the identity of the poets Essays - Sylvia Plath, Guggenheim Fellows

The Identity of the Woman Poet: Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton God, who am I? [?] I sit here without identity: faceless [?] someone believes I am a human being, not a name merely. And these are the only indications that I am a whole person, not merely a knot of nerves, without identity. I?m lost. (Plath, Journals 26) Tasting the Time The identities of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton as female writers were doomed before these two women were even conceived within their mothers? wombs. Society had already carved a mold for these two women?s lives, including the roles of wife, mother, and nurturer. These man-made roles were not a choice of fate, were not a choice of their own; rather, they were a choice and a command spoken from a society that did not allow a woman?s role to move beyond the home. As Freud, an innovative and domineering psychoanalyst during the twentieth century, stated: ?anatomy is destiny? (Freud). Similarly, Plath and Sexton?s female anatomy would be their destinies. Their destinies suffered from a loss of identity created by being women and poets. Plath and Sexton were simply two creative female geniuses thrown into the same poetic category of Confessionalism. They were women writing, making a distinct mark Bienhoff 2 on the poetry scene, resulting in the ultimate: two Pulitzer Prizes (Sexton: 1967; Plath: 1982). They both existed in the same era and even knew each other; their lives collided at a center point: a poetry course at Boston University. They became friendly and regular bar-goers after the course, uniting in conversation about their fascination with death. As Sexton stated in her essay on Plath, ?The Bar Fly Ought to Sing?: ?We talked death with burned-up intensity, both of us drawn to it like moths to an electric light bulb. Sucking on it! [?] We talked death and this was life for us [?]? (No Evil Star 7). Plath and Sexton are further and foremost known for their deaths. They were two women who took life into their own hands and made their own choices about their ends. Plath in 1963 was first to venture off into death, when she swallowed sleeping pills and placed her head in an oven and breathed in the gas, sparing her two children who were sleeping peacefully in a sealed-off room close to their mother?s own doom (Wagner- Martin, ?Two Views?). Sexton was left behind in life and wrote two poems on her friend?s departure into death: ?Sylvia?s Death? and ?Wanting to Die;? as Sexton spoke of in ?Sylvia?s Death?: ?Thief! ? / how did you crawl down alone / into the death I wanted so badly and for so long, / [?] the one we talked of so often each time / we downed three extra dry martinis in Boston? (Complete Poems 126). Yet, Sexton proved that she was not too far behind, following her acquaintance in 1974 when she entered her garage, turned on her car, and slowly went into death that friend she had tried to meet several times before her final end (Wagner-Martin, ?Anne Sexton?). There is another world beyond these cardboard fact similarities of poetry, mental illnesses, and suicides in relation to Plath and Sexton. During their lives, the conservatism and ideals of the nuclear family had been reinforced with the conclusion of Bienhoff 3 World War II. During wartime, women had entered the workforce while the men were absent fighting; however, no one intended women to continue working when the men returned home after winning the war. Instead a woman was expected to return to the home with a relieved and thankful smile planted upon her face. Women were kicked out of the same factories that so desperately needed them during wartime, and they were supposed to be joyous about being demoted or even fired. A woman?s personal fulfillment would not lie within a job, a woman?s personal fulfillment lay within her daily household duties?including the washing and the dusting, the cleaning and the cooking, the slave-like submissive behavior to her husband and the constant conception and birthing of babies. These images of the perfect woman and her unmistakable identity flooded magazines, billboards, and sitcoms on television; they acted as ?woman propaganda.? A woman?s identity was transcribed before she even had time to use her ?useless? brain and choose a path of her own liking. As Naomi Weisstein declared in her article that became a part of the women?s liberation movement when she presented it in 1968, ?Psychology Constructs the Female?: ?A woman has

Free Essays on Madame Du Chatelet

Madame du Chatelet In a society where nobility disliked the notion of education for their daughters arose one of the great mathematicians of the eighteenth century, Frenchwoman, Emilie du Chatelet. Born in Paris December 17, 1706, she grew up in a household where the art of courting was the only way one could mold a place in society. During her early childhood, Emilie began to show such promise in the area of academics that soon she was able to convince her father that she needed attention. Provided with a relatively good education for the time, she studied and soon mastered Latin, Italian and English. In spite of her talents in the area of languages, her true love was mathematics. Her study in this area was encouraged by a family friend, M.de Mezieres, who recognized the young lady’s talent. Emilie’s work in mathematics was rarely original or as captivating as that of other female mathematicians but it was substantive. The fact that it was accomplished in the first place is in it self remarkable. Emilie not only refused to give up mathematics but she engaged the best known tutors to help her in her study. She also conquered the heart of Voltaire, one of the most intriguing and brilliant scholars of this time. Some of Emilie’s most significant work came from the period she spent with Voltaire at Cirey-sur-Blaise. For the two scholars this was a safe and quiet haven distant from the turbulence of Paris and court life. As Voltaire notes â€Å"We long employed all our attention and powers upon Leibniz and Newton; Mme du Chatelet attached herself first to Leibniz, and explained one part of his system in a book exceedingly well written, entitled Institutions de physique† (1,p.56). However she soon abandoned the work of Leibniz and applied herself to the discoveries of the great Newton. She was extremely successful in translating his whole book of principals of mathematics into French. She also ... Free Essays on Madame Du Chatelet Free Essays on Madame Du Chatelet Madame du Chatelet In a society where nobility disliked the notion of education for their daughters arose one of the great mathematicians of the eighteenth century, Frenchwoman, Emilie du Chatelet. Born in Paris December 17, 1706, she grew up in a household where the art of courting was the only way one could mold a place in society. During her early childhood, Emilie began to show such promise in the area of academics that soon she was able to convince her father that she needed attention. Provided with a relatively good education for the time, she studied and soon mastered Latin, Italian and English. In spite of her talents in the area of languages, her true love was mathematics. Her study in this area was encouraged by a family friend, M.de Mezieres, who recognized the young lady’s talent. Emilie’s work in mathematics was rarely original or as captivating as that of other female mathematicians but it was substantive. The fact that it was accomplished in the first place is in it self remarkable. Emilie not only refused to give up mathematics but she engaged the best known tutors to help her in her study. She also conquered the heart of Voltaire, one of the most intriguing and brilliant scholars of this time. Some of Emilie’s most significant work came from the period she spent with Voltaire at Cirey-sur-Blaise. For the two scholars this was a safe and quiet haven distant from the turbulence of Paris and court life. As Voltaire notes â€Å"We long employed all our attention and powers upon Leibniz and Newton; Mme du Chatelet attached herself first to Leibniz, and explained one part of his system in a book exceedingly well written, entitled Institutions de physique† (1,p.56). However she soon abandoned the work of Leibniz and applied herself to the discoveries of the great Newton. She was extremely successful in translating his whole book of principals of mathematics into French. She also ...

Repeal of the Affordable Care Act (Obama Care) Research Paper

Repeal of the Affordable Care Act (Obama Care) - Research Paper Example It would contribute in reducing the abuses of insurance industry. According to the government, the bill will give more protection to American nation on health issues. Children will get more health care as compared to past; there will be no limit for the annual health care for people (Healthcare.gov, 2011). Patients will get preventive services without sharing any cost. Government tends to implement the plan in practice from 2014. Despite all the goods that plan seem to bring in the health care of Americans, there are a lot many reservations in the public (Healthcare.gov, 2011). Middle class suffers more as the tax cut from small businesses and insurance policies would help poor or low-income people to buy policies for them. The plan is aimed at reducing the premium of businesspersons running small businesses to help the needy people. Republicans have rejected the law for not having any constitutional authority and have raised voice for repeal (Healthcare.gov, 2011). The Repeal of the Affordable Care Act (Obama Care) is a pending piece of political legislation and its repealing has many reasons behind it. This paper discusses the issue of repeal of the Affordable Care Act in detail. ...ore, Richard Neal, William Pascrell, Gary Peters , Earl Pomeroy , Linda Sanchez, Allyson Schwartz, Ike Skelton, Fortney Stark, John Tanner, Michael Thompson, Dina Titus, Christopher Van Hollen and John Yarmuth (GovTrack.us 2009). The Republicans who sponsored the Affordable Care Act are Virginia Brown-Waite, Walter Jones and Todd Platts (GovTrack.us, 2009). American Nurses Association, American Medical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Physicians, Association of American Medical Colleges, National Association of Community Health Centers, American Osteopathic Association, Catholic Health Association, American Public Health Association, Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum, Doctors for America and National Hispanic Medical Associatio n consider the Affordable Care Act as a revolutionary act that keeps the capability of attending all the problems associated with health care (Foster, 2011). According to the mentioned health care communities, repeal of Affordable Care Act will be depreciative for health care services and will take health care back to its backward form (Foster, 2011). Ostensible Objectives of the Legislation According to the legislature, ObamaCare Act has many ostensible objectives. They are to make certain relaxed admittance to emergency facilities, to make certain that all people are insured under the law, to make employers responsible for their employees for the provision of health care insurance services, to ensure betterment of insurance policies by increasing insurance coverage, to make sure that the premiums of insurance are kept low and to impose tax penalties for people with no health insurance (ACEP, 2010). Hidden Agendas or Objectives to the Proposed Law Democrats and republicans both hav e some

The Fiscal Cliff and the United States Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Fiscal Cliff and the United States - Essay Example The Fiscal Cliff and the United States: A Future Prospectus of What Actions will Precipitate what Reactions Although a firm understanding how these two relate would require a dissertation length piece on both social, governmental, and economic trends, this brief essay will attempt to summarize some of the key concerns related with these implications as well as seeking to understand and quantify the ways in which a given government can seek to maintain the optimal balance of freedom, equality and solidarity in order to proceed within such a difficult economic environment as the current nation is experiencing. With the situation regarding the United States’ â€Å"Fiscal Cliff† as it has been called, the situation is with regards to a host of tax cuts and new austerity measures that are due to go into affect the first of this coming year – if not legislative or executive actions are taken to ally them. The purpose of this piece is not to argue between either fiscally liberal or conservative policies as a panacea to the ills of our current financial travails. However, igno ring the present viewpoints that exist on the topic and attempting to analyze them to find a middle path is equally foolish. Accordingly, the author has chosen to devote some brief space to the political ideologies that the two party system of the United States has necessarily espoused. The primary obstacle towards a greater understanding between the two political parties with regards to austerity, spending, and the national debt is with regards to how the situation should be handled.... Such a sum for the time was an unimaginable one (Hinch, 2012). Aided by nearly a decade of conflict and two wars, the Republican Party lost any and all credence that they had formerly retained with reference to being the party of fiscal responsibility. However, with regards to the individual positions that the political spectrum retains, there can be said to be two. The Democratic Party believes that the best way to find a reasonable solution from such economic difficulties revolve around raising taxes (specifically on the upper middle class and wealthiest citizens). Such an approach has merits; however, speaking economically, it also serves to penalize those job-creators that most directly influence the level of growth and recovery that the nation would experience if such a deadweight loss were not experienced. Similarly, those that support the alternate view to the one listed above claim that any and all budget shortfalls must be remedied by relying on austerity and/or budget cuts to achieve the desired result. Naturally, neither one of these offerings is reasonable due to the fact that it is impossible for our current society to realize the correct levels of freedom, solidarity, and equality that would be necessary to achieve either of these positions. Therefore, it is the recommendation of this author that the ultimate approach would necessarily penalize (tax) all citizens equally; regardless of their economic stature within the economy (Etzioni, 1993). In this way, the government would be able to highly equitable distribute the tax burden among all of its citizens. Additionally, there would no longer be a disincentive for those that made less to attempt to make even more as all citizens would be equitably dealt with in terms of their overall level of

Investigating the Effects of Surface Area on the Rate of Reaction Essay Example for Free

Investigating the Effects of Surface Area on the Rate of Reaction Essay Aim: To study the effects of changing the surface area on the rate of a chemical reaction Hypothesis: This hypothesis is based on the Collision Theory, where in order to react, the two particles involved must: 1. Collide with each other 2. The collision must be energetic enough to overcome the activation energy of the reaction 3. The collision must bring the reactive parts of the molecule into contact the correct way – they must collide with appropriate geometry (the reactive parts) Considering that the surface area of a particle is a factor that mainly affects the collision rate of particles, it would be safe to assume that as the surface area increases, the reaction rate increases. The graph should turn out to be something like this: 1. the reaction is the fastest at the start 2. The reaction is slowing down here 3. No more product is formed Amount of product Time Variables: Variable Factor What is manipulated Dependent Time The time it takes for the reaction to complete depends on the surface area of the compounds being used, because it determines the rate in which the reaction will occur. Independent Volume of the gas collected (H2, CO2) The amount of gas collected for each experiment will depend on the Controlled 1. Mass of Calcium Carbonate (both marble chips and powdered form) 2. Mass of Magnesium (both ribbon and powder) 3. Volume of Hydrochloric Acid 4. Apparatus Used 1. The masses of the substances utilized will remain constantly fixed during the experiment 2. 50 cm3 of HCl will be used for every trial – 550 cm3 in total 3. The apparatus used will remain the same throughout the whole experiment Chemical Reactions: Mg + 2HCl → MgCl2 + H2 1. Magnesium ribbon 2. Hydrogen Gas will be the gas collected 1. 3 Trials will take place 1. Mass of Magnesium ribbon in: 1. Trial 1: 0.064 grams 2. Trial 2: 0.063 grams 3. Trial 3: 0.065 grams CaCO3 + 2HCl → CaCl2 + H2O + CO2 1. Marble Chips 2. Carbon Dioxide will be the gas collected 1. 2 Trials will take place 1. Mass of Marble Chips in: 1. Trial 1: 3.998 grams 2. Trial 2: 3.988 grams Na2CO3 + 2HCl → 2NaCl + H2O + CO2 1. Sodium Carbonate (Powdered) 2. Carbon Dioxide will be the gas collected 1. 2 Trials will take place 1. Mass of Sodium Carbonate 1. Trial 1: 0.504 grams 2. Trial 2: 0.505 grams Apparatus: 1. Eye-Protection – 1 pair of Safety Glasses 2. 1 pair of Scissors 3. 1 Electronic Scale 4. 1 Conical Flask (100cm3) 5. 1 Single-holed rubber bung and delivery tube to fit conical flask 6. 1 Measuring cylinder (100cm3) 7. Stopwatch Chemicals: 1. 12cm of Magnesium Ribbon 2. 550 cm3 of Hydrochloric Acid 3. Marble Chips 4. Sodium Carbonate (Powdered) Method: 1. Set up apparatus as shown 2. Fill the conical flask with 50cm3 of HCl 3. Insert the end of the syringe into the hole on top of the stopper 4. Add the magnesium ribbon 5. Seal the flask with a rubber stopper as quickly as you can, at the same time have someone else present to start the stop watch once the magnesium ribbon has been added to the hydrochloric acid 6. As the reaction takes place, note down the time it takes for the gas collected to reach a multiple of 5 (i.e. 5mL, 10mL †¦.50,55,60,65 etc) 7. Keep measuring until the reaction has stopped, or you are unable to measure anymore 8. Repeat each experiment 3 times, just to be sure the data collected is accurate 9. At step 4, replace the underlined compound with the next compound after one experiment is completed Conclusion Unfortunately I was unable to create a graph using time as the independent variable, because the lab that I had utilized did not have the equipment available to accurately to record the data if time were to be the independent variable. Another factor that played into my decision was the fact that the smallest calibration of the glass syringe I used was 5 cm3. Since the only visible measurements shown on the syringe were multiples of 5, it would only seem reasonable that I switch around the variables, making time the dependent variable, and the volume collected the independent variable, since I couldn’t exactly measure how much gas would be collected every 5 seconds; otherwise the relationship the graph would depict would be completely incorrect. As you can see on the graphs, the slightly steep slopes show when the reaction is the quickest, as it should be in the beginning. The curve shows the reaction slowing down, but unfortunately the curve continues. This is because the reaction is still taking place. I was unable to record the rest of the data because the measuring tools that were available weren’t able to record to such a high degree. In some cases though, like in the powdered sodium carbonate experiment, the reaction began so quickly that I wasn’t able to record the time in most cases, so I just stuck with those that I had managed to note down. In other cases, there were so many distractions in the lab that it was difficult to remain focused. My classmates kept removing some if the items that I was using. The idea was to see how the rate of reaction changed when the surface area of a substance was increased. Initially, my plan was to react magnesium ribbon and magnesium powder with 1 mole of Hydrochloric acid; so I could compare and contrast how the surface area of the substance affected the rate of reaction. I had planned to keep everything about the two substances the same. Its element, mass, the amount of Hydrochloric acid I was going to react with it; the only thing different would be its surface area. Unfortunately the Lab didn’t have any available. So I decided to do the same experiment to Calcium Carbonate, this time using marble chips and powdered calcium carbonate. To my dismay I found that the powdered calcium carbonate wasn’t reacting at all. So I had to change it to sodium carbonate. There is skepticism about using different elements, seeing as they have different orders of reactivity. These factors, including the concentration of the acid used, could also affect the rate of reaction. However, the same acid concentration was used for all experiments, in all trials; so we can dismiss that. However, sodium is much higher up the reactivity series than calcium, which is higher up the reactivity series than magnesium. This is the problem with this experiment; the elements positions in the reactivity series could have really altered the rate of reaction. However, the experiments still prove that when the surface area of a substance is increased, the rate of reaction increases as well. This happens because, when two substances react only the surface particles of the substances can come into direct contact with the reactant particles. Increasing a substance’s surface area, like turning big solid chunks of calcium carbonate into powder, leaves more solid particles available to react. The more particles available to react at one time, the faster the rate of the reaction. Like this: Only atoms on the surface can react If you break the substance down, more atoms are exposed and ready to react. Evaluation Considering the lack of material available, I think I was able to manage the experiment fairly enough to produce results. However, I am not pleased with the factors that may or may not have affected my results, and the circumstances in which I had to switch my variables around. Therefore I would like to state a few things I would like to alter, if ever I got the change to do this experiment again. 1. Apparatus 1. Next time, instead of using a stopwatch, I would like to use a digital device, like a laptop for example, that was somehow connected to the glass syringe, which was programmed to record the volume of the gas collected every 5 seconds. This time the graph would turn out the way it should be. 2. Instead of using a measuring cylinder, I would replace it with a burette, as it takes more accurate measurements of liquids. 1. Chemicals Used 1. I would try and used the same element next time; the only difference would be the surface area. For example, if I used magnesium, to study the effects of surface area on the rate of reaction, I would only you magnesium ribbon and magnesium powder. Studying different elements with different reactivity’s would dismiss any data already collected because an element’s position on the reactivity series may also determine the rate of reaction. Use the same element. 1. Amount of People involved in the experiment 1. If I had to do the experiment again, with the same apparatus, I think I would like to have 3 people participating in the collection of data. 1 person would be watching the syringe rise and call out to record whenever it rose, the 2nd person would time it, and the 3rd person would record it. This time, the data may be even more accurate, because no one is taking their eye off the experiment, like I was doing during my experiment just to record data. I feel that altering these aspects of the experiment would increase the level of accuracy, as to get more substantial data to calculate the order of reaction. Unfortunately with the data I have so far, I am unable to derive the concentrations of the substances I had utilized in my experiment. However, as the objective was to investigate whether or not different surface areas affected the rate of the reaction, I think that I have produced enough data to support my theory.

Consumer benefits and drawbacks of shopping online

Consumer benefits and drawbacks of shopping online In the following essay I attend to track the recent growth on the web/e-retail sales and analyse, compare and critique the consumer benefits and drawbacks of shopping online compared to conventional store from the perspective of consumer behaviour, brand marketing and the application of the seven Cs of retailing. The business of e-retail has been defined as the sale of goods and services via Internet or the other electronic channels for personal or household use by consumers (Dennis 2002). The explosive growth of the Internet has revolutionised many aspects of daily life (Routledge, 2000). Since the development of the Internet in the early 90s and its relevance in e-commerce the Internet has allowed effective new communications channels, easy access, flexibility and the potential to upload a huge amount of information to a global audience. Online shopping has evolved with the growth of technology. Online shopping has had a dramatic impact and become very popular, however it still carters to middle and upper class. A significant feature in consumer attitude towards non-store shopping is exposure to technology, since it has been established that amplified exposure to technology increases the probability of developing favourable attitudes towards new shopping channels (Bigne, Enrique.2005). Growth of the web The occurrence of the Internet has already had a remarkable impact on society, there are more people online than at any other point in history and online retailers have seen tremendous increase in their online earning potential. PricewaterhouseCoopers predict that by 2014 the UK entertainment and media business will be worth an estimate  £56 billion (video on nile week 4 uk entertainment media). The rapid growth of the Web and Web development has been the result of many innovative advances in Web technology, Feather calls this the webolution. Everyday more and more people are integrating the internet into their daily lives due to the flexible opportunities on offer. Feather forecasts that a vast rapid growth on the Internet will concur over the next ten years transforming all aspects of society. Feather argues that half of North America will be living a web lifestyle in which they will also be connected to the internet and be able to control their homes, automobiles, work and lesse n the need to commute to a remote work site. Developed countries that have been offering e-commerce have shown impressive improvement in their respective economies (Javalgi et al., 2005) however the Gulf Area seem to be struggling to keep up with the western world. While consumers from the western world take for granted Internet banking and Internet shopping the Arab world are struggling due to major obstacles mainly poor infrastructure, under investment and slow connection speed. Another major concern that is contributing to their lack of slow growth is the insufficient and compelling amount of content in Arabic; only 0.2% of websites are in Arabic. However the Gulf area presents a huge potential market with over 30million web users but organisations feel its an expensive process to translate. On the other hand the new deregulation has allowed competition to enter, before only one ISP company was available to the masses but now with an increase of ISP companies they have started to push the limit on service. This new competition has driven down prices because the Internet has become more accessible and affordable for users. Video(nile of BBC Middle East Business Report: Internet Growth in the Middle East video on nile week 4) The huge growth area though, is in mobile internet access (appendix). Mobile Commerce has been defined as follows: Mobile Commerce is any transaction, involving the transfer of ownership or rights to use goods and services, which is initiated and/or completed by using mobile access to computer-mediated networks with the help of an electronic device (Tiwari, R.; Buse, S. (2007) Mobile is literally how consumers live in todays worldwide society and businesses have already seen this change in the way consumers connect to the internet. Businesses have realised the new trend and due to the improvement on browsing on smart phones this is set to increase rapidly. (Ebay appendix) Customer benefits and drawbacks To most consumers important attributes of online shopping are convenience and accessibility (Wolfinbarger and Gilly, 2001). Online shopping is becoming more and more popular each year as consumers take advantage of the convenience, wide variety of products and low prices available when shopping online. Over the years the Internet has become a great source for bargain hunters for good reason, there are many great buys online with price comparison companies that help consumers find the best prices, shipping and tax advantages, and the convenience of not having to leave home. However sometimes the deal that looks like a bargain may fall short of what has been advertised. Being able to walk into a physical store and able to see, feel, try, easily ask questions and compare different products side by side with ease makes for a strong case to why brick and mortar shopping is more of an engaging experience. One major benefit of brick and mortar shopping is its organisation. Its straight-forward layout allows consumers to easily locate the right department and the right products effortlessly. Online sites offer similar organisations layouts by providing search capabilities and well designed websites with easy navigations. Another factor could be the relationship between attitudes of attractiveness of alternatives. The consumer although might have a positive attitude toward online shopping, lead by the strong attractiveness of the brick-and-mortar alternative. Therefore, he will choose to shop offline, despite his positive attitude toward shopping on the Internet. Online stores recommend certain products over others, while all websites offer descriptions for each product, it may not always be the best thing because the descriptions can be either too general or too detailed, making it difficult to compare two or more products on their features. A negative aspect of shopping online is the communication dissatisfaction because consumers miss that face to face link, not having an informed person available to provide an immediate answer. However websites now provide independent reviews by customers who have brought each product and display their own personal opinion which in the long run is beneficial to consumers because it helps strengthen their decision on whether or not to purchase a product. Other advantages and disadvantages for shopping online include: (see appendix) Perspective of consumer behaviour Retailers and researchers have been aware that shopping is not just a matter of acquiring tangible products but also about experience, enjoyment and entertainment. In the e-shopping context, experience and enjoyment originate from consumers interactions with an e-retail site. Factors can influence a consumers decision when shopping online, these include the following: Image: Traditional retailers with strong images have long been making the running in e-retail. According to Kimber (2001) instore and online shopper loyalty are linked. Image is the significant perception from the eyes of the consumer to build up their overall evaluation or rating, in such a way to guide their decision making process. Consumers are more likely to buy from a store that they consider to have a positive image e.g. price, brand or customer service. For example Tesco is recognised as having a positive image both instore and online, being the UK grocery market leader in both channels and the worlds largest e-grocer. Social: One social interaction is reference groups. These are groups that serve as a point of reference for an individual. They are perceived as credible and powerful can change consumers attitude and behaviour (see table1 appendix major consumer reference group pg332). When having doubts about obtaining accurate information about products or services, consumers are more likely to communicate with like-minded people who can be important motivators that influence decisions. Consumer related reference groups include the following: (see appendix book page 334) Opinion leadership unofficially influence the actions or attitudes of consumers who may be opinion seekers or purely opinion recipients. Opinion leaders are highly credible sources of information because their intentions are perceived as being in the best interest of the opinion recipient because unlike commercial endorsers, opinion leaders do not actually represent the interests of one company and receive no compensation for their advice. Comparisons of opinion leaders and receivers (appendix pg 506) Product characteristics: Consumers decisions whether or not to shop online are also influenced by the variety of products or services available. In essence some product categories are more suitable for online shopping than other categories, the lack of physical contact and assistance in shopping on the Internet is one factor that influences this suitability. Kare Silver (2001) created the electronic shopping test to measure a product to calculate the chances that it will be purchased online. Three factors affected the potential sell for products: Product Characteristics Familiarity and Confidence Consumer Attributes More information + example of electronic shopping test (appendix) Brand marketing Brands are ever more important on the internet with further competitors due to the global presences; brands are the link to maintaining the relationship between e-retailers and consumers. Consumers have a variety of choices and are more liable to choose e-retailers they know who represent value and are trustworthy. Brand elements are the point of contact between the brand and consumer which is intended to mirror the wanted look and feel of the brand and what it represents. For the brand to succeed all elements must be implemented correctly, however branding a company as something they do not represent is worse than no branding at all because it raises consumer expectations about the quality of what they will receive. Lindstorm (2001) dictates both trust and interactivity are the main factors when shopping online. Consumers perception of e-brands are driven by their total experience on the website, making trust a significant long-term barrier because there is no personal interaction buying on the internet offers potential risks e.g. security transactions. E-retailers can interact and build trust with consumers in a number of ways (appendix model of e-branding pg 176). E-retail mix assists e-retailers to achieve designated objectives. Prices and advertising remain a key element but online e-retailers benefit from using banner ads, pop ups and affiliate marketing. Difference forms of retail mix and e-retail mix (appendix) Loyalty marketing strategies, including communication and two-way dialog, rewards, effective customer service and service loyalty schemes and are an important aspect of brand building (Cuthbertson and Bridson, 2006). One way Adidas use the e-mix effectively is to allow consumers to create accounts to make their shopping experience easier. They offer exclusive deals/discounts on products, able to keep track of orders and personalised homepage when signed in makes consumers feel the brand are paying great attention to their needs, help build and maintain a relationship.

Personal Financial Management Essay

1. You need to hire a receptionist that will be handling cash. What steps would you take to make sure you hire the right person? Inquire about previous cash handling experience, ask about their personal financial management, how they handle their personal finances. 2. Why should you teach your employees the importance of personal financial management? What are some creative ways of doing this? How employees handle their income reflects their work performance, if someone is having financial issues it will most likely cause them to be stressed at the work place. It is important to teach employees how to handle their finances so the overall performance of the company is not affected. Some ways to do this is by having workshops, company meetings, games, or a company lunch. Any setting where a financial manger could come in and answer any questions an employee might have as to how to manage their finances better. 3. What specific steps can you take to improve your spending habits? Some ways I could improve my spending habits would be to assist my want versus need. I can admit that at times I do unnecessary spending. I should make a budget of how much I spend and how much I earn and try to be fugal in my spending habits.

Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo Essay

Alexander Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo is founded upon historical events and political intrigue. He not only uses historical facts to help the reader understand, he also weaves such details into the story to make it possible for his reader to have an understanding of the current events that were taking place in France, during that time (from approx. 1815 through 1838). Dumas would want his readers to be familiar with French history, and to have it in their mind as they read his beloved tale. In the 1800’s Marseilles was one of the largest ports in the south of France with a â€Å"population between 93,000 and 110,000†, thus trade flourished and it was home to many merchants, and businesses (Marseilles). This is where our story of revenge begins. Marseilles was the hometown of Edmond who we meet as a naà ¯ve sailor who is later to become imprisoned as a political criminal, and altered for life. Marseilles was also the home to both Edmond’s father who dies of hunger soon after his son was imprisoned, and Edmonds beautiful, and noble fiancà © Mercedes who was a poor, Catalan. After Dantes’ imprisonment Mercedes cared for his father until he passed. She lost faith of Dantes ever being released from prison and back by her side, there for she felt she had no choice but to marry Fernand Mondego when he asked for her hand in marriage. Fernand Mondego was the jealous fisherman who also betrayed Dantes because he too was in love with Mercedes. Mondego saw, and seized the opportunity to thwart their love for one another. Military success brought Mondego a fortune, which allowed him to change his name to Count de Morcef, making Mercedes the Countess. The Morrel family (the owners of the ship, Pharaon), were also residents of Marseilles. Mr. Morrel felt a great deal of compassion for Dantes’ family which compelled him to not only invest with great effort, his time and money in an attempt to keep Dantes from an un-warranted life in prison but, he also paid for Dantes’ father’s burial. The cards were stacked against Dantes, and even with the assistance of M. Morrel, his future was written. Once Edmond escaped from prison he visited M. Morrel who was in the depths of despair, and contemplating thoughts of suicide because he could no longer support him self financially. Dantes seeing him as a righteous man who had once gone to great lengths, and knowing the efforts taken by Morrel in attempt to save him from prison, Dantes felt compelled, and anonymously made a financial contribution to Morrel, which, saved him from ruin. While Dantes never revealed himself as the contributor Morrel suspected that it was he, and on his deathbed Morrel explains to his family that he believes that their finical savior was indeed Edmond Dantes. The prosecutor of Marseilles, who was ultimately responsible for Dantes’ incarceration, was Monsieur de Vellefort. Vellefort’s father was a known Bonapartist. Vellefort who disagreed with his father’s stance, and as the prosecutor decidedly took an extremely harsh stance on his policy in dealing with Bonapartist conspirators. Vellefort sought to protect his own name by placing Edmond in prison as a political conspirator because he knew, and feared the letter Dantes carried could be traced back to his (Vellef ort’s) father so, he used his power in a misguided manor to which he would later suffer at the hands of Dantes. Danglars was a man driven by non-other than jealousy who also lived in Marseilles at the time. He despised that Dantes had been advanced to Captain of the Pharaon instead of him, and sought out a plot in which Dantes could be caught with the letter to tarnish his name, leaving Danglar’s the only choice to fill his role as captain. After Edmond’s imprisonment Danglars indeed became the captain and eventually graduated his position to a banker. As a banker he was able to acquire an incredible fortune where he then became a Baron. In the end Monte Cristo destroyed Danglars by destroying his fortune. Dumas purposely created each of these characters to have beginning in a position of poverty, showing us how they were either villainous in their rise to fortune, and would ultimately be ruined by Dantes’revenge. Or, Dumas showed the character to be virtuous with their fortune, and power eventually to be saved, or spared by our protagonist. He also showed us these characters progression from the bottom of the socioeconomic structure, eventually prospering into wealth, their bye showing us, [the reader] there were no misgivings of old money or new during these times in France. Each of these characters rose in the echelons, and were afforded the ability to acquire a title and were able re-create themselves within society in a manner to which they deemed worthy of their amassed fortunes. This ability for one to somewhat procure a title gives us a great sense of the changes that were taking place during that time, it was no longer about being of royal blood that gave you credibility, or worthiness, but about how hard one worked to further themselves and gain their fortune. In the opening scenes of the story Danglars, who is the ships â€Å"supercargo† reports to the ships owner once they docked in Marseilles, that Edmond, acting on what was the last dying wish of his captain, had stopped at the island of Elba to retrieve a letter that was addressed to Noirtier (Dumas 5). In fulfilling his captains last dyeing wish, Edmond’s unknowingly retrieved a letter from Napoleon personally, making it appear as though he was conspiring with the then exiled Napolean, and that he himself was a Bonapartist. Napoleon had been a soldier and then went on to become Emperor of France in the early 1800’s. It was after the French Revolution that Napoleon was elected First consul of France. Napoleon made many great changes for his country. He brought much needed structure back to France. He began by implementing better education, paying off France’s debt, and changing the structure of his army. He allowed not only the affluent to rise within the ranks, but affording the impoverished the same opportunity of growth within the ranks as they proved their worth, and showcased their talents. Napolean’s army was no longer based upon economic stature, but one that afforded an equal playing field to every man (as long as they were anglo). Napoleon also applied this same thought process into the civilian realm of France as well. In an attempt to expand France’s territory he invaded Russia. This invasion turned out to be one of Napoleon’s greatest defeats. During this great siege Napoleon was out maneuvered by Russia’s Alexander I, this resulted in a defeat, and a loss of almost 500,000 French troops. Soon after he stepped down as consul and was banished to the island of Elba. During this time, there were citizens who still loved and supported what he had done for France; these people were considered to be Bonapartist’s. There were also members of the French nobility (and much of Europe’s) who despised Napoleon, they wanted nothing more than to see him removed; they called themselves royalists. Dumas wanted this clearly defined so the reader would feel the internal power struggle between Bonapartist and Royalists. One of these royalists was a man named Villefort. He happened to be the prosecutor Edmonds faced in Marseilles. Villefort knew full well that Edmond was an innocent man, and not a Bonapartist, but made a calculated decision to protect his own ambitions, because it was his (Villefort’s) fathers name that was mentioned in the letter that Edmonds had carried back from Napoleon. His father was a known Bonapartist, so in an effort to show support to the royalists, and put a damper on the Bonapartist efforts, Villefort secretly sentenced Edmond to the political prison of Chateau d’if. Dantes was thrown into Chateau d’ if, and forgotten for fourteen years. During the first few years of his imprisonment Dantes’ father died of starvation, and Mercedes married Fernand; both of which he is completely unaware of. As time passed he became more and more delusional, and even began to contemplate suicide. All the while, his former employer Morrel made efforts to locate Dontes in an attempt to try to have him released, but was unable to find his location. The Chateau d’if, where our fictional character Dantes was imprisoned, was in fact an actual prison fortress. It was â€Å"built by the French King Francis I in 1524† on an island in the bay approximately one mile off the coast of Marseille (Chateau d’if). It’s was originally designed and was intended to be a defense mechanism against would be attackers of Marseille, but soon became the home to, â€Å"3,500 Huguenots (French Protestants) who earned their keep as galley slaves†(Marseille-Provence). This rocky, beach front setting is where Edmond Dantes was doomed to carry out his unwarranted sentence, and spent fourteen long years of his life; just a stone throw away from Marseille, yet no one could locate him. Many of the chateau’s actual guests seem to have had the common theme of being unwarranted prisoners. It was not unusual during the time for individuals to be â€Å"imprisoned without trial under so-called lettres de cachet, supposedly signed by the King, for minor misdemeanors (a popular ploy used by moneyed families to get rid of unruly offspring without causing a public scandal)†(Marseille-Provence). Funnily enough, one of Napoleons Civil Codes warranted it legal for a father to imprison a child for up to 1 month. Many of the Chateau’s inhabitants were lost in the shuffle, and locked up for as long as the family desired. This island for misfits, and unwanted relatives is also the location where Dantes befriends Abbe Faria, who was also a political prisoner. The two prisoners meet when the Abbe was attempting to tunnel his way to freedom; however, a miscalculation brought him directly into Dantes’ cell, instead of out to the freedom he had desired. The two newly found friends spent the next few years passing their time. Abbe dedicated himself to the task of educating Dantes in science, literature languages. He also helps Dantes figure out whom it was that played key parts, and were ultimate responsibility lie for his incarceration. At some point Abbe began to think of Dantes as the son he never had, and confided in Dantes the location to the hidden fortune. Together the two began planning their daring escape, knowing all the while that any escape plan would be difficult, if not impossible due to the fact that the prison is completely surrounded by water, and much of the island had vertical cliff walls that would raise the likelihood of injury if not death, while escaping. Fortunately for the pair, they had nothing but time. During this era in France, prisoners with wealth and title (like the Abbe) could request certain items to make their stay a bit more comfortable. The Abbe used this to their advantage, and was able to order some tools and trinkets for his cell. The same reason Abbe was able to order trinkets is the reason Edmond had none; he was penniless, and unable to purchase items. This was also quite indicative of the times; if you were higher up in society, you were able to purchase more benefits in prison, as well as in life. The Abbe died before the two were able to act out their escape plan. Thinking quickly on his feet, Dantes was able to replace his own body in the Abbe’s body bag, solidifying his own escape. The hopes Dantes held onto, and that drove him to be victorious in his escape were gone. When he did finally gain his freedom he was faced with the fact that his loved ones were either dead, or had moved on, and it was no longer a possibility to be a part of their life, or the one that he had left behind. He was a man who must decide what it was he was going to become, and do with the life that he regained. During this time it is made clear that Dantes was struggling with his purpose in life, and felt lost. It was said that he felt, â€Å"that he belongs to no country, no land, even to the point where he feels more at ease while on the ocean† (D’Ammassa). While contemplating what he was to become and what to do with his life, now that he was a free man Dantes spent some time onboard a ship as a smuggler in the Mediterranean. Where he could confront his feelings, and decide what is was he wanted to do. During one such smuggling trip Dantes had the opportunity to go to the Island of Monte Cristo where he resigned his position a smuggler and proceeded to find the treasure Abbe entrusted him with. The Island of Monte Cristo is indeed an actual island. It is located in the â€Å"Archipelago Toscano National Park† but, is not accessible to people and is now an animal refuge (Montercristo Island). It is presumed that Dumas had visited this remote island in 1842 and thought it perfect for the use as the setting in one of his novels; however, the actual island bears little resemblance to the one portrayed in his tale. In the story Edmond finds the treasure that Abbe Faria entrusted to him, on this island. The resources from the treasure will eventually allow him the opportunity to manifest himself into a count, and begin his ascent into righting the wrongs done unto him. Once his visit to the island of Monte Cristo has ended he proceeds to Rome where he stays for a while rejuvenating himself in upscale hotels, and taking beautiful women to the opera. During his stay there Dantes met Valentine, Villefort’s daughter; this act strikes a chord deep within Dantes and spurs his retribution into action. Dantes also meets Albert de Morcerf in Rome, where he aides in Alberts release from kidnappers. To return this life saving favor Dantes asks Albert to familiarize him with the Parisian aristocrats. For those of us with an appetite for a great revenge novel, this is where you can feel the plot begin to thicken, and Dumas has you flipping through the pages. With Albert as his guide, Dantes makes his way to Paris where the intrigue intensifies as Dantes began to pick off his prey one by one. During the time when Dumas’ tail was released, Paris was the metropolitan center of France, 600,000 people lived there. It was the mecca for European culture, and sciences, and also where many of Dumas’ readers would have been located making Paris an obvious choice to set such a tale; the sale of his writings to readers in the city were booming. Paris was left in shambles until Napoleon became first consul. At which time he began to re-model the city, giving it qualities you might have seen in a more up to date Rome. He added sewers, sidewalks bridges, and wharves. These additions not only brought about a better economy, but better living conditions for many. This city full of Parisian culture was also where the Villefort, the Morcerf, and the Danglars families had all settled. These families migrated to Paris, and with their newly acquired wealth began lavishing them selves in a life of luxury. Once in Paris, and with help the Count finds his way into the midst of each of the families, becoming a most welcome guest. It is from this calculated position that Dantes is able to initiate his plan and ultimately unravel the successes, and happiness of each of the men who had at one time or another plotted against him. Dumas, was able to give his reader an understanding of the setting in The Count of Monte Cristo with ease, he simply embellished upon of the historical occasions that were taking place before his eyes. Dumas expertly tied together the political struggle between Napoleon and the Royalists. By expounding upon well-known, and heavily populated cities such as Marseille, he was able to bestow a bit of history, and expand his reader’s minds, while also adventuring with them to isolated, dangerous places like the Chateau d’if or even Monte Cristo Island. He solidifies the intrigue, danger, and of course revenge in his literary work of art, which is sure to continue to captivate readers for many generations to come. Works Cited â€Å"Chateau d’If†. Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica. Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 21 Nov. 2012 This article describes Chateau d’if the small Mediterranean island off the port of Marseille. I hope to be able to give a more accurate development of the scene where Dumas’ main character spent a great portion time. This article came from the Encyclopedia Britannica online. D’Ammassa, Don. â€Å"The Count of Monte Cristo.† Encyclopedia of Adventure Fiction. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom’s Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. 15

The Effect of Polygamy on the Modern Society

The Effect of Polygamy on the Modern Society Introduction Polygamy remains one of the hotly contested and misunderstood topics in the modern society. The most common practice of polygamy is polygyny, whereby one man marries more than one spouse. Polygyny is common in many societies across the world. However, it is outlawed in the Western World. Cultural and religious factors anchor this practice.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Effect of Polygamy on the Modern Society specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Different studies carried out for decades reveal that the practice has far-reaching negative consequences, and hence should be outlawed. On the other hand, the proponents of polygamy argue that there are many benefits associated with the practice. However, the moral question of polygamy has not been addressed adequately. This essay provides an in-depth discussion of polygamy with a view of establishing factors that contribute to the practice, its consequences, and morality issues. Polygamy is not morally correct due to societal effects Many studies about polygamy are structured on whether the practice should be recognized, banned, or punished through the law. Little has been written about the moral question on polygamous marriage. However, from a moral ground, polygamy is morally unacceptable due to its effects on societies. The first social effect of this practice is emanated from the perceived competition by co-wives. They give birth to as many children as they can, as a way of getting a larger share of the common resources that get shared by the family when it comes to inheritance (Tabi, Doster Cheney, 2010). Giving birth becomes a contest among these wives. Competition in the end produces effects that are injurious to the society. For instance, competition among wives for common resources is likely to culminate conflicts that largely affect societys stability. Polygamous marriages are a burden to men and their wives. A man is deprive d in mind and body due to the heavy responsibility of sustaining a big family. In addition, men dedicate most of their income on marrying new wives. Consequently, women are deprived psychologically as a result of being reduced to physical pleasure instruments. These results in child negligence in that, children are less supported and well maintained by their parents. Parents invest less time and money in the upkeep, education, as well as in provision of critical care for their children (Elbedour, Onwuegbuzie, Caridine Abu-Saad, 2002). In the end, the society bears the consequences of the problems associated with lack of education and proper parenting of children. One common consequence is substance abuse among children due to lack of parental guidance. The early substance abuse affects societies in terms of increased crime rate (Elbedour, Onwuegbuzie, Caridine, Abu-Saad, 2002).Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first pa per with 15% OFF Learn More One of the impacts of polygamy that have not gotten the attention of many researchers is the scarcity of women. Polygyny denies young and low-status men women because the older wealthier men hoard many women as possible. This results to increased competition, denying young men opportunities to marry wives of their choice. For men to get these women, they have to gain resources considering the perception that wealth attracts women. Competition for women and resources increases criminal cases within societies (McLaren Coward, 1999). In the end, a society suffers from increased robbery, rape, murder, kidnapping, and assaults among others. Marriage provides a foundation upon which a society is built (Waller, 2011; McLaren Coward, 1999). Social relations, obligations, and duties are derived from marriage and society setups. These hold a society together as one unit. However, polygamy cultivates patriarchal principles that drag the whole socie ty into despotism. In addition, patriarchal principles destroy the societal fabric since it is more injurious to female and children (McLaren Coward, 1999). Polygyny disintegrates the social relations, duties, and obligation marriage in the society (Waller, 2011; McLaren Coward, 1999). This makes the society suffer from conflicts that arise due to erosion of societal relations within marriages. Polygamy in various parts of the world Polygamy is a common phenomenon across the world. It is allowed on the cultural and religious basis. Most of the African societies accept polygyny practices from a cultural point of view. On the other hand, the practice is common in Asia due to religious beliefs. However, to some degree, polygyny is practiced in North America and Europe, it is considered illegal (Duncan, 2008). Most of the African societies stretching practice polygamy. Marriages in these societies are characterized by one man getting married to more than one spouse (Moosa, Benjamin J eenah, 2008). Traditional cultures and customs are behind the widespread practice of polygamy in the African societies. In addition, apart from polygamy being practiced as a result of customs and culture, the Jewish and Islamic beliefs also support polygamy in North Africa. This practice is perceived in African societies as a social practice that ensures family continuity from one generation to another (Moosa, Benjamin, Jeenah, 2008).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Effect of Polygamy on the Modern Society specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Women responsibility is reduced to child bearing and childless women are treated with contempt. Cultural practices such as wife inheritance largely contributed to polygyny in African society. Men have to remarry widows or women left without support after death of husbands or guardians. It also perceived as one way taking care of the orphans left behind after death of men. Poly gamy is also very common in the Middle East, Asia, and Oceania. This is typically attributed to the Islamic religion, which is the most dominant religion in the Middle East. The Islamic culture permits man to get married to a maximum of four wives provided he is financially stable to support each wife and her children (Al-Krenawi, A., Slonim-Nevo, 2008). In addition, the societies of Middle East are value stability and family continuity. On top of this, the Arab society is patriarchal with segregated gender roles where a womans contribution is undervalued. Polygamy is illegal in the Western World. However, the practice is common to many societies in this region (Moosa, Benjamin Jeenah, 2008). For instance, there is a general consensus that polygyny is practiced in the United States despite being outlawed. Polygamy in North America is believed to emanate from Mormon fundamentalists. They believe they have to be true custodians of Joseph Smith’s belief that one man needs more than one woman to be exalted after death. In the year 2008, it was estimated that the states of Utah and Arizona have 37,000 polygamists despite the existence of anti-polygamy legislations and federal statutes (Duncan, 2008). Factors that contribute to societies adopting polygamy The fear of divorce, infertility, legal, and how women perceive polygamy, contribute to polygamy in many societies. According to Tabi, Doster, and Cheney (2010), the African women perception of polygyny contributes to them accepting the practice. Most of the African women perceive polygyny as beneficial because it guarantees shared responsibilities in performance of household chores, farm work, and rearing of children. Cultural beliefs have a huge impact on peoples’ attitude and perception. In this regard, attitudes created by cultures play a critical role in encouraging polygamy. For instance, in a study conducted by Awusabo-Asare and Anarfi (1997), most of the Ghanaian women accept co-wives on pos t-partum abstinence basis. Women perceive polygyny positively. To them, it ensures their husbands continue with sexual activities, when one of the wives is still in the post-partum period.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Fertility also plays a critical role in promoting polygamy in some societies. For instance, in the sub-Saharan Africa, the failure of a woman to bear children can lead to divorce. Children are so important in the African context and women have to bear children to reaffirm their position in marriage, get accepted by husbands, and share wealth. According to them, children create a bond between wives and their husbands. Infertile women are thus forced to accept co-wives for fear of divorce (Tabi, Doster Cheney, 2010). This contributes to polygamous societies in many parts of the world. Attitudes towards unmarried women also play a critical role in encouraging polygamy. Single women eligible for marriage and divorced or separated women have low social status in polygamous communities. It is also considered as a shame on families and tribes, if one remains unmarried for unexplained reasons. The indignity that is associated with being unmarried women pushes them into a polygamous culture to escape shame and social pressure. Polygamy still occurs today in some nations due to the legal frameworks that recognize the practice. Some countries in Africa have promulgated laws that recognize cultural practices. For instance, in 2000, South Africa promulgated Customary Marriage Act that legalized polygamy in the country (Moosa, Benjamin Jeenah, 2008). Polygamy is now legally recognized through the Act, giving women equal rights in marriage. It is also vital to notice that though the Western Nations legally outlawed polygamy practices, they still tolerate it. According to Duncan (2008), in the United States, the federal and state legislation outlaws polygamy. However, minimal cases of polygamy have so far been pursued successfully. The law is ineffective and unable to clamp down the practice in the American society. There are several positive effects of legalizing polygamy Proponents of polygamy point out that the practice plays important roles in the society, and hence the need to be legalized. In addition, polygamy proponents argue that legal recognition of polygamy will allow fix the negative attributes attached to it. They also argue that the legalization of polygamy will help prosecute cases related to it effectively (Duncan, 2008). On the other hand, opponents of polygamy argue that the practice is out of place in the modern society due to its negative consequences on individuals, families, and society. Proponents of polygamy argue that governments should recognize polygamy as legal because polygamous relationships are beneficial. Firstly, polygamy is thought to reduce prostitution on the street. It is argued out that polygamy offers marriage to women who would have otherwise considered the street prostitution as their source of income. Women are less empowered economically than men. In a society where poverty is prevalent, women prefer getting married in order to share resources with their husbands. Considering that females are more than males in many societies, some women miss opportunities of getting married, and end up in prostitution. On top of this, having more than one wife reduces a mans sexual exploration outside marriage thereby limiting the level of adultery in the society. According to Duncan (2008), polygamy reduces the number of fatherless and motherless children. Having more than one wife or husband is ideal in that, if one spouse passes away, children are left under the custody of the remaining spouses. In addition, polygamy unites more than three families within the society. It enhances cooperation between individual families hence improving social integration. In the end the bonds created through polygamy, promote social harmony. Furthermore, proponents of polygamy point out that the practice helps reduce levels of poverty within a society. There is always the possibility of increased income in polygamous families since each individual contributes to the household budget. In doing these, the level of pove rty is reduced within families. The psychological and physical effects of polygamy The negative impacts of polygamy to individuals and to society are profound. Children and women are the most affected in polygamous communities. Opponents argue that physical and psychological effects explain why this practice is morally wrong (Moosa, Benjamin Jeenah, 2008). The Studies carried out so far point out that polygamy lead to rivalry amongst co-wives. This rivalry stems from competition, jealousy, and unequal distribution of resources (Moosa, Benjamin Jeenah, 2008). This creates an acrimonious relationship between children and wives. It causes psychological problems for children and women. Women suffer from psychiatric conditions such as low self-esteem, loneliness, anxiety, and somatization. Children also suffer due to lack of parental attention. They feel displaced from their parents, which result in emotional insecurity. They also exhibit emotional stress and anxiety more than children in monogamous families (Moosa, Benjamin Jeenah, 2008). How polygamy leads to gender discrimination Most of the contemporary communities practicing polygamy discriminate against the female gender. According to Strauss (2012), a polygamous society imposes strict rules on women. Women are forced by religious, cultural, and familial pressures to forego vocational and educational opportunities. This forces them to enter into marriages as the only option of achieving financial stability. Religious and cultural beliefs require them to be obedient to their husbands no matter the circumstance, in order to avoid divorce. On the other hand, there is great neglect and abuse of children rights. Many societies strive to make boys excel and marry off young girls. This maintains gender imbalances within the society (Strauss, 2012). In addition to the above moral question of polygamy, Strauss (2012) explains that there is a rampant gender bias and discrimination in polygamous societies. Such socie ties recognize and accept that the male gender can marry more than one wife. They deny women from having multiple partners. More so, they do not allow same sex marriages. This elicits the moral question as to why it is morally correct to allow men to have multiple partners and deny women the same right. Strauss further observes that the contemporary polygamous communities promote a sexist culture (2012). Moreover, it promotes hierarchical power relations that limit innovation and individual independence, which significantly cause poverty. Strauss’ opinions about a society allowing marriage of girls instead pursuing different opportunities hold strong grounds. It is morally wrong to force underage girls into early marriages. Marriage should be informed on adequate consent of all parties involved. Underage girls in polygamous communities are denied the rights to choose what is right for them from a very tender age (Wall, 2003). In addition, it is not acceptable for Western soci eties not to acknowledge that polygamy exist in their societies when it does happen. Many individuals in the Western World are ignorant of the existence of polygamy in their society. A secret polygamy case that makes another spouse unaware of its existence is an unethical manifestation of this practice in the modern society. The positive effects vs. the negative effects of legalizing polygamy The underlying positives of polygamy are unconvincing in the modern society. Proponents’ arguments are defective and have limited defenses. The positives are by far outweighed by the negative effects on men, women, children, and the society at large. Polygamy promotes inequalities in the society where the central individual in marriage assumes greater rights and expectations. Husbands having a greater control over the family deny others autonomy, and hence encourages inequalities in the society. It renders one gender as a peripheral spouse, as opposed to the ethical correctness of the ma rriage that encourages equity and shared rights. It is critical to acknowledge that the positive effects of polygamy such as a reduction of prostitution and parentless children can also be achieved in monogamous societies. It is always right to be a brother’s keeper in everyday life. The society is socially bound to take care of its members regardless of the family structure. Parentless children are part of the society and cannot be denounced with the absence of polygamy. However, the consequences of polygamy are permanent and devastating. The injuries to the society such as increased crime, sexist culture, and substance abuse as a result of polygamy are destructive. They can deprive off the social structures that take long to build. In addition, the psychological and physical effects leave permanent marks in an individual’s life as compared to the benefits that are derived from the practice. Conclusion Polygamy is a practice that is still inherent in the modern societ y. It is alive in many societies in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and to some extent in Western nations. Cultural beliefs and customs, religion, and legal factors contribute to rampant cases of polygamy. The justification of polygamy is contested, and the whole concept is misunderstood. Whereas it is acceptable in the majority of societies in Africa and Middle East, it remains a controversial topic in the Western nations. The literature that has covered polygamy calls for its recognition in law or its total ban. The moral question of polygamy remains controversial and little attention is given to it. Though the practice has few positive, its consequences are injurious to children and women in the society at large. Children and women suffer from psychiatric conditions as well as gender discrimination. On the other hand, the society also suffers from increased crime and unwanted behaviors. From this, it can be concluded that polygamy is structurally in-egalitarian that leads to more negative consequences than the positive ones. References Al-Krenawi, A., Slonim-Nevo, V. (2008). Psychosocial and familial functioning of children from polygamous and monogamous families. The Journal of social psychology, 148(6), 745-764. Awusabo-Asare, K. Anarfi, J.K. (1997). Postpartum sexual abstinence in the era of AIDS in Ghana: prospects for change. Health Transition Review, 7, 257–270. Duncan, E. J. (2008). Positive Effects of Legalizing Polygamy: Love Is a Many Splendored Thing, The. Duke Journal of Gender Law Policy, 15(315), 315-337. Elbedour, S., Onwuegbuzie, A. J., Caridine, C., Abu-Saad, H. (2002). The effect of polygamous marital structure on behavioral, emotional, and academic adjustment in children: A comprehensive review of the literature. Clinical child and family psychology review, 5(4), 255-271. McLaren, J., Coward, H. G. (1999). Religious conscience, the state, and the law: Historical contexts and contemporary significance. Albany: State University of New Yo rk Press. Moosa, M. Y. H., Benjamin, R., Jeenah, F. Y. (2008). A review of multi-spousal relationships-psychosocial effects and therapy. South African Journal of Psychiatry, 12(2), 12-14. Strauss, G. (2012). Is Polygamy Inherently Unequal? Ethics, 122(3), 516-544. Tabi, M., M., Doster, C. Cheney, T. (2010). A qualitative study of women in polygynous marriages. International Nursing Review, 57, 121–127. Wall, T. F. (2003). Thinking critically about moral problems. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Waller, B. N. (2011). Consider ethics: Theory, readings, and contemporary issues. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Collaborative Learning

Collaborative Learning Free Online Research Papers The value of collaborative learning has been recognized throughout human history and its effectiveness has been documented through hundreds of research studies. Collaborative learning is now widely recognized as one of the most promising practieces in the field of education. Collaborative learning (CL) is an instructional method that makes use of small, heterogeneous groups of students who work together to achieve common learning goals (Johnson Johnson, 1992). Within group learning, students benefit from sharing ideas rather than working alone. Students help one another so that all can reach some measure of success. The purpose of this review of research is to illustrate the various aspects of collaboration and how collaborative learning reinforces second language acquisition with reference to the theories. In this brief review of research, I first discuss two major theoretical perspectives of collaborative learning. I establish few major themes of collaborative research and review representative research studies that address collaborative activity in classroom settings. Finally, I connect research findings to the theories and outline some critical areas where research is needed on collaboration and language learning in classroom settings. Theoretical Orientation / Motivational Perspective Motivational perspective on collaborative learning focuses primarily on the reward or goal structures. In this perspective, collaborative learning creates a situation in which the only way group members can attain their own personal goals if the group is successful. Social interdependence theory, the most influential theory of the perspective, on collaborative learning suggested that the essence of a group is the interdependence among members (created by common goals), which results in the group being a â€Å"dynamic whole†, so that a change in the state of any member and an intrinsic state of tension within group members motivates movement toward the accomplishment of the desired common goals (Kurt Lewin 1935). Similarly, Skinner’s behavioral learning theory assumes that students will work hard on those tasks for which they secure a reward and will fail to work on tasks that yield no reward or yield punishment. Cognitive Perspective Whereas motivational theories of collaborative learning emphasize the cooperative goals change students’ desire to do academic work, cognitive perspective emphasizes that the interactions among students will increase achievement due to the mental processing which takes place. Cognitive-Development theory can fully illustrate the notion. Vygotsky proposes a central concept zone of proximal development in his theory; it has a great significance to language acquisition. He defines the zone as â€Å"the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers† (1978, p.86). In his view, collaborative activity among learners promotes growth because learners of similar ages are likely to be operating within one another’s proximal zones of development. In other words, unless students work cooperatively, they will not grow intellectually. Vygotsky’s concept corresponds with the Input Hypothesis which attempts to answer the important question of how we acquire language. The hypothesis states that a necessary condition for language acquisition to occur is that the acquirer understands input language that contains structure â€Å"a bit beyond† his or her current level of competence. The hypothesis also presumes that acquisition happens when learners understanding the message instead of form (Krashen 1981). This illustrates the superiority of collaborative learning in language acquisition since its activity establishes an environment where the students communicate with each other to solve problems in a meaningful context. Similarly, Piaget (1926) held that social-arbitrary knowledge – language, values, morality and etc. can be learned only in interactions with others. In his views, learners must engage in some sort of cognitive restructuring or elaboration of material if information is to be retained in memory. Many Piagetians have called for an increased use of collaborative activities in schools since students will learn from one another because in their discussions of the content, cognitive conflicts will arise, inadequate reasoning will be exposed and higher-quality understandings will emerge. Generally, all perspectives on collaboration have common ground; they all predict that collaborative learning will promote higher achievement than would individualistic learning. The following sections discuss a number of representative studies and research findings about collaborative learning. Social Cohesion With the respect to the social interdependence perspective, collaboration promotes group cohesion and a supportive social climate. Some research studies are reviewed in the following to illustrate how collaboration fosters social interdependence among classmates and it gives expression to the motivating effects of working together toward a common goal. Hijzen, Boekaerts and Vedeer (2006) examined relationships between the quality of cooperative learning (CL) and students’ goal preferences and perceptions of contextual factors in the classroom. The researchers expected students’ perception of the quality of CL depends to their goal preferences that they bring into the classroom. The subjects of this study were 1920 students from different secondary and vocational schools in Netherlands. Subjects were invited to complete several self-report questionnaires regarding their goal preferences and perception of contextual factors in the classroom and the quality of CL. The study found that subjects gave most preference to mastery goals, followed by social support goals and belongingness goals. Social support goals had the strongest relationship with the quality of CL. In other words, students who value helping and supporting each other rated the quality of CL higher. The study also found that there is a strong relation between the quality of CL and students’ perceptions of contextual factors, as defined by the type of task, reward systems and CL skills they were taught, in the classroom. Despite the evidence that CL encourages social interdependence, there are conditions under which the kinds of interdependence emerge different effects. In a study by Johnson, Johnson and Stanne (2001), it demonstrated the conditions under which positive interdependence enhances or interferes with individual success and overall group productivity. Two types of positive interdependence were studied: positive goal and positive resource interdependence. Forty-four black American high school students were randomly assigned to the experimental task. It was to master information on map reading and to apply their knowledge in deciding what actions to take to solve the problem. The independent variables were positive goal interdependence and positive resource interdependence. Goal interdependence was operationalized by telling the subjects to work together as a company and resource interdependence was operationalized by dividing the information required into three parts and giving each part to a different member of the group. Thus, in order to complete the task, each group mate had to obtain the information required from other group mates. The findings provided evidence that two sources of positive interdependence promote stronger effects than either source of positive interdependence alone. The presence of positive resource and goal interdependence would promote higher individual achievement than would the presence of positive resource interdependence only. Therefore, when resource interdependence is used, it should be done in combination with positive goal interdependence. Another study by Ghaith (2003) supports the claim that collaborative learning has positive effects on achievement. The study intended to investigate whether CL has more effective than whole-class instruction in promoting the English as Foreign Language reading achievement and the academic self-esteem of the learners. Participants in the study were 56 secondary school EFL learners in Beirut and they were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. In the study, subjects in the control group were taught by the teachers who carried out reading lessons with using traditional teaching instruction while subjects in the experimental group were taught by teachers who used collaborative learning. The study lasted for 10 weeks and a pretest-posttest control group design was employed and it focused on the variables of academic self-esteem and academic achievement. The study did indicate that the CL is more effective that traditional textbook instruction in improving the EFL reading achievement of the students. Thus, reading achievement in L2 can be improved through small group cooperative interaction among peers in a supportive environment. However, academic self-esteem is unlikely to be improved in the course of short experiments and cooperative interventions. The study by Shachar and Shmuelevitz (1997) differs from the above research. Their study focuses on teachers’ collaboration instead of students’ and how this relates to students’ learning. The study assessed the effects on teachers’ sense of efficacy of a year-long in-service teacher training program on CL. The study hypothesized that teachers who acquire competence with CL methods were reported as having high frequencies of these methods in their classroom and experience high levels of collaboration with colleagues. Their sense of efficacy which can also affect students’ learning and social relation. One hundred twenty-one teachers from nine junior high schools in Israel were selected and trained that they acquired skill in implementing CL methods. This study was conducted over a period of 3 months at the beginning of the second year of the project. During the time, the teachers’ instructional behavior was observed. Two questionnaires about patterns of teacher collaboration in the school and measures of teachers’ efficacy were administered to all the teachers during the second half of the second year. The findings showed that teachers who employed collaborative learning in their classrooms expressed a significantly greater degree of efficacy in promoting the learning of slow students compared to teachers who continued to employ traditional instruction without using CL. The finding also reported that teachers who participate in collaborative staff work are more likely to feel capable of promoting cooperative relations among their students. Therefore, collaboration affected personal teaching efficacy and promoted students’ social relations. Collaborative Discourse Cognitive perspective claims that language is best acquired when it is used in a way that is meaningful to the student. The collaborative learning setting provides opportunities for students to use the language for a specific purpose and express themselves in a functional manner. Especially, a type of language use which is called ‘exploratory talk’ emerges from collaboration when partners engage critically but constructively with each other’s ideas. In the ‘exploratory talk’, learners work together to solve linguistic problems and co-construct language or knowledge about language. The following research studies illustrate how ‘exploratory talk’ enhances language acquisition and development of knowledge. The study by Chinn, O’Donnell and Jinks examined how the discourse of group interaction is structured and whether the discourse structure mediates learning. One hundred and nine students in seven fifth-grade classes in New Jersey participated in the study. They were asked to conducted experiments with electrical circuits in groups of four. After writing their own individual conclusions based on the two circuits they constructed, the students were provided with three conclusions from other group mates to evaluate and discussed the quality of these conclusions. The results of the study indicated that some type of collaborative discourse were significantly associated with reasoning, exploration and explanation. These features can be viewed as the elements of argumentation structures. Thus the fifth graders’ discussions about the quality of the conclusions could be analyzed as argument networks. The results also suggested that more complex argumentation promotes learning, both when the complex arguments are individually constructed and when they are collaboratively constructed. The study by Cohen, Lotan, Abram, Scarloss and Schultz (2002) tested the proposition that providing students with evaluation criteria will improve the character of the discussion as well as the quality of the group product and individual performance. The hypothesis in this study is that the better the quality of the group discussion and product, the better will be the individual performance of group members. In the five classrooms, there were 39 groups of 4-5 students who performed the same experienced group tasks. The subjects had to perform a series of complex instruction regarding the topic of the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt. They are expected to discuss and answer several higher order questions requiring them to deeply explore their resource materials. The subjects were audiotaped for the entire lesson each day and this required 5 days of implementation so that students could rotate through the tasks, give a presentation and discussion. It was found evaluation criteria have a direct effect on the nature of the group discussion in which subjects tended to have more exploratory talk in the group discussion. The study also illustrated that evaluation criteria are a motivational tool helping groups to be more self-critical and increasing their effort to create a superior group product. Through evaluation, the group discussion emerged productive explorative talk which improved the group’s performance. Verplaetse (2000) examined what particular discourse strategies the teacher use to create an interactive classroom during full-class and teacher-fronted discussions. Three middle-school science teachers were selected and their lessons were being observed with three interviews with the teachers afterward. The finding provides a good example of how the teacher’s use of paraphrase and repetition produced a supportive environment where the contributions of all students were accepted and valued. Moreover, it was found that the teacher modeled the process of scientific inquiry aloud for his students and thereby authorized the right to wonder, raise questions and engage in exploratory talk on science topics. In addition to the collaborative discussion that modeled scientific inquiry, another important aspect of this study was the consequence of this dialogic collaboration on the participation of English language learners who volunteered more frequently and participated more actively in the full class discussion. This study illustrates how classroom relations and collaborative were forged through the teacher’s validation of student contributions. Teachers play a critical role in promoting interactions between students and engaging them in the learning process. The study by Gillies (2006) sought to determine if teachers who implement collaborative learning in their classrooms engage in more facilitative, learning interactions than teachers who implement group work only. The study also sought to determine of students in the collaborative groups model their teachers’ behaviors and engage in more positive helping interactions with each other than their peers in the group work groups. Twenty-six high schools’ teachers in Australia volunteered to establish cooperative, small-group activities in their Grades 8 to 10 classrooms for 6 weeks. The teachers were audiotaped twice during these lessons and samples of the students’ language, as they worked in their groups, were also collected at the same time. The results showed that teachers who implement collaborative learning in their classrooms asked more questions and engaged in more mediated-learning behaviors than teachers who implement group work only. The students in the collaborative groups engaged in more verbal behaviors that are regarded as helpful and supportive of group endeavors than their peers in the group-work groups. Thus, when teachers implement collaborative learning, their verbal behavior is affected by the organizational structure of the classroom. Wegerif, Mercer and Dawes (1999) supports the claim that social experience of language use shapes individual cognition. The study assumed that the use of exploratory talk will help children to reason together more effectively when they jointly tackle the problems of a test of reasoning and to develop better ways of using language as a tool for reasoning individually when they work alone on a reasoning test. Sixty British primary school children aged 9-10 and their teachers took part in an experimental teaching programme, which designed to develop primary children’s use of language for reasoning and collaborative activity. Children’s subsequent use of language when carrying out collaborative activity in the classroom was observed and anaylsed and effects on their performance on an individual reasoning test were also investigated. Comparative data were gathered from children in matched control classes. It was found that using exploratory talk helps children to work more effectively together on problem-solving tasks. Children who have been taught to use more exploratory talk make greater gains in their individual scores on a test of reasoning than do children who have not had such teaching. Language Development In this section, a number of research studies are reviewed from the cognitive perspectives which claims that cognition and knowledge are constructed though dialogically interaction. For this reason I have limited the studies in which one can link collaborative dialogue to a particular aspect of second language learning. Reading Kim and Hall (2002) reported on Korean children’s participation in an interactive book reading program and their development of pragmatic competence in English. During the book reading, the researcher promoted with questions, elaborated on the children’s utterances and repeated the children’s contributions by paraphrasing and shaping what they said into a coherent discourse. After completing all collaborative reading sessions, the children engaged in interactional role-play situations based on school-related events. These interactions were analyzed for quantity of words used, context-based vocabulary, utterances and conversational management skill. It was found that the participation of these children in collaborative book reading led to significant changes in their pragmatic ability dealing with a number of words and utterances and conversational management features. Kim and Hall suggested that in the context of interesting texts and collaborative talk, meaningful opportunities for the development of children’s second language competence arise. The procedure used in this study reflects discourse features similar to Verplaets’ study, with similar developmental consequences, i.e., expanded participation in interactions and the children’s growing ability to manage conversation. Collaborative dialogue has also been shown to help students apply comprehension strategies and co-construct knowledge while reading in the study by Klingner, Vaughn and Schumm (1998). They investigated the effectiveness of a cooperative learning approach designed to foster strategic reading in grade four heterogeneouse classrooms. Eighty-five students in 11 day experimental condition were taught by the researchers to apply reading comprehension strategies (â€Å"preview†, â€Å"get the gist† and â€Å"wrap up†) while reading social studies text in small student-led groups. Fifty-six students in control condition did not learn comprehension strategies but receive researcher-led instruction in the same content. A standardized reading test and a social studies unit test were administered as dependent measures to all participants. All of the groups in the intervention condition were audiotaped during the CL strategy implementation sessions for purposes of analyzi ng student discourse Qualitative analysis of the students’ discourse showed that through interacting in their collaborative strategic reading groups, the fourth graders assisted one another in vocabulary comprehension, found the main idea and asked and answered questions about their text. The tests results also indicated that the students in the experimental condition made greater gains in reading comprehension and equal gains in content knowledge. This study implies that students in the intervention condition spent significant time discussing academic content and consistently implemented the reading strategies. Speaking In a conversational analytical study of talk-in-interaction, Mori (2002) examined 12 hours of classroom interaction across two instructional contexts in a university upper-level Japanese as a foreign language classroom. In this study, two contexts were analyzed to understand how talk was constructed in collaboration with peers during a planning sessions and a future discussion with native speaker visitors to the class afterward. It was found that the design of the task (step-by-step requirements for the interview) was the obstacles for the creation of contingent discourse and coherent discussion with the native speaker guests. During the visits, the students’ discourse was highly structured and lacked the contingency-based features of conversation. Ironically, Mori finds that student discourse during the pretask planning involved a mutual exchange of ideas. Moria’s study implies that collaboration is constituted in particular kinds of contingently organized talk. The study by Shachar and Sharan (1994) focused on students’ verbal interaction in multiethnic groups after the students had participated for several months in history and geography classes. The study was conducted with the Group Investigation method or in those taught with the traditional Whole-Class method. Students’ social interaction with members from their own or another ethnic subgroup and their academic achievement were evaluated. The study involved 351 Jewish students from Western and Middle Eastern backgrounds, with 197 in five classes taught for 6 months with the Group Investigation method and 154 in four classes taught for 6 months with Whole- Class method. It was found that all students from the Group Investigation method expressed themselves more frequently and used more words per turn of speech than their peers from classrooms taught with the traditional Whole-Class method. This finding also suggest that students from different ethnic groups in the same class can learn to cooperate and give each other the opportunity to participate in the work of the group without the ignorance of the members of lower status groupmates. It seems that all students in CL classrooms learned to interact constructively, displayed more positive, fewer critical verbal and social interactions with their peers. Face-to-face interaction in speaking activities also can assist learners along the continuum of language acquisition. Lynch (2001) studied whether the transcribing and the discussion of reflection and change result in long-term language acquisition and whether they would be feasible in a classroom setting. In the study, four pairs of college students were asked to transcribe a 90-120 second recorded extract of a role play they had performed in front of the class. After transcribing the role play scripts, the learners could make changes to their original scripts through collaborative negotiation. The teacher then reformulated the revised scripts through correcting grammar and lexis and making necessary changes to clarify meaning. As a final step, the learners compared their own revised scripts with the reformulated version and discussed the differences between the two transcripts with each other and with the teacher. The result indicated that transcribing and editing the transcripts gives learners the chance to renegotiation meanings and draws the learner’s attention to language form and use in a relatively natural way. The study supports the claim that the feedback in the form of self-correction, teacher intervention and peer correction all supported student’s language learning. Writing Other studies in the literature show how collaborative dialogue in reading activities can also result in L2 learning. Swain and Lapkin (2003) examined a pair of grade seven French immersion students’ collaborative work in term of completing a jigsaw story task orally and in writing, comparing their written stories to a reformulated version and responding to a stimulated recall task. The data were coded for all the language-related episodes, defined as any part of the dialogue where learners talk about the language they are producing, question their language use or correct themselves. The analysis of discussions surrounding reformulated texts indicated that approximately two-thirds of reformulations were accepted. During the later independent revisions, both learners were able to revise accurately 78% of the post test items. This indicates the power of collaborative dialogue during the composing, noticing and recall procedures. Vygotsky’s concept of zone of proximal development (ZPD) serves as the theoretical basis for the study of peer collaboration in ESL writing classroom. The purpose of the study by De Guerrero and Villamil (2000) was to observe the mechanisms by which strategies of revision take shape and develop when two learners are working in their respective ZPDs. The participants in this study were two male intermediate ESL college learners, native speakers of Spanish, who were enrolled in an ESL writing course. In the course, the students participated in two revision sessions during which pairs of students revised a composition written by one of them. The pair of subjects was simply instructed to revise the draft and to record all their comments on a tape recorder. The focus of analysis was the dyad’s audiotaped conversation, between a ‘reader’ and a ‘writer’, which was transcribed to the written mode and divided into 16 episodes. The results were found that both the reader and writer became active partners in the revision task with guided support moving reciprocally between each other. The reader played a crucial role as mediator displaying several supportive behaviors which facilitated advancement through the task. Some of these behaviors included explicitly instructing the writer on issues of grammar and recruiting the writer’s interest throughout the interaction. The writer incorporated the majority of the changes discussed with his partner and further revised on his own. The reader also made progress in aspect of L2 writing and revising. As the researchers noted, the opportunity to talk and discuss language and writing issues with each other â€Å"allowed both reader and writer to consolidate and reorganize knowledge of the L2 in structural and rhetorical aspects and to make this knowledge explicit for each other’s benefit† (p.65) Storch (2001) noted that the nature of peer assistance is an important factor to consider in terms of the impact collaborative work can have on learning. His study examined the pattern of pair interaction and whether there were links between the way the dyads interacted and the quality of their written product. The study was conducted in an advanced ESL writing classroom in an Australian university. Most of the students were Asian with writing proficiency ranging from low to upper intermediate. The task used in this study was a writing task given to students in class in preparation for a report. Students worked on the task in self-selected pairs and pair talks were audiotaped and being observed by researchers. Three dyads of conversations were then chosen for analysis. It was found that 3 dyads approached the task differently and the interaction patterns can be defined in a range from non-collaborative to collaborative. In the collaborative pattern, both students contributed to the task and reached co-constructed solutions. The dominant/dominant pair was one in which though both students contributed to the task, assistance is often rejected as there is an attempt of control and domination on the part of both students. In the case of dominant/passive pair, there was one dominant student who appropriated the task and his partner had little contribution. In the expert/novice patter pair, one participant seemed to be more in control of the task but unlike the dominant/passive pair, the expert participant acknowledges the novice and encouraged participation. An analysis of relationship between the text produced by each dyad and language development showed that in collaborative and expert/novice dyads, there were more instances evidence of knowledge development than in other dyads. These findings confirm the importance of the nature of pair interaction for the learning opportunities available to the students. Status Crisis Researchers have shown that collaborative learning can induce many beneficial outcomes. However, some research studies have also shown that the differential status of individuals affected their social interactions and their capacity to solve problems together. These inequalities are related to academic status and cultural differences and personalities between students. The following research studies illustrate the harmful impact on lower status students in the group. Duff (2002) illustrated how classroom interaction in an ethnically and linguistically diverse grade 10 Canadian social studies class attributed identities to students. The research site was a Canadian high school where 50% of the students were ESL learners, most of them are Asian. The researcher observed and recorded the Social Studies class lessons once a week with six-month duration; some of the participants, including the class teacher, were interviewed about their in-class behaviors. There were 17 non-native English speakers out of the 28 students in the course. The class teacher presented social issues and encouraged student to share their perspectives and opinions. Interview comments, combined with observations of in-class social interactions provided evidences that the interactional behaviors of teachers and students during discursive collaborations on social issue created conditions that marginalized some students while reinforcing social recognition to others. For example, non-local students were being silent or provided limited response about their cultural rituals because they were afraid of being criticized in class and being laughed at their English. She emphasizes that â€Å"large numbers of minority students in schools world wide are at considerable risk of alienation, isolation, and failure because of the discourse and interactions that surround them on a daily basis† (Duff 2002, p.216). Matthews and Kesner (2000) investigated the impact that a child’s status among peers has on interactions with other children during collaboration. In the study, six grade-one children of a primary school in southeastern U.S. area were being observed throughout the whole school year. Data was collected from classroom observations with audio and video recording of children participating in literacy events (collaboration) with their classmates. Data also included artifacts of the children’s work, information about the children’s social status among their peers and assessments of the children’s reading ability. The researchers were in the classroom an average of once every 3 days. The information presented in this study focused on a child, Sammy, one of the six focal children. Sammy was characterized as a shy boy by his parents. He had low proficiency of reading ability so reading is the worst academic subject for him. Sammy also received assistance from the school language specialist of minor speech problem. The results of peer nomination and the teacher’s assessment of Sammy’s social status indicated that he is an unpopular student in his class. The classroom observation showed that Sammy was a follower during collaboration activities. He rarely made a suggestion during the literacy events. However, Sammy never appeared upset when his peers assigned him the role of follower or they did not respond to his suggestions. At the end of the school year, he could read only 20 of the 60 words on a first-grade word list and his text reading had only progressed slightly. This implies that participants may not get the most benefit from collaborati ve learning due to the social hierarchy. Chiu’s study (1998) supported that status differences among students yield positive and negative effects for individuals and the group as a whole. In her study, eight students in 9th grade algebra classes in a high school were selected to solve an algebra problem in groups of four. The students filled out pre-activity questionnaires regarding mathematical status and social status and a leadership post-activity questionnaire. At the group level, the results showed that mathematical ability predicted correct solutions whereas quantity of interaction and status did not. Polite evaluation (redressed criticisms) facilitated group work while impolite evaluation (naked criticisms) hindered it. At the individual level, social status positively predicted leadership, negotiation turns and polite redressed criticism in a group whereas mathematical ability positively predicted naked criticisms. These results supported the claim that students with higher social status were socially skillful and polite whereas students with higher mathematical showed their status by being less polite. Baines, Blatchford and Kutnick (2003) suggested that collaborative learning is beneficial to particular age of learners. Their study examined the relationships between the age of students and the grouping practices employed by teachers within classrooms in primary and secondary schools. The data in this study come from three separately paralleled studies that used the same methodology. One project, the Primary Classroom Groupings Projects, examined grouping practices in junior levels. The focus of the second study was on the effects of class size one students learning experiences and group practices in senior primary levels. The third study examined grouping practices in secondary school with junior and senior levels. All three projects involved the use of a grouping questionnaire to collect quantitative data on the nature of the groupings as used in classes. The results showed that there were changes in grouping practices with student age. Students in junior primary classrooms were most likely to be working alone. During the years of senior primary level, students were more likely to experience whole class interactions with the teacher assistance. At the secondary school’s level, group practices were frequently happened since secondary school age students were more likely to engage in peer interaction than primary age children. Training Many educators have observed that participants frequently fail to behavior collaboratively in groups. Some groups reveal negative and insensitive behavior as well as refusal to assist one another. Therefore, some educators strongly recommend team-building or skill-building activities prior to collaborative learning stage. The research in this section show that preparation and time spent on group can definitely make for more productive groups. The study by Naughton (2006) focused on the effect of a cooperative strategy training program on the patterns of interaction that arose as small groups of students participated in an oral discussion task. Five intact classes of high school graduates were randomly assigned to the experimental or control condition. In the control group, this division was random whereas in the experimental groups, students joined the 8 hours of the CL strategy training program. All students took part in the same pretest and posttest discussion task which lasted for 8 minutes. Data taken from the videotapes were analyzed in order to measure changes in overall participation and strategic participation. The pretest showed that prior to strategy training, students generally failed to engage in the types of negotiation moves that have been identified as important for language acquisition. However, the posttest indicated that the strategy training program was largely successful in encouraging students to engage in the act of requesting or giving help; this type of interaction is clearly related to CL. The result also implies that small group work in the L2/FL classroom can be beneficial when learners engage in collaborative dialogue. The study by Gillies and Ashman (1996) compared the effects on behavioral interactions and achievement of cooperative learning in which group members were trained to collaborate to facilitate each other’s learning and cooperative learning in which members were not trained but were merely told to help each other. The study involved 192 Grade six primary school children assigned to one of two experimental conditions. In the Trained condition, students were taught how to collaborate in small groups while in the Untrained condition, children were provided only with the opportunity to work together but were not instructed in the process. The group activities for the two groups were developed around the social studies unit which required students to solve problems. Each group’s student behavior and verbal interactions during the study were videotaped and coded. The results showed that the children in the Trained condition were consistently more cooperative; higher level of motivation, responsive to the need of their peers and provided significantly more explanations to assist each other than their peers in the Untrained condition. In addition, the children in the Trained groups used inclusive language (‘we’ and ‘us’ rather than ‘I’). This provides strong evidence that training children to collaborate facilitates group functioning and has a positive effect on student achievement. Veenman, Denessen, Akker, and Rijt (2005) investigated whether student-teachers who participated in the teacher-training program provided more elaborations during small group work and performed better on a cooperative task than the student-teachers who did not participate in the training program and the effects of the training program on affective-motivational resources of students in collaboration. Participants in the study were teachers from seven primary schools and 24 dyads of sixth-grade students. There were 12 dyads in the treatment group where their schools used CL instruction and practices based on a 2-years staff training of CL with a supplementary teacher-training program focusing on effective helping behaviors. The control group with 12 dyads used CL based on a 1-year staff CL training without a supplementary teacher-training program. All of the students’ dyads were asked to cooperatively solve a math task, which required formal reasoning and discussion. At pre test, Version A of the math task was used; at posttest, Version B was used. All of the sessions were video and audio recorded and later transcribed. After completion of the math task at pretest, all of the students were also administered a questionnaire addressing their help-seeking intentions and the nature of their achievement goals. A statistically significant treatment effect was found that the treatment dyads provided more high-level elaborations than the control dyads. The use of high-level elaborations was also positively related to student achievement. The results of the study underline the need to structure learning in small groups; discourse features as help seeking, help giving, provision of reasons and exploratory talk must be practiced and reinforced. Implications for Classroom Practices and Further Research Several implications for language pedagogy can be drawn from the findings of these studies. First, as language teachers, we have to ensure that students are provided with multiple and varied opportunities to engage in meaningful interactions in the target language. To make the interactions meaningful, we need to encourage learners to relate the topical content to those personal experiences and social relationship that are real thus of significance to them. Motivating learners to make connections between their own and others’ background knowledge and to share these connections with each other promotes their extended engagement in their interactions. Second, in the opportunities for interaction that we make available, we must ensure that not only the cognitive but the affective dimensions are considered. As shown in these studies, making interpersonal connections with each other in their classroom interactions fostered a sense of community among the members; this helps to cr eate a motivating learning environment. Third, language learners of all ages and levels are able to construct rich interactions. Thus we need to create opportunities for them to demonstrate their interpersonal skills without the explicit help or directed attention of the teacher. Finally, several questions for possible study are suggested by these studies. First, given the significance of interpersonal relationships to language learning found in these studies, how do we create and sustain rapport among individuals who come from varied backgrounds or who are reticent to participate? Moreover, in the century of high technology how social processes are enabled by new communications tools and resources such as the Internet, e-mail and videoconferences. In addition, how these relationships and processes interact with language learning. The last concern is the need for more longitudinal data. Although most of the studies link language development to the particular practices, they do not actually document specific changes in learners’ use of language in their data. The only way to truly understand the occurrence of language development in oneself is to require more long-term investigations. References Baines, Ed., Blatchford, P., Kutnick, P (2003). Changes in grouping practices over primary and secondary school. International Journal of Educational Research, 39, 9-34. Chinn, C.A., O’Donnell, A.M. Jinks, T.S. The structure of discourse in collaborative learning. Department of Educational Psychology. The State University of New Jersey. Chiu, Ming Ming (1998). 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