduced by large (Dunkley). Followed by the above trade measures for limiting import, consumptions tax is just another measure which has marked a quiet

Inclusive Education Essay Example for Free

Inclusive Education Essay The management of inclusion is a source of enormous challenge to many schools across the globe. Developed countries in particular are faced with the mounting challenge of ensuring that every child is educated up to adequate standards (Ainscow 1995). Similarly, families that have children with special needs are seeking institutions that can provide their children with the standard level of education received by other children. Educational Institutions are also in a similar boat, continually faced with the mounting challenge of accepting and responding to the diversity that each child brings to the classroom. While many definitions of inclusion are pervasive, it remains widely accepted that the notion of inclusion involves welcoming and encouraging diversity amongst all learners. Inclusive education can be viewed from different perspectives. Different educational settings and social communities have differing perceptions of what it means. Most literature however start with the general notion that education is a basic human right that forms the foundation of every just and fair society. However, the basic elements of its meaning can be categorized into four. Ainscow (2005) suggests the first element involves seeing inclusion as a process – a continuous process that analyzes and recommends improved ways of responding to diversity by accepting and learning from peoples’ differences. Every one’s difference is seen as an asset which can be used to ensure learning takes place under varied and flexible circumstances. Ainscow (2005) also refers to the second element of inclusion as identifying and removing barriers. The teachers or managers of the inclusion process should be actively involved in collecting, analyzing and managing information from diverse sources which can be applied to policy refinements and modifications. The third element is centered on enforcing active participation and goal achievement for each student. The fourth element highlighted by Ainscow (2005) is the need for teachers or those in charge of learning to place an increased emphasis on those who are at greater risk of being marginalized or who are less able to benefit from the current modes and aspects of learning. In summary, Ainscow (2005) suggests that the practices that are pervasive in most organizations today is a reflection of present culture and norms. Learners may be impeded from learning optimally under certain conditions due to over learned behaviour imposed by social institutions and their thinking patterns. Consequently, Ainscow (1999) suggests that the development of inclusive practices should focus on reforming the way actors think in order to be able to realize the full potential of inclusive education and make its practice more reinforced in schools across the world. Armstrong (2003) describes inclusion as a set of principles, values and practices that are executed to initiate a revolution of education systems and communities.   It seeks to challenge thinking that is conditioned to assume that certain pupils need to be dealt with in a particular way (Armstrong 2003). According to (CSIE 2010) Inclusive education has a long history but centers on the need for equality and human rights. It is based on a moral perspective that values and respects every person while welcoming diversity. Schools are becoming more open to people of different abilities, backgrounds, ethnic and cultural histories. Consequently, there’s an extensive need for schools to fend for different learners. According to CSIE (2010), inclusion in education has a large number of connotations and the basic ones include:  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The need for schools to value everyone including staff and students equally.  · The participation of all students in cultures and learning communities, while reducing barriers to their learning and the inclusion of students, even though categorized as having special educational needs  · Revamping school’s practices and policies so that they are responsive to the variety of students within the region  · Learning from attempts at inclusive education and implementing the changes more widely  · Acknowledging the basic right of every child to a fair education and recognizing that inclusion in education is paramount to inclusion in society.  · Emphasizing the role of schools in community development, sustaining relationships and adjusting the resources of the schools to support learning. According to CSIE (2010), the world is changing and stereotypical thinking needs to be nipped in the bud. Valuing some people over others is deemed unethical; people should not be prevented from participating in culture and curricula and neither should segregated schooling be used for children with special needs since it violates their right to education without any form of discrimination (Ainscow 1994). Academic achievements should not be the sole aim of schooling there is also the moral and personal development that every child should have a right to. Also, isolating schools and communities from each other deprives students of rich and multifaceted experiences that can enhance their learning. The right to an inclusive education is in Article 24 (Education) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (2006). Even though the idea of inclusive education is generally accepted, some schools have reservations to it and claim that they do not have the resources to cater for all categories of children. It is unclear whether this problem is persistent due to funding, personal reservations or a lack of resources. In addition, inclusive education can be seen as an educational practice that emphasizes that students who can learn normally, without any learning inhibitions, spend time with those who have special educational needs which may be of any form. This type of inclusion emphasizes the child’s right to participate while schools are also inclined to accept the child as they would any other normal child. This principle rejects the use of special, isolated classrooms and learning environments for students with disabilities. The social, civil and participatory rights of students are emphasized and form the heart of any inclusive education strategy. It is a collective form of education in which all types of children can sit and learn together and it proposes the need to emphasize diverse learning approaches to handling children with varying educations and academic limits. With inclusive education, children who were previously excluded may now spend time with other children, which would not have been possible earlier. The use of segregated schooling is however still pervasive and one must bear in mind that Inclusive education does not apply only to disabled children but to everyone (CSIE 2010). The Benefits of Inclusive Education There are a number of ways to analyze the benefits of inclusive education. This section will start off by examining the benefits to disabled children. There are many aspects to inclusive education that can benefit disabled children as well as the normal children. Children with special needs would have the chance to learn in the same environment as normal children; they are thus subjected to the same learning environment and resources which will on the long run, ensure that they also have the opportunity to learn at the same pace as the normal children. Inclusive education may also nip in the bud, future psychological problems that a child may have when they eventually become aware that they have special needs. Inclusive education helps them to mix with other children thereby reducing possible issues of inferiority complex that may arise in the future. With inclusive education, schools can become flexible to adapting to the needs of the children, and not the other way round. The differences between the students can also serve as a means of achieving diversity and variety – the educational facilities and teachers would then have to develop unique responses to deal with each child (Ainscow 1999). In terms of society, the benefits are multi-fold. Inclusive education can help in forming stronger links between schools and communities. This on the long run will lead to stronger societies, partnering, consolidation and the forging of self respect for every individual in the society.   For developing countries, the benefits are extensive. Education is one of the hallmarks of any progressive society and as such should not be taken lightly. Inclusive education would give every child the right to fair education and a chance of a bright future. Inclusive education should be central to the educational polcies of any country claiming to be democratic. When countries embrace this ideal, it promotes a culture of fairness, comraderie and may nip societal ills such as racism and discrimination in the bud.

Sexism In English Language English Language Essay

Sexism In English Language English Language Essay Sexism in language represents one of the major issues in sociolinguistic studies. As a phenomenon of society, sexism is reflected through language that expresses inclination in favor of one sex and treats the other one in a discriminatory manner. Characteristically, the bias is in favor of men and against women. Thus, the language is presented as a powerful tool of patriarchy. Even though in English-speaking countries all the people are considered equal, discrimination against women exists and this fact is observed in language. Given this evidence, the purpose of the research is to study morphological, syntactic and semantic peculiarities of English sexist language. The research proposal will therefore seek to explore and investigate the following: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ To define the concept of sexist language; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ To identify and evaluate the cultural factor, social factor, physiological factor and psychological factor which influence the existence of sexism in English language; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ To examine the elements of sexism in the English language which occur in the syntax, morphology and semantics of the language; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ To determine the strategies for avoiding sexism in English language. The main method applied in this study is a literary overview of the works in which is treated the topic Sexism in English language. The theoretical framework which influenced the elaboration of this research for the deeper insight into the problem of morphological, syntactic and semantic peculiarities of English sexist language is based on the relevant and recent works of such authors as Peter Trudgill in Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, Nilson, Alleen Pace and Haig Bosmajian, H Lee Gershung, Julia P Stanley in Sexism and Language, Nneka Umera-Okeke in Linguistic Sexism: An Overview of the English Language in Everyday Discourse and Hudson, R. A. in Sociolinguistics. These books were selected for the present research as they investigate the phenomenon of sexism in English language and they are recent studies from sociolinguistic domain. On the basis of their ideas concerning elements of sexism in English language, I will analyze and compare their assumptions and evidences about the topic under the discussion. Consequently, I will outline the similarities and differences between their points of view concerning the topic. In addition to this, I will try to determine if they contradict or share the same ideas about the problem investigated and if their arguments are reasonable and trustful, in order to clarify if English language is a sexist one, and if it is to examine the elements of sexism in the English language which occur in the syntax, morphology and semantics of the language. The motivation for choosing the topic of this research proposal is based on the fact that during the last decades a lot of questions and criticisms of  sexist language  have appeared, trying to identify whether English language is a sexist language or it does not. Thus, it would be relevant to perform a linguistic investigation of morphological, syntactic and semantic peculiarities of sexist language. On the basis of this investigation, we will identify the role language plays in the society and how it influences the social attitudes of human beings. Taking into account the fact that women were regarded as a weaker gender in society, being discriminated for a long time, it seems interesting and challenging to explore this topic in order to identify whether this stereotyped social phenomena or subordinate status of women in society is reflected and preserved in language. Due to the fact that many students encounter difficulties in determining the gender of the nouns, the results o f this research will help them to distinguish between the common gender, female gender and male gender of the words and to justify their use. This research could serve as a didactic material for teachers of sociolinguistics and help investigate the main morphological, syntactic and semantic peculiarities of sexist language. Definitions of Sexist Language One of the most important factors in the development of the world is language, which can be interpreted as a human creation. Taking into account the fact that humanity is divided into two spheres: the sphere of males and the spheres of females, it can be revealed a major ambiguity concerning the subject if the language is made by men or by women. Even though, English countries claim that all people are born equal, there are a lot of inequalities between men and women. It is put stress on this topic because according to sociolinguistic research, this inequality is reflected in language and this phenomena sexism in language represents one of the major issues in sociolinguistic studies. According to Hudson, sexism in English languages has existed for a long time, which is reflected of the traditional ethics that men are superior to women [x; 38]. In this order of ideas, Deborah Cameron work, reveals that Men originate from Mars and Women originate from Venus [10]. Given this evidence, it can be seen that some gender differences do exist. Support for this interpretation comes from Peter Trudgell, through his work Sociolinguistics: An introduction to language and society [7; 100], who confirms that males are above females, due to the fact that in the past there existed the myth of superiority, when the entire power was in the hands of men. Thus, as a special social phenomenon, sexism is inevitably reflected through language and sexism in language reflects sexism in society. But, with the raise of womens liberation, and the development of mass media, the whole English words start a social revolution to eliminate the sexism in the English language, because sexism in the English language is seen as a discriminating act of women. This point is particularly relevant for Nneka Umera-Okekes study Sexism in English Language, who asserts that sexism is a kind of discrimination by one sex against the other, especially by males against females [4; 7]. Applied to language, Rob in Lakoff underlines that a sexist language takes a male-as-norm attitude, while female norms have a less positive connotation than males. Thus, Robin Lakoff uses the example of master vs mistress to make the point: there are unequal  connotations  that surround these two matching terms and to the detriment of the female Master has strong and powerful connotation, while mistress does not [2; 67]. This evidence seems to indicate that a sexist language also presents stereotypes of both females and males, but more often to the disadvantage of females. A fuller discussion about sexist language appears in the study Beginners Guide to Language and Gender. Multilingual Matters, 2008, by Allyson Jule, who claims that a sexist language depicts women in the position of passive object rather than active subject, such as on the basis of their appearance (a blonde) or domestic roles (a mother of two) when similar depictions in similar contexts would not be made of men [1; 65]. On this basi s it may be inferred that sexist language discriminates against women. Research by Nneka Umera-Okeke, Linguistic Sexism: An Overview of the English Language in Everyday Discourse, suggests that sexist language is considered to be any language that is supposed to include all people, but unintentionally (or not) excludes a gender -this can be either males or females. It is clear therefore that a look at sexist language is finding the relation between language and gender. A more plausible explanation for this phenomenon would refer to the moment when many people meet difficulties of making the choices between certain words in their everyday discourses. For instance, they wonder which to choose the chairman has arrived for the meeting or the chairperson has arrived when referring to a woman. This fact lends weight to the argument that a sexist language excludes women and trivializes what women do [4; 32]. Sexist language is especially common in situations that describe jobs-common assu mptions include that all doctors are men, all nurses are women, all coaches are men, or all teachers are women. These examples lend strong support to the fact that a sexist language transmits the stereotypes. Ivy and Backlund state that a sexist language refers to the attitudes/behaviors that denigrate one sex to the rise of the other. [5; 123]. Given this evidence it can be seen that sexist language is a verbal communication that transmit those attitudes and behaviors. Additionally to this, a sexist language can be viewed as an instrument used by the members of the society to damage someone. Cameron rightly points out that a language can be called sexist if it represents or name the world from a masculine viewpoint. This means that language encodes a cultures values, and in this way reflects sexist culture [10]. The opinion of Parks Roberton concerning the definition of sexist language is that words, phrases, and expressions that unnecessarily differentiate between women and men or exclude, or diminish either gender [5; 127]. In other words, sexist language refers to the use of language expressions in such a way that it constitutes an unbalanced portrayal of the sexes. Hyde has drawn attention to the fact that in a sexist language he and man refer to everyone [3; 73]. This fact becomes clear when Slovenko examines English language stating that except for words that refer to female by definition (mother, actress, Congresswoman), and words for occupations traditionally held by females (nurse, secretary, prostitute), the English language defines everyone as male [6; 78]. Concluding this subchapter designed to the analysis of the definitions of sexist language, it can be entailed the fact that the sexist language excludes, marginalizes or discriminates against people on the basis of their gender and creates an unfair distinction between women and men. Sexism in language in general comes in three major forms: language ignores women; it defines women as less significant than men; and it completely opposes women. They can be located in the generic masculine terms. Thus, the sexist language is the use of words that cultivate stereotyped gender roles. The Factors of Sexism in the English Language Sexism in English is built up during a long period of the development of language, which leads to the variety of the causes. Thus, in the study An Analysis of Sexism in English Language, there are enumerated four factors which cause the appearance of sexism in language: [11]. Religious Factor According to the Holy Bible (The Books of The Old Testament), God created man first of all, while woman made from one of mans ribs was created just as a help meet for him [Holy Bible]. From the order of the birth, it is obvious to see the different importance of man and woman. Thus, man and woman are not equal at all because woman is only a part of man, which itself is the discrimination against women. Additionally to this, it is known the fact that the first sin was also committed by the woman. Consequently, the woman was punished to bring forth children in pain and was ruled over by the man. These two examples reveal the superiority of men and inferiority of women. In fact, the Holy Bible is actually a book of men and as Christianity is such a powerful religion in Western countries, it is clear therefore that this religious factor consolidate the inferiority of women. Physiological factor Due to the fact that men are stronger than women from physiological point of view, it can be stated that this fact determines that men play a more and more important role in social and economic lives. A mans job is to work outside but a womans job is to stay at home, do the housework and take care of the children. Women are treated as the weaker ones and they realize their own values through their marriages to men. At last, women are lower in status. They have to leech on to men and are dominated by men. Gradually, people begin to discriminate women and think that they are inferior in intelligence. This wrong perspective reflects in language [7; 37]. Social Factor Feminists all claim that we live in a patriarchal society: a society of men, ruled by men and for men. Patriarchy depicts men as the perfect norm against which women are measured and found lacking. Both the Western and Eastern societies use sex, to one degree or another, in allocating tasks, activities, rights, and responsibilities. As for the job done by men and women, there is a long-stereotyped notion of what they can do. In history, there has been a division of labor-a division in which womens place was restrained at home for housework and child-care while men worked outside being the breadwinner. At last, men had dominance over women, and women had to be dependent on men. This was the turning point for women. Thus the sexism in the society has been in existence, the embodiment of which is necessarily the sexism of language. Guimei He in his work An Analysis of Sexism in English, adds that this factor is in a strong correlation with labor division [11]. Psychological factor Because of the social and cultural factors, women are always considered to be the weak. People treat women as inferior to men. They educate men to be manly, decisive, and brave while women are required to be polite, conservative, obedient, and gentle. Because women are in subordinate status in the society, they have to constrain their emotion and give up their own need to meet the satisfaction of men. As time passes, when speaking women pay more attention to the elegance and standard of language than men. They use more pleasant and polite words in the hope that they can receive others approval. And they are taught to speak softly, to avoid contradicting others, to be obedient in communication, and to be aware of giving cues of strong confidence. They mould themselves to be inferior in their potential sub consciousness. Therefore, women try their best to strengthen their social status through their speech than men do. This also suggests that women are in a lower position in the societ y. Additionally to this, Xiang Xu in his study The Sexism in English and Its Rebuilding, claims that history development also had a strong influence to the appearance of sexism in language. Thus, he exemplifies that from ancient time on, the ruling position in western society is almost held by male persons. After climbing to the high position, men began to look down upon women. This attitude could influence the ideology of the whole society. So lots of men-central terms with sexists color came into being during the stage of English forming. In the 14th century, Chaucer, who is concieved as the Father of English language, created a great deal of terms, later, Milton and Shakespeare competitively invented new words. They contributed a lot to English, at the same time, the negative side they brought cant be ignored. These famous males contribution to English who were living in males society, accelerated the extensive transmission of the language of sexism [9; 101-103]. 1.3 Elements of Sexism in English Language In order to identify if English Language is a sexist language, we are going to focus on the identification and examination of elements of sexism which occur in the syntax, morphology and semantics of English Language. 1.3.1 Morphological Peculiarities of Sexism in English a) Derivation In English Language, derivation is a way of word formation with the help of derivational morphemes affixes and suffixes. It forms a word with meaning and category distinct from that of its base through the addition of an affix. These affixes often change the part of the stem. Thus, affixes help us to identify relationships within words. The affixes are always bound morphemes, which carries information about meaning or function. Referring to the English lexicon, Guimei He in his study An Analysis of Sexism in English, claims that in the English lexicon one of the most obvious evidences of the sexism is the affixes which lead to a view of women as a derivation from a male term [11]. The feminine one is always derivative of the masculine one by adding a feminine suffix such as -ess and -ette. Actor, for instance, with the meaning of a person who plays the part of a character in a movie or play ,when attached to a feminine suffix -ess, becomes actress with the meaning of woman with profession similar to those of actor . And as for -ette, when usher is adhered to -ette, it becomes usherette. Such pairs of the words are of long lists in English lexicon. Here just list some of them: Masculine Feminine ambassador ambassadress duke duchess Rovano lends weight to the argument that this kind of word-formation seems to tell that women are derived from men and attached to the men [3; 72-28]. On this basis it can be inferred the fact that the addition of a feminine suffix to masculine human agent nouns usually does more than simply change the gender reference of the word, it often attaches a meaning of triviality, of lesser status or dependence to the term. It shows that woman is affiliated to man, so it is a kind of linguistic discrimination against women. But with further insight into the meaning of such pairs, Randall mentions that stereotyping in the terms  governor  and governess, and  bachelor  and  spinster, the masculine and feminine forms have vastly differing connotations [8; 129]. Thus, he exemplifies that the suffix-ess not only marks the secondary position of the feminine words but also connotes the relationship between the female and male reference to the pair of words. Let us compare the pair of governor with governess. Governor is a ruler of a country, city and associates with power and high social status as well as honor and dignity; while governess is a woman employed to teach young children in their home. Because of the gender differentiation, these two words have dramatically different meanings, the masculine one of which belongs to high social class, but the feminine one marked with -ess belongs to a lower social class. By making observation of many feminine words, which are formed through derivation by adding the suffix-ess, it must therefore be recognized that -ess is far a suffix marking the female category, it has semantic meanings. Preference for but discrimination against female can be clearly seen in ways of word formation. Another aspect, touched by Trask I his study, concerned with this point is that English sex-paired words (here referring to the pair of words with gender contrast) the masculine one has greater flexibility in word-formation and mainly has a wider distribution of meaning [7; 39]. Take the pair of man and woman for instance (man and woman here are roots in the process of word formation). Manhood has three meanings in the Oxford Dictionary. (1) state of being a man, (2)qualities of a man, eg. courage, manliness,(3) a men of a country, while womanhood only has one meaning concept of state of being woman [12]. By comparison, it is clear that manhood has two more meaning concepts than womanhood. What means by having more meaning concepts? According to Trudgill, words are symbol of physical entities in reality [7; 39]. In this sense, the masculine words with much more meaning concepts reflect that men have more chance in social activities and in turn a more efficient way to express them selves and reinforce the masculine imagery. It comes to a conclusion that masculine words are common and general, while feminine words are mainly formed by attacking suffixes on the basis of the masculine words. b) Compound Words Another common way to build words in English through the combination of lexical categories is compound. Greenberg presented a taxonomy of gender for languages. In addition to languages that are without gender, languages are said to have either semantic (also called natural) gender or grammatical (also called anomalous) gender [4; 13]. Thus, he stated that English itself has no difference of gender. Many professionals such as doctor, engineer, lawyer, professor, judge, and surgeon can be used to indicate both males and females. However, actually due to the long-stereotyped view of the relationship between gender and profession, such word conventionally refers to one gender, either male or female. Since occupational terms in English are often seen as a source of perceived sexism, McMinn et al. (1990) administered a test to check for the use of sexist language among college students [1; 67-68]. In written and oral protocols subjects were asked to respond to the following occupational terms, which had been placed in non-sexual contexts:  business executive, nurse, professor, truck driver, librarian, robber, bank teller [10]. Their study shows that sexual bias in English goes beyond grammatical marking, that is, that simply finding terms unmarked for gender will not disabuse language users of their sexual stereotypes For example: (1)My cousin is an engineer. (2)My cousin is a nurse. Nine out of ten come with the first response that my cousin in sentence (1) is male and in sentence (2) female. Only one of all ten tells with hesitation whether my cousin is female or male. Professions involving power and strength such as president and chairman are more likely to be associated to men, because these satisfactory jobs are traditionally viewed as ones qualified only by males. But when indicating females position, professions, etc, these words are created by adding a bound morpheme or by combining them with a word referring to female, a compound form of combination of a female title such as woman, female, lady or madam and the professional term comes into use, for example, woman lawyer and madam chairman. On the other hand, professions involving patience, service or lower social status are more likely to be associated with woman, for example, nurse, dressmaker and secretary. If on special occasions a male involved, then the compound form of a masculine title male or man and a professional term is used for example, newsman, policeman, businessman, fireman, salesman, fisherman, etc. It makes clear that men monopolize the high status professions. Women can only do service work or low social status work. Take the compound word callboy and call girl for example. The former refers to the waiter in hotel or the person who calls the player ready to stage in theatre; the latter means the prostitute summoned by phone. These words have manifested the discrimination of language towards female from the angle of word matching. Using compound forms to specify professions between men and women is somehow a reflection of the reality that women are exclusive from professions with higher social status and to some extent the form of language usage in turn reinforces such a social phenomenon. 1.3.2 Syntactic Peculiarities of Sexism in English a) Generic Pronouns In English there are a group of nouns of common gender, which refer to either male or female such as student, person, teacher, etc. When such nouns are used with generic reference in single form, the traditional grammar advocates using the masculine pronouns in the context for the purpose of coherence with generic nouns [4; 12-14]. Generic pronouns are pronouns that are said to refer, with equal likelihood, to women and men. But the English language ignores women by allowing masculine terms to be used specifically to refer to males and commonly to refer to human beings in general. The generic pronoun he is perhaps the most well known example of the gender-specific of sexist language, and is frequently referred to be he/man language. The most significant manifestation of the sexism is in the use of generic masculine pronouns he and its variants his, him and himself in such sentences as: (1) If one wants to see the ruins, he must find his own guide. (2)  He who laughs last laughs best. (3)  Everyone must do his homework well. (4)  Everyone should learn to solve problems himself. In the above examples, he, his, him and himself are used not sex-specifically, but generically, that is, although the pronouns refer grammatically to the single male citizen, they should be taken to refer to both male and female citizens in general. On the formal occasions, he, him or his can be used to refer to such indefinite pronouns as each, everyone, everybody, no one, someone, anyone and so on. While she, her, herself dont have such usages.  Ã‚  In other words, the masculine pronoun is the representative either female or male reference. Thus, it seems like a linguistic edition of the social inequalities. b) Generic Nouns Another well-known example of generic masculine term is man. Man and woman as two equal components of human race are actually not equal in English lexicon. Man, besides its reference to male human being can also refer to the whole race. The usage in a general sense of man makes woman invisible. For example; (1) All men must die. (2) Man is a social animal. It is easy to see that man, and men can be used generically to refer to both male and female. But woman and women cannot be employed in reference to men. When man appears in discourse, it is commendatory and positive in main circumstances [3; 75-76]. Look at the following idioms: (1) be man enough: brave enough (2) be oneà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸s own man: be able to arrange and decide things independently. However, situation involved woman is quite different: Look at the following examples: (1) Wine, women, and song: drinking, dancing, etc, and enjoying oneself (2) Make an honest woman of somebody: marry somebody having had sexual relationship with her. In the English language, some words referring to female firstly are commendatory words, but afterward slowly have derogatory senses. Survey in the dictionary on the illustrative idioms of man and woman as a quantity observation, derogation of woman is clearly seen. There are totally 33 illustrative idioms for man, of which 15 are with positive meaning, five negative and the rest are neutral with five shared by both man and woman in structure and meaning; While in case of woman, there are only 8 illustrative idioms of which five shared with man in structure and meaning, the rest are all derogatory. From this, one can know that in English using man or men indicates the human race, they treat man as the center of the society, an embodiment of criterion and totally ignore the existence of woman. c) Word order Graddol, D.Swam,J. in their study Gender Voices attest the fact that sexism in language is also reflected in word order. When men and women are presented together, usually words denoting male sex are put in front of female sex. Making females come second reflects the sexist attitude that men are superior to women [6; 71]. 1) Good morning, boys and girls Such a language phenomenon seems to appear so natural as to be widely accepted as a language norm.  In 1553, Wilson insisted that is more natural to place man before woman, as in male and female, husband and wife, father and wife. His point lends weight to the argument that males come first in the natural order, and this is one of the first examples of a male arguing for not only just the superiority of males but that this superiority should be reflected in the structure of language [8; 110-111]. However, Atkinson, K. claims that there are also cases in which male-female order is reversed, for example bride and groom, and ladies and gentlemen. He explains this phenomena by stating that marriage is important to women and the latter is influenced by the notion that men should protect women. Putting ladies before gentlemen doesnt show that women are more superior to men or ladies first, but indicates that in mens mind, women, the same as children, are the weaker ones [4; 167] 1.3.3 Semantic Peculiarities of Sexism in English 1.3.3.1 Semantic derogation of women The study of Cameron, D. in his work Language, Gender, and Sexuality: Current Issues and New Directions is relevant for the reason that he states that language has a tendency to neglect women, treat women as submission and also demean women. The process of words that refer to women acquiring demeaning or sexual connotations has been widely observed, and has been called semantic derogation [10]. 1.3.3.2 Non-parallel semantic developments of paired terms Hudson, R. A claims that words become negative when shifted into the female sphere, while male has remained pure and neutral [1; 34]. For example: King and Queen The first noun is masculine, the other feminine and both mean ruler of an independent state. However, king has preserved its initial meaning, but besides the core meaning of queen, queen is also used as a disparaging term for a gay or sexual man. Master and Mistress Both of them indicate someone who possesses and/or has power over someone or something else. For example: He is my master. usually means He is my boss. or He has more power than me. While She is my mistress. is more likely to be interpreted as meaning She is my illicit lover. Mistress originally refers to a woman in a position of authority, control, and ownership, as the head of a household like a housekeeper, but it implies a woman who has a continuing sexual relationship with a usually married man who is not her husband and from whom she generally receives material support.   1.3.3.3 Semantic collocation and change a) Semantic collocation   Fromkin, V., R.Rodman N.Hyams asserts that in English, a word may have different connotations when it is used to describe different sexes [6; 73-79]. For example: a.  He is imposing. b. She is imposing. Sentence a) means He is impressive and admirable. While sentence b could be interpreted to mean that She is disgusting and apathetic. When the sex changes, so does the meaning. Loose seems a neutral word for both male and female. But a loose woman reminds people of a woman considered being sexually promiscuous whereas a loose man just means a casual man. b) Semantic change Besides, words, which begin with either neutral or positive connotations over time, acquire negative implications and finally end up as sexual slurs. For example, the term hussy derives from Old English huswif (housewife), which means the female head of the house. The term gradually deteriorated to a rustic rude woman and finally comes to mean an indecent, impudent woman or prostitute [3; 78]. Strategies for Avoiding Sexism in English Language Any form of sexist language, whether on purpose or not, will probably stand off or offend some social member or group. Language and language use mirror social attitudes and stereotypes and bias. Along with the womens liberation movement, people began to realize the importance of the language reform and desexism becomes necessary. This evidence raises the question: Should sexist language be changed or avoided? The answer is definitely positive. In her early discussions of sexist language, Renshaw presents an article entitled Twenty-nine ways you can help eliminate sexism i

Analysis of William Blakes Poem London Essay -- William Blake London

Analysis of William Blake's Poem London London by William Blake is a poem characterised by its dark and overbearing tone. It is a glimpse at a period of England's history (particularly London) during war and poverty, experienced by the narrator as he walks through the streets. Using personification it draws a great human aspect to its representation of thoughts and beliefs of the narrator. The author uses a rhyme scheme that mirrors the pace of walking. The pace is moderate using an octameter meter, and each stressed syllable is like each footfall of the narrator. As he walks through the streets near the River Thames, he notices the common distress in the faces of the people he passes along the way. The author uses alliteration in line four, 'marks', 'weakness' and 'woe'. It draws emphasis on the feeling of severity and the widespread effect on these people. The narrator starts to envision that the people around him are all chained in "manacles". They are enslaved by the country and disastrous world they live in. Their fears, curses "ban" and cries of their current state are shared. The word â€Å"mind-forg'd† gives one the feeling that these people's minds have formed these "shackles" that inhibit them. The author states this by starting lines five to seven with "In every", and repeating the word "every". He emphasises the fact that every man, woman and child is affected by this shared state. Personification in the words "Man" and "Infant" draws importance to the gene...

In Groups We Shrink :: Carol Tavris Psychology Psychological Essays

In Groups We Shrink As smoke poured into the room the three strangers waiting in the lobby just sat there until it was unbearable to breathe. Believe it or not people do this, just so that they don’t get embarrassed. Carol Tavris’s essay she is successful in getting the point across that people act different in groups than they do alone. She has many appeals to emotion, logic, and being the renown psychologist she is, she has credibility. She wasn’t trying to change the way people act in this essay. just to try and make people realize what happens in groups and the horrible things that could conspire. Carol Tavris was trying to get across the point that people act different in different situations. When it comes to ones personal safety then they act different. One person would get up at the first sign of danger, or go to someone’s help. But when there are other people involved and they are in a strange environment they don’t know how to act. They aren’t sure whether smoke pouring into a room or any other threatening situation is normal. They don’t want to get embarrassed or make a fool of themselves. Carol Tavris was born in 1944, and got her PH.D. in Social Psychology. That is why she has so much credibility in this field of study. This essay wouldn’t mean anything if it wasn’t coming from someone who has the background and the credibility she does. A strong example of emotion is when she talks about Rodney King and the savage beating he received. It again shows how people in groups act different. There were 11 officers watching 4 of their colleagues beat this poor man. What were they thinking? Did they agree? These are some of the questions you have to ask yourself. One explanation, of course, is that they approved.(18). They may have identified with the abusers, vicariously participating in a beating they rationalized as justified.(18). This is sad but true, but what about the Kitty Genovese story. She was stabbed and killed in front of her apartment, while 38 neighbors heard and watched, not one called for help. This is called diffusion of responsibility or soci al loafing which pretty much means the more people in a group the lazier everyone gets thinking that someone else will do the right thing. This is just another example of emotion in Carol Tavris’s writing.

People Are Becoming Overly Dependent on Technology

Dustan Clinton English 1301 Doctor Nellis 15 April 2013 People have become overly dependent on Technology Some people would say all the great inventions and updates on technology have made this world a better place. It has not! This world has become overly dependent on technology, because of the fact; jobs requirements have changed, laziness has prevailed and people are just commonly fascinated in all that has been created in today’s world that makes that one task little bit easier by the push of a button.Society is pushed in learning new technology to keep their jobs. Men and women that are in there mid range of age in life having been working for that certain career that now allows a machine or knowledge of a device to run it. The newer generation will not know what it is like to actually build with their hands, and will be lost if the device was to break. Certain industries have to have parts quality inspected and be checked by hands. Now they have machines to do it.Our mil itary relies on advanced technology to protect or national security, knowing that’s not the only way to protect. Laziness is part of people becoming overly dependent on technology in today’s society. Everyday ordinary people are using the latest technology to make life just a little easier. Take cell phones added with high speed internet. People can deposit checks, make credit card payments, and pay utility bills, just from a few touches of some buttons on their phones. People are using emails instead of writing letters and postage stamps.Cell phones and similar devices are allowing access to web sites like face book and twitter that allow family and friends to stay connected instead of actually using their phone to make a call. Some kids are growing up not knowing how to even use certain kitchen appliances, such as cheese grader, potato peeler, or can opener. Almost all foods are being made where anyone is able to throw in the microwave and have a full meal. Younger g enerations don’t know what home cooked meals are using grills really is because you can ave full four course meal out of the little box in the corner of the kitchen that cooks for you. House hold chores have even become easier with electric appliances. Dish washers, washing machines, clothes driers, robotic floor sweepers; have made people lazy because they have become overly dependent on today’s technology. People are so fascinated with today’s technology it has caused society to become overly dependent on it. Gaming systems for kids have become so high tech. it is causing them to become addicted, and keeping them from wondering outside and seeing the nature side of life.The systems are filled with intense graphics and connect to high speed internet so kids and young adults can game with the other side of the world. That is fascinating and it also causes kids to be overly fascinated in this technology. Society use to go to the store to rent movies and but cdsâ €™, now they just get on their computers and find a web site to download them. Downloading capability has multiplied 100 percent over the past ten years. It fascinates people just to be able to sit at home and get all the music, or watch any movie they want right there at their finger tips.