Influences on Adolescence Stage of Development Essay Example

Influences on Adolescence Stage of Development Essay Example Influences on Adolescence Stage of Development Paper Influences on Adolescence Stage of Development Paper Did you know the most intimidating human developmental stage for most individuals is the Adolescence stage? The adolescence stage is between the childhood to adulthood stages. Major changes begin to take place in the physical, cognitive, social, moral, and personality aspects of human development during the adolescence stage. The changes which take place during the adolescence stage have various influences. In addition to changes being influenced, factors affect physical, cognitive, social, moral, and personality development. The adolescence stage consists of numerous complex concepts. Adolescent development is separated into three different stages. The three stages are known as: early adolescence, middle adolescence, and late adolescence. Individuals generally begin early adolescence between the ages of 12 and 14. The middle stage is normally experienced between the ages of 14 to 17. Late adolescence ranges from the age of 17 to 19. Delcampo, 2005) Teenagers may experience some of these changes during the early adolescence stage: moodiness, friendships gaining importance, peer pressure toward certain interests and clothing styles, greater interest in privacy, or occasional experimentation with cigarettes, marijuana and alcohol. During the middle adolescence stage teenagers are more likely to pay more attention to their appearance, examine inner experiences, and take an interest in moral reasoning. Santrock, 2005)   The late adolescence stage is when adolescents are starting to realize they are becoming adults so they begin to have more emotional stability, start determining the future, and engage in serious relationships. (Delcampo, 2005) Teenagers can become overwhelmed with all the influences and changes that occur, especially in the physical type of development. Physical development is any changes in biological nature this includes genes inherited from parents, changes in hormones, changes within the brain, height, weight, and motor-skills. Santrock, 2005) Physical changes are influenced by genotypes or genetic inheritance, as well as, environmental experiences. An example of an environmental influence on physical change is good nutrition allows adolescents to grow healthier. Adolescent physical development consists of rapid increases in height and weight, development of secondary sex characteristics also known as puberty, and continued brain development. (Huebner, 2000) During puberty girls begin their menstrual cycle, their breasts begin to grow, and the uterine develops as a result of their Estradiol hormone increase. Depression can occur as a result of puberty within girls. Boys on the other hand start to grow hair on their chest, under arms, and face. The boys hormone testosterone level increases during puberty and causes the genitals to develop, the voice to change, increases their height; and high levels of testosterone are thought to influence violence and other problems. Due to the brain still developing during early and middle adolescence teenagers sometimes experience an â€Å"emotional rollercoaster. † Adolescents not only experience physical developments, but they also experience cognitive developments. Cognitive development is a change in an individuals thought, intelligence, and language. Cognitive development is influenced by hereditary and environmental factors. The environmental factors which influence cognitive development are school because this is where they are getting an education to succeed in a career. Another influence is parenting and family. Parents should allow their adolescent to explore and discuss different ideas in their mind. Some hereditary factors which influence cognitive development are birth defects or viruses, such as autism or a learning disorder. During the time of adolescence teenagers are developing a more complex process of thinking known as formal logical operations. According to Piaget’s Theory, adolescents start to think more idealistically and logically. (Santrock, 2005) Teenagers also develop the ability to create hypothesizes and determine a problems best solution during the adolescence stage. Another cognitive development influence is adolescents develop their own view and perspective of the world, faith, spirituality, and beliefs. Uprising emotions although can interfere with an individual’s ability to clearly think. Huebner, 2000) Within the adolescent advancing in cognitive development, teenagers become more egocentric. Egocentrism is when an individual believes they are unique, invincible, and that everyone is preoccupied with them. Egocentrism influences adolescents to often put themselves at high risk for harm because they believe they are invincible. Adolescents often engage in street racing, drug use, unprotected which can result pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases, or even attempt suicide in order to show they are invincible. Some of the following actions influence changes in social development as well. Social development is the changes in an adolescent’s relationship with others. There are five major issues adolescents experience during the adolescence stage. These issues are: discovering their own sense of identity, establishing autonomy and intimacy, becoming comfortable with one’s sexuality, and achievement. (Huebner, 2000) Discovering one’s identity is the most complex and important issue adolescents will experience. Adolescents are constantly trying to answer the question, â€Å"Who am I? Erik Erikson’s life span theory states the identity versus identity confusion is the main issue of development during adolescence. (Santrock, 2005) Erikson’s theory states adolescents try to discover who they are, where they are going in life, and what they are all about, not what their parents are or want them to be. In order to answer these questions it is important for teenagers to be able and explore different careers, and alternative solutions to life roles. If adolescents are unable to explore various concepts, or parents push an identity on them they are more likely to experience identity confusion. Identity confusion results in individuals isolating themselves from friends and family, or the adolescent lose themselves in the crowd. Erikson’s theory suggests environmental factors which affect social development range from parenting, to peer pressure, relationships with friends, family dynamics, and schooling. According to James Marcia, for an individual to complete the development their identity they will have to experience the two dimensions of identity, exploration and commitment. Identity status contains four combinations of exploration and commitment. These combinations are identity diffusion, identity foreclosure, identity moratorium, identity achievement. (Santrock, 2005) The diffusion stage is when an individual as not explored or committed to personal values or a career. Identity foreclosure is when an individual makes a commitment without exploring. Identity moratorium is the stage when and individual has explored but has not yet committed. Finally, when an individual has explored and committed to personal values and a career they have reached identity achievement. Social development can also be influenced by biological or hereditary influences such as birth defects, viruses, and diseases such as autism or speech impediment. Teenagers often feel overwhelmed with the changes that occur in social development during adolescence. Along with social development adolescents will experience some changes in moral development as well. Moral development is changes with age in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors regarding the principals and values that guide what people should do. Santrock, 2005) Moral development has two different dimensions, interpersonal (morals when interacting with other individuals) and intrapersonal (basic individual values). Moral development is influenced by environmental factors such as peer pressure, family dynamics, society, neighborhood quality, and schooling. (Hart and Carlo, 2005) One of the most well known theories in moral development is Kohlberg’s theory. In Kohlberg’s theory moral development has three different levels, each with two stages. The first level is preconventional. The first stage in the preconventional level is punishments. An example of this would be going to jail for stealing something. The second stage is rewards. An example is not stealing something so the owner can make a profit. The second level is conventional. Conventional level is when an individual follows a set of standards. Standards set by parents are the first stage in conventional and third stage in Kohlberg’s theory. The second stage in conventional is the standards set by societies law. The third level is postconventional. Postconventional level is when an individual discovers alternative moral courses. The first stage in postconventional and fifth stage in Kohlberg’s level is social contract or utility and individual rights. The sixth stage is universal ethical principles. Most adolescents are at stage 3 or 4. (Santrock, 2005) Another theorist of moral development is Carol Gilligan. The main point of Gilligan’s theory is that gender and that Kohlberg did not give enough attention to relationships. During adolescence girls have to decide to appear selfish or selfless, and because they experience this issue they become insecure or less confident. Santrock, 2005) Gilligan’s theory also draws attention to social experiences with parents and others influence behavior and patterns of behavior become personality characteristics. Personality development is the development of the organized pattern of behaviors and attitudes that makes a person distinctive. (Laberge, 2008) There are three components in the development of personality. The first is temperament or inherited traits that determine the adolescence approach to the world. This is because some genes determine the development of the nervous system which controls behavior. The second component is environment such as parenting and schools. The third component is character. Character is emotional, cognitive, and behavioral patterns learned for experiences. (Laberge, 2008) Culture is another important environmental factor in the development of personality. The adolescence stage is when individuals experience the most dramatic changes in cognitive, social, moral, and personality development. Influences like family and friends may be environmental factors but they play an important role. Genetic inheritance can influence the outcome of the changes for adolescents as well. All of the changes which occur during adolescence allow individuals to transform in adulthood from childhood. This is why it is such an intimidating time for teenagers. References Carlo, and Hart, D. (2005) Moral Development in Adolescence. Retrieved July 03, 2008, from Ebscohost. com http://swtuopproxy. museglobal. com/MusesessionID=bf807f788aaad7a19df5df7f5b344e7/MuseHost=web. ebscohost. com/MusePath/ehost/pdf? vid=4hid=120sid=3765fedc-5e4a-4417-a02c-dbe82a4cda33%40sessionmgr107vf Delcampo, D. S. (October, 2000) Understanding Teens: Normal Adolescent Development. Retrieved July, 03, 2008, from New Mexico State University: Bringing Science to Your Life Website. http://cahe. nmsu. edu/pubs/ f/f-122. pdf Laberge, M. (2008). Personality Development. Retrieved July 06, 2008 from Answers. com Website: answers. com/topic/personality-development? cat=health Huebner, A. (2000) Adolescent Growth and Development. Retrieved July 06, 2008, from Virginia Cooperative Extension: Knowledge for the CommonWealth Website: ext. vt. edu/pubs/family/350-850/350-850. html Santrock, J (2005). Psychology (7th ed. ). New York, New York: Mcgraw-Hill.

Sample Weak Supplemental Essay for Duke University

Sample Weak Supplemental Essay for Duke University What should you avoid when writing a supplemental essay for college admission? Duke Universitys Trinity College offers applicants the opportunity to write a supplemental essay that answers the question: Please discuss why you consider Duke a good match for you. Is there something in particular at Duke that attracts you? Please limit your response to one or two paragraphs. The question is typical of many supplemental essays. Essentially, the admissions folks want to know why their school is of particular interest to you. Such questions often generate remarkably bland essays that make common  supplemental essay mistakes. The example below is one example of what not to do. Read the short essay, and then a critique highlighting some of the mistakes made by the author. Example of ​aWeak Supplemental Essay I believe the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences at Duke is an excellent match for me. I believe college should not be merely a gateway to the work force; it should educate the student in a variety of subjects and prepare him or her for the range of challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in life. I have always been a curious person and enjoy reading all kinds of literature and nonfiction. In high school I excelled in history, English, AP psychology, and other liberal arts subjects. I have not yet decided on a major, but when I do, it will almost certainly be in the liberal arts, such as history or political science. I know that Trinity College is very strong in these areas. But regardless of my major, I want to receive a broad education that spans a variety of areas in the liberal arts, so that I will graduate as not only a viable job prospect, but also as a well-rounded and learned adult who can make diverse and valuable contributions to my community. I believe Duke’s Trinity College will help me grow and become that kind of person. Critique of the Duke Supplemental Essay The sample supplemental essay for  Duke  is typical of what an admissions office frequently encounters. At first glance, the essay may seem just fine. The grammar and mechanics are solid, and the writer clearly wants to expand his or her education and become a well-rounded person. But think about what the prompt is actually asking: discuss why you consider Duke a good match for you. Is there something  in particular at Duke  that attracts you? The assignment here is not to describe why you want to go to college. The admissions office is asking you to explain why you want to go to Duke. A good response, then, must discuss specific aspects of Duke that appeal to the applicant. Unlike a  strong supplemental essay, the sample essay above fails to do so. Think about what the student says about Duke: the school will educate the student in a variety of subjects and present a range of challenges and opportunities. The applicant wants a broad education that spans a variety of areas. The student wants to be well-rounded and to grow. These are all worthwhile goals, but they dont say anything that is unique to Duke. Any comprehensive university offers a variety of subjects and helps students to grow. Also, by talking about the student and using phrases such as him or her, the author makes clear that the essay is presenting generalities rather than creating a clear and specific relationship between Duke and the applicant. A successful supplemental essay must clearly articulate what specific features of the school make it the right match for your personality, passions, and professional goals. The admissions folks need to see a clear and sensible reason for your desire to transfer. Is Your Supplemental Essay Specific Enough? As you write your supplemental essay, take the global replace test. If you can take your essay and substitute the name of one school for another, then you have failed to address the essay prompt adequately. Here, for example, we could replace Dukes Trinity College with the University of Maryland or Stanford or Ohio State. Nothing in the essay is actually about Duke. In short, the essay is filled with vague, generic language. The author demonstrates no specific knowledge of Duke and no clear desire actually to attend Duke. The student who wrote this supplemental essay probably hurt his or her application more than helped it.

The Human Anatomy and Possible Threats Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The Human Anatomy and Possible Threats - Essay Example This section presents the systems of the human body and how they function in swift collaboration. The section aims to reveal how each of the various organ systems is equally important in enabling human beings to function as complete beings. The main systems of the human body are the cardiovascular system, the digestive system, the endocrine system, the urinary system, the immune system, the muscular system, the nervous system, the reproductive system, and the respiratory system (Schlossberg and Zuidema, 2007). Wolfsthal (2008) argues that all the mentioned systems work in harmony to ensure that the body maintains a steady state with sufficient nutrients and oxygen, as well as the correct temperature and the right pH level (level of acidity or basicity of the body) ((Steding, 2009). The circulatory system is responsible for the circulation of blood and lymph around the body (Swearingen, 2012). The circulation in turn transports oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients, hormones, and other su bstances to and from the body (Wolfsthal, 2008). This phenomenon can also be referred as Cellular Metabolism (Waller and Lloyd, 2008). Cellular Metabolism can be defined as the cumulative sequence of biochemical reactions, which occur within a cell. The reaction is responsible for the production of Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP-the molecule which stores all the energy derived from food). Cellular metabolism also enables processes like respiration and the disposal of waste products from the body.

Tesla Motors and the use of IT technology in their business for Research Paper

Tesla Motors and the use of IT technology in their business for customer convenience - Research Paper Example Tesla also uses innovative distribution models i.e. company owned service centers and sales. This technology utilized by Tesla enables it to maintain high levels of customer experience and also improved from customer feedback loops so as to ensure the needs of its customers are fulfilled. This therefore provides the company with a competitive advantage over other traditional vehicle manufacturers. In wherever industry, an affective customer service and convenience is key for success. This is important since it helps companies retain its current customer and also attract more customers. Therefore, the key to improved customer experience and service is the use of intelligent systems. These systems offer a two – way method of exchanging information between the customers and the companies so as to complete the feedback loop. The idea behind integration of intelligent systems is to provide an enabling competitive advantage over competitors through full engagement of customers hence a high level customer service that ensure future loyalty. To accomplish this, Tesla Motors, Inc. has leverage embedded devices which are connected to intelligent systems which allows the company to differentiate their offerings, attract and retain customers. Tesla Motors, Inc. operates retail outlets and service centers across North America. Intelligent hardware and software are used in these retail outlets and service centers to provide a customized digital signage that is based on knowledge of the preferences of the customer hence provide the customer with suggestions based on their past purchases, service received and test-drives taken. These intelligent systems look up for a customer’s shopping patterns, their preferences, past service interactions, their recent purchases and orders made in a backend Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. This CRM systems

Incumbents and Their Re-election Essay Example for Free

Incumbents and Their Re-election Essay Statistical research suggests that in 1998 a total of 395 Representatives and 26 Senators were reelected (U. S. Census, 2000). Since the middle of the 20th century and up to the present time, the process of re-electing incumbents has turned into one of the major political trends. The more incumbents sought to reestablish themselves in political office, the more concerned political scholars became about the causes and factors of such political advantage. The current state of political research suggests that a whole set of factors predetermines incumbents’ continuous political success, with access to media and excessive financial resources being the most important elements of political fight. True, those trying to become the members of political office for the first time often lack sufficient political opportunities, compared to resources, which incumbents can access and use in their election campaigns. Reelection of incumbents has already turned into the major political trend in the U. S. , and there are several reasons for that. To begin with, incumbents are frequently referred to as â€Å"the perks of Office†; in other words, all Congress members are given enough material and nonmaterial resources to hire professional staff, whose primary responsibility is to turn their Congress employers into well-represented, widely recognized and well-liked political figures (McKay 140). For example, incumbents can send postage-free letters to their constituents, and can use these as a part of their promotional political campaigns (McKay 140). These are just some out of many benefits which Congress members are being granted by the state. Time is just another component of incumbents’ success in Congress. It should be noted, that Congress is incumbents’ full-time job, and meeting voters, resolving local issues, and participating in public events and television shows are what they are being paid for. It appears that for many potential candidates to run for office and to try to combat an existing Congress member would mean to face the lack of media and financial resources, which for the current Congress members are available on a regular basis (McKay 147). Certainly, all these benefits would be irrelevant and unimportant if not for the image promotion and visibility of all Congress members. It is difficult to deny the fact that â€Å"sitting members of Congress are almost universally recognized in their districts† (Cusdi). This visibility is the direct result of one’s running for office, and after having served two or more years for Congress, its members become widely recognized and accepted among their constituents; and voters are more likely to give their vote to those whom they already know for their Congressional achievements than those, who just start their political career. It should also be noted, that such political visibility is directly associated with incumbents’ ability to organize their promotional campaigns. Having won at least one election campaign, an incumbent is more prepared to face the major political and organizational challenges than his (her) political opponents (McKay 152). Finally, these are financial resources that predetermine incumbents’ political successes. McKay writes that â€Å"for both senators and representatives, money has become a crucial resource in congressional elections. With voters acting in response to the appeal of individual candidates rather than to parties, both incumbents and challengers must ensure that the voters know who they are and what their record is† (169). It appears that in terms of money, incumbents also have significant comparative advantage over political outsiders. Average financial resources available to incumbents are 2-3 times higher than those available to challengers, which makes it impossible for the latter to develop well-grounded media campaigns. For example, in 2002 many Republican incumbents took advantage of â€Å"fundraising visits by President Bush during the 2002 election cycle† (Smith, Roberts Wielen 74). As a result, incumbents have much more chances to win elections for the second time, and will hardly give their position away to political outsiders. Conclusion A whole set of advantages works to provide incumbents with an opportunity to be reelected. Time, visibility, access to media, and excessive financial resources – all these factors make incumbents less vulnerable to political changes and give them a kind of comparative advantage over political challengers. On the one hand, these advantages seem to make elections unfair, but on the other hand, political outsiders have to develop convincing argumentation that would persuade constituents to change their political commitments, and to give a political beginner a unique chance to run for office.

Beowulf - Profile Of An Epic Hero Essay -- Epic of Beowulf Essays

There are stories told all over the world handed down from generation to generation. Some remember these stories by memory, but are lost in time, and some write them down to be remembered forever as a part of history. Beowulf is one such story that has been mysteriously remembered for many centuries. I’ve very much enjoyed reading Beowulf. However, since this story has been around for so long many people have added, reduced, or omitted bits and pieces of the story. In other words, it has become an almost epic legend, never knowing if it was real or if it is rumor. And like any rumor being told to others, the story gets better and better over time like a fine wine. Since this poem has been around for many centuries, it is clear in much of the readings that Christianity is highly incorporated, even though the poem is composed of a Scandinavian hero that is pagan and the poem gives us an overview of what Anglo-Saxon culture would have been like. Most scholars are sure that this p oem was composed in England and that it was written sometime between the 8th and 11th century. We read in many books that during the 6th and 7th century, England was converting to Christianity. In view of the fact that most of the sayings in Beowulf are Germanic paganistic sayings I believe that since the narrator was Christian, he incorporated many of the sayings to be in beatitude form and that it seems clear that he only referred to one god instead of many which is the ideal way of Paganism. When w...

Ethical Business Practices

Today we will evaluate the PepsiCo past performance marketing their product using the six pillars of the marketing code of ethics—honesty, responsibility, caring, respect, fairness, and citizenship. I will also outline how PepsiCo could make further progress as a good corporate citizen when it comes to consumption of its products, such as green initiatives and philanthropic commitments. Code of Ethics According to â€Å"World’s Most Ethical Companies† (2011), PepsiCo made the list for most ethical company’s in the world. So you may be asking yourself were can there be room for improvement. Let me be the first to fill you in on a little secret, no matter how good you are room for improvement will always be there. The PepsiCo include soft drink brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, and Mug. Cola is not the company's only beverage: Pepsi sells Tropicana orange juice brands, Gatorade sports drink, SoBe tea, and Aquafina water. The company also owns Frito-Lay, the world's #1 snack maker with offerings such as Lay's, Ruffles, Doritos, and Fritos. Its Quaker Foods unit offers breakfast cereals (Life, Quaker Oats), rice (Rice-A-Roni), and side dishes (Near East). Pepsi's products are available in more than 200 countries. In 2010 the company acquired its two largest bottlers: Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas. Responsibly and Caring PepsiCo takes pride in their quest of providing more food and beverage choices made with wholesome ingredients that contribute to healthier eating and drinking. This means increasing the amount of whole grains, fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds and low-fat dairy in our global product portfolio. It also means reducing the average amount of sodium per serving in key global food brands, in key countries, by 25 percent by 2015 reducing the average amount of saturated fat per serving in key global food brands, in key countries, by 15 percent by 2020) reducing the average amount of added sugar per serving in key global beverage brands, in key countries, by 25 percent by 2020 (â€Å"Human Sustainability†, 2012). Honesty According to â€Å"Nutritional Labeling† (2012), PepsiCo is committed to providing safe products and to protecting equity in our brands, trademarks and goodwill. In addition, we're working to ensure that by 2012, basic nutritional information is available to consumers on packages (where feasible to print on the packaging and where permissible by local regulations) for all of our food and beverage products in key markets. In countries where we've already met this standard, we're also working toward an additional goal displaying calorie or energy counts on the fronts of packages. We have already implemented front-of-pack labeling on many products in the U. K. and many other European countries, as well as in Australia. And we are rapidly expanding implementation in a number of countries around the globe, including the U. S. , Canada, Mexico and Brazil (â€Å"Nutritional Labeling†, 2012). Improvements PepsiCo could make a few changes to improve their ethical ranking with the people and media. The first improvement would be triple checking are product for quality and safeness. Nothing worst then having case of sodas sitting in the warehouse with rats around dropping waste everywhere. Or giving you kid oatmeal and it has a dead bug on the inside that kind of stuff will change a person life. I know you can’t catch everything, but they need to minimize to the fullest. The second improvement would be lower some of the sugar levels in a lot of their products. With America youth being obese parents would take notice that this company is stepping the proper steps to help with their kid’s future. I’m sure America’s youth consumer over a billions sodas year and with the lack of working out kids are getting obese it is not just because they drink soda, however soda doesn’t help. While we all know it hard having a good reputation it’s even harder trying to maintain it. PepsiCo has been during ok for many years and I’m sure that will not change for some time to come. The code of ethics is just a stepping stone for companies to follow it is total up to them to go above and beyond the call of their ethical duties to improve the quality of their employees and consumers alike. So in closing I feel PepsiCo has room for improvement and I’m sure they will close that window soon enough.

Effective Reading Strategy for Efl Students in No.9 Middle School

Effective  reading  strategy  for  EFL  students in  NO. 9  middle  school  in  Beijing CHAPTER ? INTRODUCTION 1. 1 Background of study In China, English is a compulsory course, so in Chinese education system has an examination at the final end of each term in Junior or Senior high school. In the examination, it is mostly used as a way to test students’ English level, so English becomes an important course in school education. The exam will test students’ listening, reading and writing ability. Therefore teachers are paying more attention on students’ ability on reading, listening and writing.Based on researcher understanding about teaching reading, researcher wants to do some research about investigating what types of cognitive reading strategies are used in middle school in Beijing. Aim at cognitive reading strategy researcher wants to the researching about it. And which one is the most commonly used during the reading class. Through the res earcher tries to find some problems to teaching at the same time, it also referred in the research. Research paper is more focused on students learning strategy and teachers training process.For experienced teachers, who are good at summing up experience through their teaching then using in the teaching process. Through this study researcher gets more information about how to teaching reading and reading strategies. 1. 2 Statement of the Problem Researcher finds some problem when doing the research. In the real classroom, teachers have no enough time to give exercises for different level of students when they did reading class. In Chinese secondary school, English teacher should attention on arrange time effectively. Give enough time on eaching four basic skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing and doing exercises at the same time. Sometimes students can’t concentrate on these four skills, how to improve their ability in those four skills in the same time is the prob lem. As a researcher need research some teachers and related their teaching experiences they told some skills that teacher should change some basic teaching methods in their classroom . Teacher are not limited on traditional English teaching, but also created some new methods to adapt on different level of students in the classroom teaching. Effectively and improve their ability is important.Teachers are not only teaching knowledge but also pay attention on students’ attitude and taken in strategies in the classroom. The research is search about teaching reading strategy in Chinese middle school. Researcher chooses a famous middle school to finish the questionnaires. However the defect is all of participates are coming from same school. It can not full access to information and data. It is a problem for the research. To achieve the goals researcher should considers how to choose different level students to finish the questions and consider the teacher’s experiences to complete all questions.It is a challenge for researcher. 1. 3 Aims of the study This research is aimed to find out one useful cognitive reading strategy among the students used when they doing reading. It can enhance students reading ability when they doing exercises or in the examination. It also becomes a useful strategy when students do reading comprehension in the examination. Although there are many types of cognitive reading strategy in reading comprehension, how to choose one strategy when students doing reading is become a problem and it also can help students save time during their English examination. . 4 Research objectives At the end of the research, researcher will list of some reading strategies when teacher teaching reading in the class. After analyze the data, choose one strategy is used among students used. The research objectives are: 1 To investigate the cognitive reading strategies in a middle school students in Beijing 2. To investigate which type of cognitive r eading strategy is most commonly used among the students. 1. 5 Research questions The research will seek answers to the following questions: What are the cognitive reading strategies of middle school students in Beijing? 2 Which type is the most common used by the students? 1. 6 Rationale of the study Because the research is survey about reading strategies, so in the beginning of the research, researcher will list down what are the types of reading strategies of middle school students in the school teaching. â€Å"There are plenty of strategies for the beginner reader and many can be adapted to fit the needs of more advanced readers as well. † (Dorit Sasson, 2007).Then researcher chooses 45 students (15 students are attended in the pilot study) based on their different grades and gender to answer the question. Finally through analyze the data researcher chooses one common cognitive reading strategy is used in middle school students in Beijing. 7. Limitations of the study Rese arch questionnaires are based on the No. 9 middle school students. Limited is both of the students and teachers are in the same school and numbers is the problem. Although their students’ levels are different but the whole English levels are not too low.And choose the students’ number is less than get enough data. Both the quantity and quality are not exactly. So these are the limitation about the research. CHAPTER ? LITERATURE REVIEW 2. 1 Introduction The first part of this section deals with the definitions of reading. Secondly it will discuss about Issues relating to English in the secondary curriculum in China. Thirdly is reading strategies. The last part will focus on the types reading strategies. Both of the contents are mainly concerned in the real classroom in Beijing. 2. 2 Definitions of ReadingReading is a huge topic, potentially beset with myriad difficulties not easily addressed in a book of this length. Brindley (1994) in her introduction to the ‘Rea ding’ section of Teaching English offers a helpful starting process: Reading is a complex area. We can use the term to mean the process itself, or a response to literary text. It is means reading is combine with other knowledge that used in the teaching English. Use the technical term to explain what is meaning and give the answers. Andersen et al. (1985) has shown that ‘Reading is the process of construction meaning from written texts.It is a complex skill requiring the coordination of a number of interrelated sources of information. ’ His opinions is talking about reading is a process which connected the writer’s writing skills and writing content. It needs reader has own reading skills or strategies to understand the meaning of reading materials. What the content is and writer wanted conveyed the information to reader. It is a difficult thing between the writer and reader. There is a book By Joan Brooks McLane, Gillian Dowley McNamee, in one chapter is described that â€Å"Reading can be compared to the performance of a symphony orchestra.This analogy illustrates three points. First, like the performance of a symphony, reading is a holistic act. † It stands for when reader reading an article, they must focus on all contents and used different reading strategies, mobilize all positive factors that you have when they reading. â€Å"Second, success in reading comes from practice over long periods of time, like skill in playing musical instrument. † Everyone known that want to be successful man, they must persist in one thing that they choose.Like a player play the wonderful music, they used lots of playing skills and they need long time to practice well. Reading is the same thing like player. If they want to master the reading strategies, they should study how to read and need lots of time to practice and improve their reading comprehension. â€Å"Third, as with a musical score, there may be more than one interpretatio n of a text. The interpretation depends on the background of the reader, the purpose for reading, and the context in which the reading occurs. † It needs reader give their opinions after they reading the text.Because of there are many different between everyone, so after they read the text their understanding is also different. 2. 3 Issues relating to English in the secondary curriculum in China Course Description â€Å"In describing the role of a foreign language, the 1993 syllabus emphasized its instrumental value for ‘acquiring cultural and scientific knowledge, gathering information, and conducting communication with the world’ (Ministry of Education 1993: 1). † In the Chinese principle of curriculum, English as an important role in the secondary school teaching.The purpose is â€Å"foreign language teaching in China was ‘to meet the needs of the Open Door Policy and to speed up the socialist modernizations’ (Ministry of Education 1993: 1) . † It stands for China should study how to become a modern country among all over the world. And welcome foreigners come China to do the business or study. The new curriculum is changed. â€Å"Using English for the acquisition of knowledge and recognizes the humanistic value of a language in the transformation of the learners’ cognitive and personal development beyond its instrumental value in knowledge acquisition. English is becoming a popular course in the new principle of curriculum. Students should learn more knowledge not limited in the grammar or the acquisition, but also for the human value’s benefit and personal development. â€Å"English language learning, as described in the 2003 curriculum guidelines, can help students develop ‘intelligence, affect, attitudes, values, and character’ (Ministry of Education 2003: 1). † The Ministry of Education is more attention on students’ to built good educate environment and provide full y development space for students.Course Objectives â€Å"The 1993 syllabus stressed two basics: basic linguistic knowledge and basic language skills. † It is traditional and easy syllabus for students to do before 2003. However in 2003, The Ministry of Education published new syllabus objectives is ‘to help students further clarify the purpose of learning English and develop autonomous learning and cooperative learning abilities; to help students develop effective English learning strategies’ (Ministry of Education 2003: 2).Students’ language use ability is based on ‘a mastery of knowledge, skills, affect, learning strategies, and cultural awareness’ (Ministry of Education 2003:2). Students should master one language when they learning in the classroom. According to the new curriculum, â€Å"An English course should help develop students’ ‘critical thinking ability, information gathering and analysis ability, problem solving abil ity, and a world vision’ (Ministry of Education 2003: 2), which are essential for a citizen in the twenty-first century (Pasch and Norsworthy 2002). English is become a course in the classroom teaching and popular in China. It develops students’ ability in all aspects. All these reflect a humanistic approach, which, according to Johnson and Johnson (1998: 158), â€Å"respects the integrity of learners, allowing for personal growth and responsibility, taking psychological and affective factors into account and representing whole-person learning, going significantly beyond the use of English as a conduit of knowledge acquisition. † It needs learners has own opinion’s and some factors will change based on their experiences and reality.Course Design The 1993 syllabus required only one compulsory module. There were no specifications for the teaching aims and demands for Grade 1. Grade 2 and Grade 3 shared one set of aims and demands in general and distinctions were made only in some aspects of listening, speaking, reading and writing for the two grades. It means there is no specific teaching aim between three grades. And how to distinguish by some aspects on four teaching skills, there are listening, speaking, reading and writing.The new curriculum offers two modules (one compulsory and one elective) and grades the aims and demands with a four-band system according to learners’ language use ability, and describes each component at different bands in detail. From the new curriculum syllabus, it has targeted for each grades of students and the aims of teaching aid. The ability-banded framework can help solve such problems as the unbalanced development of the curriculum in different regions, the learning gaps between different stages (primary, junior secondary and senior secondary), and the waste of resources as a result of repetition in the curricula.Based on different backgrounds and others, teacher used different methods. The abil ity-banded design also provides more flexibility and openness in the curriculum, making it more possible to teach students with diverse competences. Students can learn special technical skills provide the needs of social. Teaching Aims and Demands For teaching aims and demands, the 1993 syllabus emphasized the development of two basics: basic linguistic knowledge and basic language skills. It isolated linguistic knowledge into discrete items, for example, word class, sentence structures.And confined linguistic skills to classroom application, for example, ‘students can understand classroom English and the explanation of new language points with language learned, do question and answer on the text, and retell the story orally or in writing’ (Ministry of Education 1993: 2-3). The new 2003 curriculum gives meaning to both knowledge and skills and integrates the two by engaging students in active use of the language with what they have learned as knowledge and developed as skills and by describing the language ability as what they can do with the English language.For example, students know language forms and their functions in real communication, under- stand and master the ways to describe people and objects, to describe the development of events. For students’ all round development, the new curriculum stresses the development of their affect, learning strategy and cultural awareness along with their linguistic knowledge and linguistic skills, and defines specific teaching aims and demands for these components at different bands. Implementation Guidelines The implementation guidelines help to reach the goals set for a curriculum.The guidelines in the new curriculum, as compared with those in the 1993 syllabus, are more concrete, hence playing a stronger guiding role. Ministry of Education (2003: 23-25): The guidelines for teaching include â€Å"focusing on all learners and helping them lay a solid foundation for lifelong development; attendin g students’ affect and creating a pleasant, democratic and harmonious learning atmosphere; reinforcing the guidance for students’ learning strategies and helping them develop autonomous learning ability†.These guidelines represent the learner–centeredness philosophy in curriculum development (Nunan 1988: 2003). For teachers’ better understanding of the teaching methods, model teaching plans are provided. Ministry of Education (2003: 40- 42) â€Å"For assessment, the stress is put on the explanation of the underlying rationale. It emphasizes that ‘both formative assessment and summative assessment be used and attention be paid to the motivating and facilitating roles of assessment in students’ learning’†. 2. 4 Reading StrategiesThe best definition of a reading strategy is the tactics or actions teachers implement in order to approach and make sense of a reading text. Reading is important and necessary for human especially a t the present day which technology is growing rapidly. D. C Mitchell (1982:1) wrote that â€Å"reading is the way to express meaning from writer to reader. It is the way to exchange ideas of writer according to his/her styles. The ability to grasp these ideas is depending on reader’s experience, language knowledge and attitude as a fundamental basis. Reading is a Rebecca L. Oxford (1991:1-163) classified reading strategies into four categories: 1. Memory Strategies 2. Cognitive Strategies 3. Compensation Strategies 4. Social Strategies 1. Memory Strategies are personal strategies that depend on skills and ability of each person by using something close-by as a tool for understanding, learning and memorizing that passage. This is the definition of memory strategies. It means users use memory to remember the reading contents. 2. Cognitive Strategies are essential in learning a new language.Cognitive strategies are typically found to be the most popular strategies with language learners. Based on the reader’s comprehension, they use their cognitive to understanding the reading materials. 3. Compensation Strategies enable learners to use the new language for either comprehension or production despite limitations in knowledge. Compensation strategies are intended to make up for an inadequate repertoire of grammar and, especially, of vocabulary. 4. Social Strategies is a term of social behavior; it is communication, and communication occurs between and among people.Learning a language thus involves other people, and appropriate social strategies are very important in this process. 2. 5 Teaching Reading Strategies Teaching reading strategies will increase students on reading skills in the core subject areas; this will also improve the student’s level of achievement. When Student's are lack of knowledge will affect their ability to learn, read or write in all subject areas. Furthermore, helping students learned to read and write in the core subje cts-areas will increase a student's ability to read in all core subjects.A student's reading comprehension skills will improve at the same time. That’s why teaching reading strategies is important in the classroom teaching. The teacher can use reading strategies that connect the students' interest in core subject areas, this can help a student maintain their focus, improve their ability to understand and then apply what they read to the real world. . Reading is a blend of word recognition and comprehension. This involves the response of printed motivation but the growth of sense or knowledge, is the real meaning of reading.The reading process is a mix of finding words and comprehension that involves recognition of printed incentive however, the development of meaning or understanding is the core of reading about meaning. The reader should think and talk about what they are reading and the meaning of the passages, and connect them to what makes sense. Teachers and parents shou ld assist the student by having them begin underlining the most important words in the reading material. The process of pre-reading teaching strategies will help improve reading comprehension.Effective language instructors show students how they can adjust their reading behavior to deal with a variety of situations, types of input, and reading purposes. They help students develop a set of reading strategies and match appropriate strategies to each reading situation. Strategies that can help students read more quickly and effectively include five different types. There are Previewing, Predicting, Skimming and Scanning, Guessing from context and Paraphrasing. Next researcher will list down some characteristics about each reading strategies.First type is previewing: reviewing titles, section headings, and photo captions to get a sense of the structure and content of a reading selection. Second type is predicting: using knowledge of the subject matter to make predictions about content a nd vocabulary and check comprehension; using knowledge of the text type and purpose to make predictions about discourse structure; using knowledge about the author to make predictions about writing style, vocabulary, and content. Third type is skimming and scanning: using a quick survey of the text to get the main idea, identify text structure, confirm or question predictions.Fourth type is guessing from context: using prior knowledge of the subject and the ideas in the text as clues to the meanings of unknown words, instead of stopping to look them up. The last type is phrasing: stopping at the end of a section to check comprehension by restating the information and ideas in the text. 2. 6 Conclusion This chapter is related some review about the definition in reading, compare between old syllabus and new syllabus in China Education system, reading strategies and how to teach reading strategies in the classroom.These four parts provide more information about reading comprehension an d it is very useful for teachers training. CHAPTER ? METHODOLOGY 3. 1 Introduction This chapter provides detailed information regarding the process of collecting the data for this research. The aspects of the research method that are being focused are the subjects, instruments, questionnaires, method of data analysis and also research procedures. 3. 2 Research Design This research is a procedure for collecting and analyzing quantitative data access the research problem.The questionnaire is for Chinese students. It is a survey in No. 9 middle school in Beijing. This design has chosen because it really suits with how the study is carried out. 3. 3 Research Population For the pilot study and the questionnaire part, the population is all Chinese students and teachers are come from No. 9 middle school. The pilot study researcher chooses 15 students because there are totally three grades and each grade has three students to answer the pilot study. All together the questionnaires give the 30 students to answer it.Another part is the teachers’ part, there are three teachers attended in the pilot study and another six teachers are answering the teacher’s questionnaire. 3. 4 Research Sample The samples that had been taken into consideration consist of 30 different grades students of No. 9 middle school in Beijing. The samples are from same school and the school is well-known in Beijing. The samples are also from different level, their learning background also different. In the samples, it also included 6 teachers are teaching three grades of No. 9 middle school in Beijing.Their teaching experiences are different, because two of them are new teachers. Their teaching experiences are not enough. It can contrasts in different teachers and get the different data during the research. 3. 5 Research Instrument To meet the purpose of this study, the researcher looks at the types of reading strategies and which type is more common among students used and teacher tea ching in the classroom. To conduct the process of this study the researcher uses questionnaires for the students and teachers. This questionnaire forms are distributed to the students.This is to gather information of the student’s background and their learning and the teachers’ teaching experiences and methods about reading strategies. The students are given answers and elicit responses regarding the research question. Teachers answer the research question based on their teaching experiences. 3. 6 Pilot Study It is to check the reliability and validity of results. In the research paper, in order to make sure the questions and data are stable and consistent in the questionnaires. The researcher distributed the questionnaire form to 15 other Chinese students from No. middle school in order to get feedback about the questions, and then revise the survey 16 based on the written comments. The researchers will analyze their answer and data which is focused on the types of re ading strategies. After they answer the questions, the researchers will discuss with the sample and analyze the questions. Will make sure each item is clear. The questions are aligned to the researcher to get the research purpose. As a result of the analysis, there are 15 items which are of the questionnaire. From my statistics the =0. 79 3. 7 Data Collection Procedure About the questionnaire, researcher followed the procedure of searching information, constructing the questionnaire, inviting the participants, E-mailing the questionnaire, waiting for response, asking back the completed questionnaire. 3. 8 Data Analysis Procedure The researcher analyzed questionnaire data by using descriptive statistics. The procedure includes input data, summed score method to analyze data, report by using tables and summary of the major results. CHAPTER ? FINDINGS 4. 1 IntroductionThe main aim of this chapter is to investigate the types of cognitive reading strategies and cognitive reading strategi es in the classroom among the middle school students in Beijing. In order to achieve these, data are obtained from a questionnaire that provides answers for the following research question: 1. What are the cognitive reading strategies of middle school students in Beijing? 2 Which type is more common among the students used in the classroom? 4. 2 Questionnaires Two set of questionnaires are distributed to two different groups of subject: the students and the teachers.The first set of questionnaire is distributed to the three grades students who are in No. 9 middle school. The questionnaire is distributed to gather information about student’s reading strategies and through their reading process, which type is used more widely among students in the classroom. The second set of questionnaire is distributed to six English teachers from the same school to find out about teachers teaching reading strategies in the classroom. The information and data gather from the questionnaires ar e calculated using the ‘percentage’ method. . Set 1: Student’ s questionnaire There are three sections in the student’s questionnaire. First section is background information. Table 4. 1 shows the students background information. TABLE 4. 1 Student’s background information 1. Gender |Gender |Male |Female |Percentage | |Students |15 |15 |50% | 2. Grade Grade |1 |2 |3 |Percentage | |Students |10 |10 |10 |33. 3% | The data collected shows the total students are 30. Male and Female percentage are equal in the table. And there are three grades in the No. 9 middle school, the percentage of each grade also the same reached at 33. 3%. The data is suitable to analysis. TABLE 4. 2 Types of Reading Strategies TABLE 4. . 1Skimming and Scanning Item NT UNT ST UT AT (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) B1: I briefly skim the 1 5 5 7 12 text before reading (3. 3%) (16. 7%) (16. 7%) (23. 3%) (40%) B2: I skim/ scan to get 3 2 6 10 9 the main idea (10%) (6. 7%) (20%) (33. 3%) (30%) F rom the table, 60% students like skimming reading strategies before reading the text. Only 4 students or 13. % never use this strategies when they reading the text. Therefore they like skimming reading strategies very much, and some would rather remain neutral attitude on this strategy. Students can get main idea through they skim/scan the reading materials. The percentage is very high in these reading strategies. Illustration 4. 2. 2 Previewing [pic] The bar chart shows the percentage of the students who use previewing reading strategies in the classroom. The middle of blue and yellow bars means that the majority of people keep in neutral about these two questions, Section B question 3 and 4.It reflects that 9 students or 30% and 12 students or 40% not always use it in the classroom reading. Only 3 students or 10% strongly agree use previewing strategies during their reading. And 2 students or 6. 7% never use it. The data is average in this bar chart. TABLE 4. 2. 3 Predicting Item NT UNT ST UT AT (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) B5: I usually make 4 11 11 2 2 predictions as to what (13. 3%) (36. 7%) (36. 7%) (6. 7%) (6. 7%) will follow text. The table of 4. 2. is about students use predicting reading strategy in the classroom. Number of each option is average. Four students or 13. 3%, they never use it during the classroom reading. Most of students are thinking it is â€Å"usually not true of me† or â€Å"Somewhat true of me†, percentage of it reach 36. 7%. Contrast it the students who choose â€Å"Usually true of me† or â€Å"Always true of me† has 4 students only. They prefer use it during their reading. TABLE 4. 2. 4 Guessing from context Item NT UNT ST UT AT (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) B6: While I am reading,I reconsider and revise 5 8 9 5 3 my prior questions (16. 7%) (26. 7%) (30%) (16. 7%) (10%) about the text based on the text’s content. B7: While I am reading, I consider and revise my background 6 7 11 4 2 knowledge about the (20%) (23. 3%) (36. 7%) (13. 3%) (6. 7%) subject based on the text’s content. Question 6 and 7 are related with the fourth type of reading strategy: Guessing from context. The students are also keeping the neutral attitude about this strategy. For question 6, there are 13 students or 43. % they don’t like use it. It takes up most of time doing reading comprehension. Only have 8 students or 26. 7% they always use it in the classroom reading. However the question 7 has some related with question 6. Already almost half of student they choose â€Å"never or usually not true of me† this option. Another 11 students or 36. 7% choose â€Å"Somewhat true of me†. Last 6 students they like use it very much in the classroom reading. Item NT UNT ST UT AT (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) B8: While I am reading,I try to determine the 1 11 11 7 – meaning of unknown (3. 3%) (36. 7%) (36. 7%) (23. 3%) – words that seem critical to the meaning of the text. B9: As I am reading, I eva luate the text to determine whether it 3 8 12 6 1 contributes to my (10%) (26. 7%) (40%) (20%) (3. 3%) knowledge/ understanding of the subject. Two questions are also about â€Å"Guessing from text†. From the data analyses about this two questions, students who choose the same options with Question 6 and 7.There are 12 students or 40% who never use this strategy. 11 students sometimes use it, but there are only 7 students often use it. No one always use this strategy during their reading. Some data are the same with question 9. There are 11 students or 36. 7% who never use guessing from text strategy in the classroom. 40% students use it seldom. And only 7 students or 23. 3%, the number of students who choose this options is same with question 8. TABLE 4. 2. 5 Paraphrasing Item NT UNT ST UT AT (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) B10: I summarize/ araphrase the material that I am 3 8 7 3 9 reading in order to (10%) (26. 7%) (23. 3%) (10%) (30%) remember the text. B11: After I have read 2 8 13 4 3 a text, I review it. (6. 7%) (26. 7%) (43. 3%) (13. 3%) (10%) B12: After I have read 5 11 7 6 1 a text, I evaluate what (16. 7%) (36. 7%) (23. 3%) (20%) (3. 3%) I have read. B13: After I have a read 1 5 12 10 2 a text I summarise it. (3. 3%) (16. %) (40%) (33. 3%) (6. 7%) The last type of reading strategy is Paraphrasing. These four questions are related to the paraphrasing. From the data analyse we can see that most of the students are keep neutral about this strategy. They are neither use it often nor they always use it and still maintains their neutral options through their chosen. Item NT UNT ST UT AT (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) B14: I search out information relevant 1 10 5 10 4 to my reading goals. 3. 3%) (33. 3%) (16. 7%) (33. 3%) (13. 3%) B15: I evaluate whether what I am reading is 4 8 10 6 2 relevant to my reading (13. 3%) (26. 7%) (33. 3%) (20%) (6. 7%) goals. The last two questions also connected with paraphrasing. There is some different with last four questions. It is happ ened in the post-reading strategies. It is based on the reflection that readers give feedback after they did reading in the classroom 4. 2. 2 Set 2: Teacher’s questionnaire Set 2 consists of three sections.There is section A: Background information, Section B: The time arrangement about teaching reading and Section C: Teaching reading strategies in the classroom. TABLE 4. 4 Teacher’s background information 1. Gender |Gender |Male |Female | |Teachers |1 |5 | |Percentage |16. 7% |83. 3% | There are six teachers to participate in the research questions.Five are female or 83. 3% from the table analysis. Only one male participate in the research, percentage is 16. 7%. 2. Teaching Grade |Grade |1 |2 |3 | |Teachers |2 |2 |2 | |Percentage |33. 3% |33. 3% |33. 3% | All of the six teachers are teaching Grade 1, Grade 2 and Grade 3.Percentage is average 33. 3%, it shows researcher consider about the data analyze stability and choose the same teacher who teaching in the same grade . The data is easier to analyze and has pertinence for teaching purpose. 3. Education Qualification |Education Qualification |Bachelor degree |Master |Doctor | |Number |4 |2 |- | |Percentage |66. % |33. 3% |- | There are three levels for the education qualification, Bachelor degree, Master and Doctor. Four teachers or 66. 7% their education qualification is Bachelor degree. It is above 50% for the six participates. Another two teachers or 33. 3%, they are Master. There is no Doctor between the six participates 4. Teaching experience |Teaching Experience |2 |3 |5 8 | |(years) | | | | | |Number |2 |1 |2 |1 | |Percentage |33. 3% |16. 7% |33. 3% |16. 7% | Six teachers have different teaching experience. Two of them or 33. 3% they have two years teaching experiences. Same number of teachers who have five years teaching experiences, the percentage is also 33. %. Another two teachers who has three and eight years teaching experiences, the percentage is only 16. 7%. TABLE 4. 5 Time arrangem ent |Item |A |B |C |D | | |Rarely or never |A few times a |A few times a week|Every or almost | | | |month | |every class | |1.How often do you arrange |- |- |2 |4 | |to do the reading exercise? | | | | | |Percentage |- |- |33. 3% |66. 7% | |2. How often do you arrange |- |4 |2 |- | |to do the reading test? | | | | |Percentage |- |66. 7% |33. 3% |- | Two questions about how to arrangement time for teacher to teach reading in the classroom, Question 1 is about teacher who arrange time for reading exercise. From the table, there is no participate choose A and B options. Two teachers or 33. 3% who arrange time to do the reading exercise few times in a week.And four teachers or 66. 7% they do the reading exercise every or almost every class. Question 2 is about teachers who arrange time to do the reading text. The table shows the number and percentage for the six participates’ answer. No one choose option A. Four teacher or 66. 7% they test students only few times in a month, f requency is not so high. Only two teachers or 33. 3% they arrange a few times a week to test students. Maybe the two teachers who teach Grade 3, they usually give the test to students. 3. Reading quantity Item |A |B |C |D | | |0 |1-2 |3-4 |Above 5 | |3. How many articles do you give to your students |- |1 |3 |2 | |and finish it? | | | | | |Percentage |- |16. 7% |50% |33. % | Question 3 is about the reading quantity that teacher gives students and asks them to finish it. The table gives very clear about the answer. Each of participate give the article to their students and answer them to finish. Only one teacher or 16. 7% give one article to students. Another three teachers or 50% give three articles everyday and ask students to finish it. Last two teachers or 33. 3% give two articles to their students. Teacher averages gives the 3-4 articles to students and ask them to finish them. This question is quiet useful for teachers. 4. Reading materials Item |Number |Percentage | |4. What k inds of articles do you give to | | | |your students and finish it? | | | |A. Newspaper/ Journals |1 |16. 7% | |B. Magazines |- |- | |C.Literacy extracts |2 |33. 3% | |D. Academic text |3 |50% | |E. Interviews |- |- | |F. Speeches |- |- | Teachers like choose academic text for students and ask them to finish, there are three teachers or 50% choose it.Two teachers chose literacy extracts for students and give them in the classroom teaching. Only one teacher or 16. 7% choose newspaper or journals give them to students ask to finish it in the classroom. No one give the magazines, interviews and speeches article to students. 4. 6 Teaching reading strategies There are three reading stage: pre-reading, during reading and after reading, based on the reading stage, teacher teaching reading strategies into these three stages. Six participates answers the questions used their teaching experiences. TABLE 4. 6 Teaching reading strategiesItem UT UNT ST UU AU (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) 1. How much do you emphasize the following â€Å"pre-reading† Strategies in the classroom? a) Previewing – – 3 3 – – – (50%) (50%) b) Predicting – 3 3 – – – (50%) (50%) – – The data has some similarity in two reading strategies. About three teachers or 50% sometimes or usually use it in the classroom teaching.There are no teachers who never or almost or always use previewing strategy in the pre-reading stage. The same data in the second strategy is predicting. There is no teacher never or almost or usually or always use it in the pre-reading stage. Three teachers or 50% teachers who use it sometimes not, it is the same with teachers sometimes use predicting in the classroom exercise. Item UT UNT ST UU AU (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) 2. How much do you emphasize the following â€Å"during reading†Strategies in the classroom? a) Skimming and Scanning – – – 1 5 – – – (16. 7%) ( 83. 3%) b) Guessing from context – 1 3 2 – – (16. 7%) (50%) (33. 3%) – 3. How much do you emphasize the following â€Å"after reading† Strategies in the classroom? (a) Paraphrasing 1 4 – 1 – (16. 7%) (66. 7%) – (16. 7%) – From the table researcher can get the data clearly.There are five teachers choose skimming and scanning reading strategy to teach in the classroom is very popular. There are already above 83. 3% percentage in this strategy. For the guessing from context the data is average. Three teachers or 50% are keeping neutral for this reading strategy. For the last reading stage-after reading, teacher use paraphrasing to teach students. There is only one teacher use it in the classroom. The rest of teachers they dislike using it in the classroom. For this strategy the data shows teacher are not attentions on the paraphrasing in the daily class.CHAPTER ? DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 5. 1 Introduction This chapter aims to make a detailed summary of the findings during the questionnaire; then analyze the significant implications of the reading strategies in the middle school students and how to teach the reading strategies in the classroom; lastly put forward several recommendations for the further research. During this part is filled with researchers own perspectives in finding this topic, there will also be some suggestions and ideas summed up from researcher’s experiences can be implicated in the further research. . 2 Summary of findings The findings of the research paper in chapter four clearly indicate that the two sets of questionnaire were held successfully and meaningfully to the whole research paper procedure. The findings include two parts of the research. First part is about student’s reading strategies and through their reading process, which type is used more widely among students in the classroom. Second part is about teachers teaching reading strategies in the classroo m. According to the participants’ reply on the questionnaire, a summary can be shown below:From the questionnaire and data analyze, researcher choose the five reading strategies for the research. There are Previewing, Predicting, Skimming and Scanning, Guessing from context and Paraphrasing. These five reading strategies are used among No. 9 middle school students who participant the research questions. The table and bar chart shows the number and percentage that student used the frequency of each reading strategy. Researcher analyzes the data and gets the main five reading strategies for students used. For those students who use the five reading strategies, the number and percentage are not same.There are five levels; NT, UNT, ST, UT and AT. It stands for different students based on their reading habits or reading experiences to choose which level is more suitable for themselves. After analyze the data, researcher chooses one type of reading strategy is more common used in t he students. This strategy is skimming and scanning. 30 participates has above 60% of students who choose this strategy as their answer. In the findings TABLE 4. 2. 1 shows the number and percentage about this item. From data analyze researcher decided this reading strategy is communal used among the students who are study in No. middle school. Another research part is about teacher teaching reading strategies in the classroom. The questionnaire is related with the teacher arrange time and teaching reading strategies in the classroom. For the research’s question and data analyze, the six participates answer their question very carefully and the answers are truly. It can help researcher get better reflection and the accuracy of result. There are four questions about teachers’ classroom teaching. Consider the time arrangement and researcher pay attention on the teaching reading strategies. TABLE 4. is showing the five reading strategies that teacher used in the classroom , the data collection and analyzed researcher found that there is one strategy data is very high; already maximizing 83. 3% in the whole five reading strategies. The strategy is â€Å"skimming and scanning†, the number of teachers who used it to teaching is usually or always in the classroom. 5. 3 Discussion The questionnaire is divided into two sets. Set 1 is student’s questionnaire and Set 2 is teacher’s questionnaire. For the Set 1, there are 14 questions to answer for students’ part. TABLE 4. 2. 1-4. . 5 shows the five types of items and the data analyze that 30 responder . The data displays five different types of reading strategies which used by students, their learning ability and their background is different. So the data respond their real situation. The results is from the five table analyze, researcher research one of reading strategy is common used by students. It is skimming and scanning. The frequency is higher than another four reading stra tegies. Some students thinking this strategy is more useful in the classroom practice or even in the test or exam.It can improve reading speed and get related information about the article. Skimming and scanning strategy is a practical strategy in comparative other four reading strategy. The findings gathered from the questionnaires did not employ certain strategies effectively which would help them cope with the demands of their academic studies and which also give the answer to the second research question which is â€Å"What sort of cognitive reading strategies should be developed by the students in order to continue their academic studies successfully and to get out of a text they read? †The cognitive reading strategies are help students to improve their reading comprehension no matter in the usual exercises or in the examination. It is becomes useful reading strategies in the classroom. Set 2 is about teaching reading strategy in the classroom. Researcher gave the questi onnaire to the responder and got the answer from them. The responder has different teaching experiences and background. They also teach different grade, because objective disparity also affects the teaching strategy. Result for TABLE 4. 6 is about teaching reading strategies among six teachers in No. middle school. It reflected teacher emphasize on use skimming and scanning reading strategy in the classroom. They prefer like use this strategy teach their students in reading class. The plenty number of teacher thinking this strategy is useful during students reading the article. Because of this point researcher aimed at the different reading stage and give the different reading strategies they teach in the classroom. It can get more specific reading strategies for teachers’ teaching. They think it is a useful reading strategy during the students used.It can help students improve the reading speed and accuracy for the practice and test when students used. This strategy for teac her who choose as the first teaching reading strategy in the classroom, it is widely used in the No. 9 middle school. 5. 4 Implication of the study The study gives the students knowledge about the reading strategies used from No. 9 middle school students and which strategy is used among the students. For the teacher they are teaching reading strategies between different level students. It also provides the factors and reasons that contribute to the miscues.Furthermore, from the study, teachers will have a wider knowledge concerning the reading strategies that should be taken in order to help students to improve their reading speed and the accuracy of reading comprehension. 5. 5 Recommendation of the study A study was conducted tagged the types of reading strategies in the No. 9 middle school. This study was carried out in 2010 and researcher achieves the research objectives in the end. Several of data meticulously reviewed to elucidate the research topic. The following recommendatio ns were highlighted so as to enhance effective reading strategy for students and teachers in the No. middle school: 1. Use different types of reading strategies in the classroom among students learning. There are five reading strategies in the research. Only one strategy is very useful among the students used in the real situation. Further more students should apply the reading strategies for the different types of article, aimed at different types of articles use different reading strategies in the classroom learning and reading. 2. Different level students and different teaching objectives, teacher should expand reading materials for students and the amount of article in the classroom teaching.In the research process, participates’ data shows the number of reading materials is less than four passages. It means they should improve the quantity of article to students to do in the classroom. And also the types of reading materials are focus on only in Newspaper/ Journals, Lite racy extracts and Academic text. It is not enough for students to do. They should provide more kinds of reading materials for their students. It can enhance their reading comprehension in the classroom learning. 3. Both students and teachers are pay attention on the daily exercises in the classroom or out of classroom.Teachers give the articles to students after the class, ask them to practice and encourage students to do more reading exercises using reading strategies. Students should buy some related reading exercise for themselves to practice with the reading strategies. Master the reading strategies better. With these carefully implemented, researcher want to believe that they will apply these in the future learning and teaching. Help students improve their reading comprehension and increase the teaching experiences. 5. 6 Conclusion The review of reading strategies and what is the effective reading strategy among the students used in the classroom.However it is not without solut ion. Firstly, teachers should give more time on reading in the classroom. Help them to enhance their reading strategies. Secondly, students use reading strategies to do the different types of reading materials in the classroom. It can improve students reading ability during the class or in the test. Thirdly no matter teachers or students should give attention on effective reading strategy in the classroom. After these statements, researcher hopes it is become useful for teachers and students in the classroom teaching.

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Battle of the Somme in World War I

Battle of the Somme in World War I The Battle of the Somme was fought from July 1 to November 18, 1916 during World War I (1914-1918). In 1916, the British and French intended to launch a large-scale offensive along the Somme River. With the beginning of the Battle of Verdun in February, the focus changed to a British-centric operation with the goal of relieving pressure on the French. Moving forward on July 1, the British sustained massive losses in the opening hours of the offensive while French troops made some gains. Far from the breakthrough hoped for by the high command, the Battle of Somme became an extended, grinding affair that came to symbolize the futility of the fighting on the Western Front.   Background Meeting at Chantilly in December 1915, the Allied high command worked to develop war plans for the coming year. It was agreed that the most effective path forward would be simultaneous offensives on the Eastern, Western, and Italian Fronts. This approach would preclude the Central Powers from being able to shift troops to meet each threat in turn. On the Western Front, the British and French planners moved forward and ultimately decided to mount a large, combined offensive along the Somme River. The initial plan called for the bulk of the troops to be French with support from the British Fourth Army in the north. While supportive of the plan, the commander of the British Expeditionary Force, General Sir Douglas Haig, had originally desired to attack in Flanders. As plans for the Somme offensive were developed, they were soon changed in response to the Germans opening the Battle of Verdun in late February 1916. Rather than delivering the crippling blow to the Germans, the Somme offensives principal goal would now be to relieve pressure on the beleaguered French defenders at Verdun.   Additionally, the primary composition of the troops involved would be British rather than French. Planning For the British, the main push would come north of the Somme and would be led by General Sir Henry Rawlinsons Fourth Army. Like most parts of the BEF, the Fourth Army was largely composed of inexperienced Territorial or New Army troops. To the south, French forces from General Marie Fayolles Sixth Army would attack on both banks of the Somme. Preceded by a seven-day bombardment and the detonation of 17 mines under German strong points, the offensive began at 7:30 AM on July 1. Attacking with 13 divisions, the British attempted advance up an old Roman road that ran 12 miles from Albert, northeast to Bapaume. Armies Commanders Allies Field Marshal Douglas HaigGeneral Ferdinand Foch13 British and 11 French divisions (rising to 51 and 48) Germany General Max von GallwitzGeneral Fritz von Below10 divisions (rising to 50) Disaster on the First Day Advancing behind a creeping barrage, British troops encountered heavy German resistance as the preliminary bombardment had been largely ineffective. In all areas the British attack achieved little success or was repulsed outright. On July 1, the BEF suffered over 57,470 casualties (19,240 killed) making it the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army. Dubbed the Battle of Albert, Haig persisted in pushing forward over the next several days. To the south, the French, utilizing different tactics and a surprise bombardment, achieved more success and reached many of their initial objectives. Grinding Ahead As the British attempted to re-start their attack, the French continued to advance along the Somme. On July 3/4, the French XX Corps nearly achieved a breakthrough but was forced to halt to allow the British on their left flank to catch up. By July 10, French forces had advanced six miles and had captured the Flaucourt Plateau and 12,000 prisoners. On July 11, Rawlinsons men finally secured the first line of German trenches, but were unable to breakthrough. Later that day, the Germans began shifting troops from Verdun to reinforce General Fritz von Belows Second Army north of the Somme (Map). As a result, the German offensive at Verdun was ended and the French achieved the upper hand in that sector. On July 19, German forces were reorganized with von Below shifting to First Army in the north and General Max von Gallwitz taking over Second Army in the south. In addition, von Gallwitz was made an army group commander with responsibility for the entire Somme front. On July 14, Rawlinsons Fourth Army launched an attack Bazentin Ridge, but as with other earlier assaults its success was limited and little ground was gained. In an effort to break the German defenses in the north, Haig committed elements of Lieutenant General Hubert Goughs Reserve Army. Striking at Pozià ¨res, Australian troops carried the village largely due to the careful planning of their commander, Major General Harold Walker, and held it against repeated counterattacks. Success there and at Mouquet Farm allowed Gough to threaten the German fortress at Thiepval. Over the next six weeks, the fighting continued along the front, with both sides feeding a grinding battle of attrition. Efforts in the Fall On September 15, the British mounted their final attempt to force a breakthrough when they opened the Battle of Flers-Courcelette with an attack by 11 divisions. The debut of the tank, the new weapon proved effective, but was plagued by reliability issues. As in the past, British forces were able to advance into the German defenses, but could not fully penetrate them and failed to reach their objectives. Subsequent small assaults at Thiepval, Gueudecourt, and LesbÅ“ufs achieved similar results. Entering the battle on a large scale, Goughs Reserve Army began a major offensive on September 26 and succeeded in taking Thiepval. Elsewhere on the front, Haig, believing a breakthrough was near, pushed forces towards Le Transloy and Le Sars with little effect. With winter approaching, Haig initiated the final phase of the Somme Offensive on November 13, with an attack along the Ancre River to the north of Thiepval. While assaults near Serre failed completely, attacks to the south succeeded in taking Beaumont Hamel and achieving their objectives. A final attack was made on the German defenses on November 18 which effectively ended the campaign. Aftermath The fighting at the Somme cost the British approximately 420,000 casualties, while the French incurred 200,000. German losses numbered around 500,000. During the campaign British and French forces advanced around 7 miles along the Somme front, with each inch costing around 1.4 casualties. While the campaign achieved its goal of relieving pressure on Verdun, it was not a victory in the classic sense. As the conflict increasingly became a war of attrition, the losses incurred at the Somme were more easily replaced by the British and French, than by the Germans. Also, the large-scale British commitment during the campaign aided in increasing their influence within the alliance. While the Battle of Verdun became the iconic moment of the conflict for the French, the Somme, particularly the first day, achieved a similar status in Britain and became a symbol of the futility of war.

Global strategic Planning Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Global strategic Planning - Assignment Example McDonald’s outlets are also located on national highways and other prominent roadside locations. McDonald’s set foot on Indian soil by inking a joint venture with two domestic companies; Hardcastle Restaurants Private Ltd. (HRPL) and Connaught Plaza Restaurants Private Ltd. (CPRP). HRPL has been awarded a Development Licensee status by McDonald’s and is responsible for spearheading the fast food chain’s business operations in West and South India. Meanwhile, McDonald’s joint venture with CPRP is responsible for developing business in North and East India (McDonald’s.com, 2014). Since its entry 18 years ago, McDonald’s has grown by leaps and bounds in the country. It has fueled its expansion plans by offering franchises to financially robust companies that promise long-term sustainable development of its business. McDonald’s entered India in the mid 1990s. The company ran into rough weather as ingesting beef, one of the key ingredients in McDonald’s burgers, violated the religious beliefs of Hindus. There was an anti-McDonald’s sentiment in the country. McDonald’s was seen as a company that promoted alien culture in India (Kulkarni & Lassar, 2009). The row continued for a long time. A class action lawsuit was filed against McDonald’s alleging that the company deceived Indian consumers by lacing its products with beef (The Times of India, 2001). The fast food chain responded to the local requirements and removed beef from its menu. People were allowed to visit and inspect the company’s kitchen to be sure that there was no beef. Till date, McDonald’s does not offer any pork or beef item in India. The company respects the traditional Indian culture and has separated the procurement, cooking and serving of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food items in the country (Newcomb, 2012). McDonald’s