Japan Essay

Japan Essay Japan is the country I’ve been dreaming of to visit. The things that attract me are there culture is very different and there are lots of things for me experience. What kind of cultural interest is Japan? The Japanese language will be a useful tool for the United States people. What is Japans attitude towards the United States? Why would Japan be important to us in the future? What kind of government is Japan? How is Japan education different from the States? What is Japan place is the History? What kind of Jobs they have in Japan? What is there to do for fun at day or night? What are the types of food they have at Japan? How is the weather like in Japan? The two type of religion is Japan is Shinto and Buddhism. Shinto is and ancient native religion of Japan. Japanese people still practice in a form of modified by the influence of Buddhism and Confucianism. The term Shinto, is a term that is created to distinguish the indigenous relation from Buddhism, the same as the Japanese kami-no-michi, â€Å"the way of the gods† or â€Å"the way of those above.† Kami means â€Å"above† or â€Å"superior,† this is the name used to designate a great host of supernatural beings or deities. Buddhism is a religion and philosophy founded in India in c.525 B.C. by Siddhartha Gautama, also known as Buddha. There are 300 million Buddhists world wide. This is one of the world great religions; it is divided into two main schools: the Theravada or Hinyana in Sri Lanka and South-East Asia, and the Mahayana in China, Mongolia, Korea, and Japan. The third school, is the Vajrayana, has a long tradition in Tibet and Japan. Buddhism ha s largely disappeared from its country of origin, India, except the many refugees from the Tibet region of China and small number converts from the lower castes of Hinduism. But there are a small amount of people who are Christians. The Japanese language is known around the United States, but would it be a useful tool if we (United States citizens) know it? Yes, it would a great tool for us to know this language. Japan we do lots of business with, and in order for us to do business we need to know how to communicate to them. If you are to travel there how are you suppose to tell them how you want your food? This language is mostly usage for business; we do lots of trading with Japan. Knowing Japanese is a great tool for us to know. Japan’s current attitude towards the United States is that they like the United States. When President Bush came in as president, he talked to Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and the new president and between Foreign Minister Yohei Kono and Secretary of State Colin Powell; in the view of Japan alliance should it strengthen with the United States. Minister Kono later came and visited the United States to talk with Colin Powell. They built up a good personal relationship, talking about views on bilateral relations, and foreign situations, and effort in regard to global issues. On February 10, Japan’s time, a U.S. nuclear powered submarine collided into a fisheries training vessel. Japan was angered at the U.S. for that mistake and U.S. apologized. From that day on they are trying to strengthen there trading, ideas, and relations. Japan with their knowledge in technology, and resources, they are very important to the U.S. Japan technology is very futuristic; with the U.S. knowledge and Japan we would be able to make some crazy technologies. Japan they like everything neat and clean, like there technology. Japan recourses are: fishes, rice, sugar beets, vegetable, fruits, pork, poultry, dairy products, eggs. Japan is the world’s largest and technologically advanced producers of mother vehicles, electronics equipment, machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemicals, textiles, processed foods. This would be a great help with the trading business with Japan. Japan is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government. Japan government is based on a constitutional of 1947. It was drafted by the Allied occupation authorities, and it was approved by the Japanese diet. The emperor is the â€Å"symbol of the state† but sovereignty rest with the people. Hirohito was the emperor from 1926 till he died in 1989; he was then succeeded by his son, Akihito. The diet has sole legislative power. It is composed of the House of Representatives, with 500 members elected for a four year term, with 300 representatives chosen by single-seat constituencies and the rest proportionally; and the house of councilors, with 252 members with a six year term. With 18 members with executive power and headed by the prim minister, who is elected by the diet and is usually the leader of the majority part of that body. Japan is divided into 47 prefectures; each of them is governed by a popularly elected governor and unicameral legislature. The cities, towns , and villages, elect there own mayors and assemblies. Education is a big deal in the Japanese culture. The Japanese parents are very strict about getting good grades. The parents are always pressuring you to do well, so you would be able to have a high paying job. School usually starts in the morning till night (8am-6pm). The students would always have to take off their shoes and a sign of respect of the building. The teachers are strict to the students, for that they are trying to help the student to grown up strong, and be disciplined. Japanese student don’t really have time to watch T.V. They are mostly studying; they probably spend 6 hours a week watching T.V. After school they would attend there after school activities like sports, or maybe an even a study group. Going to school is a very big deal for the Japanese. On December 7, 1941 Japan had attack Pearl Harbor. A report indicated that 2400 people we killed and 1300 we wounded. For that reason the U.S. had entered World War II. The reason why Japanese attack Pearl Harbor was that the U.S. Navy ships were positioned at. They were trying to paralyze from helping in the war. All they did was anger the U.S. The U.S. has a reason to join the war now. On August 6, 1945 the atomic bomb was dropped on the City of Hiroshima. The Enola Gay was the plane Colonel Tibbetts used to do this mission. After the dropping the bomb the U.S. had this war in its hand. The kinds of job positions they have at Japan is similar to here in the U.S. There are lots of fisher men in Japan, since they have lots of fish resources. Since there is lots of sushi bars there are chief who are needed. There is fast food over there so they would need workers to get the customers there food. There are lots of white collar jobs. There are all kinds of business in Japan, for Car Company, T.V. Company, etc. There is lots of opportunity in Japan for jobs, as long as you have the requirements you are hired. Japan unemployment rate is 4.9%, compared to U.S 5% (2002). Japan has lots of things to do during the day and night. During the day there are parks and amusement parks you can go to. There are lots malls and stores you can go to. There are Japanese gardens you can go check out, and looking the beautiful scenery. There is a Disney land at Japan that you can take your family and have some fun. The teens they would go out and hang out at arcades. At night is mostly for the older people. You can go to bars, clubs, strip clubs, etc. There are lots of people out at night walking around, checking out the scenes. There is lot of things to do, so you will always have plans if you do go out at night. Japanese people mostly like to each sushi. Rice is what they eat with everything. Eating fish cook or raw they like to eat fish. They also have traditional dishes. Noodles with what ever you want in there. Oyakodon is one of their popular dishes, it comes with salmon eggs, chicken, and eggs. Tempura is another good dish; deep fried battered fish, shrimps, or vegetables. They also have fast food, the popular one is McDonalds. But out of all of this they mostly like to eat fish. Japan area are mostly temperate and with for season, other then Hokkaido area and the subtropical Okinawa region. The winters are cool and sunny in the south, it is cold and sunny around Tokyo it sometime snow. It is very cold around Hokkaido; it is covered in snow for up to four months a year. Between June and September, it ranges from warm to very hot. In spring and autumn it’s generally mild throughout the country. Rain falls throughout the year but June and early July is the main rainy season. Hokkaido is much drier than the Tokyo area. Typhoons are likely to occur in September or October but rarely last more than a day. Japan is a great country that I would love to live there someday. There are lots of great places I can check out and learn from. There are lots of activities I can enjoy during the day and night. The food at Japan looks good, and sound very good. Everything over there is an adventure. You can order a custom essay, term paper, research paper, thesis or dissertation on Japan topics at our professional custom essay writing service which provides students with custom papers written by highly qualified academic writers. High quality and no plagiarism guarantee! Get professional essay writing help at an affordable cost.

Describe how the debate concerning human origins began, how new Essay

Describe how the debate concerning human origins began, how new descoveries added to the debate, and explain how you see the argument concerning our human origi - Essay Example against those that support creationism, a religious-based belief that attributes the creation of Earth, humanity and the universe to a God or deity (Hayward, 1998). The creation versus evolution debate is most prevalent in the conservative regions of the United States, where Creationism is believed to have strengthened after World War I as a consequence of stories that became popular at the time and told of the German aggression being a result of their belief in the concept of "survival of the fittest" introduced by Charles Darwin (Numbers and Coleman, 2007). After this, the situation worsened in many cases when several US states passed laws against the teaching of evolution in public schools and others went a step further by introducing the teaching of creationism instead. It is so that the study of evolution was not included until the late 1960s in textbooks of many US sates. Even during the 1980s, creationism was quite prevalent in certain states (Arkansas and Louisiana), where creationism and evolution obtained equal teaching time in public shools' curricula. This seriously opposes the separation between State and Church recognized in the Constitution, which would avoid interference in each other's issues. The legislation passed for the teaching of creationism seriously contravenes the First Amendment, which states as follows: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." Consequently, in 1987 the Supreme Court declared this law illegal and an unconstitutional intrusion of religion in public schools. Paleoanthropology Evolution is supported by the study of paleoanthropology. Until the 19th century, the similarity between apes and humans had been sorely discussed and, based purely on morphological similarities, chimpanzees and gorillas were thought to be our closest relatives. In fact, some scientists of the time believed that humans and apes shared a common ancestor and that fossils of this ancestor would eventually be found in Africa. It was not, however, until the discovery of Neanderthal man in 1856 was made and Darwin published On the Origin of Species a few years later, that the concept of evolutionary theory was first introduced. A few years later, paleoanthropology, the discipline that studies ancient populations using fossil evidence in the form of petrified bones and foot prints, as well as the remains of tools and forms of habitation, began. Although there had been a series of minor findings in the 1830s, it was not until 1924 that the first remains of a hominid were discovered in Africa. The fossils were thought to be part of the skeleton of an Australopithecus africanus, a species with a small skull that contained a small but, contrary to those of apes, rounded brain, like that of a human. Additionally,

Article summary Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

Summary - Article Example ost common type of cardiovascular disease among aboriginal people is the coronary heart disease whose cause although largely unknown, several risk factors have been found to increase its chance of occurrence. These include high levels of cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes mellitus smoking and high density of lipoproteins; these risk factors are attributed to the lifestyles and the socio-economic status of the aboriginal people. For the last couple of decades, the aboriginal people have adopted a western lifestyle including their nutritional patterns and behaviour, which include eating foods rich in calories and adopting inactive lifestyles; this has led to increase in cardiovascular diseases. Type 2 diabetes, which is the most common among the aboriginal people is usually characterised by resistance to insulin, high blood glucose levels and reduction in insulin levels. This type of diabetes is most often found in adults and its risk is increased by obesity, lack of physical activity, stress, depression and poor nutritional habits. Since diabetes and severe obesity have been found to be linked, mainly through the adipose tissue, which has been found to trigger insulin resistance in sells, the appearance of obesity will in most cases lead to diabetes. For the last 50 years, prevalence of type 2 diabetes has been increasing among aboriginal populations with about 17.9 percent of all adult being diagnosed with the disease, the figure rises to 35 per cent among individuals 55 years or older. In some communities in northwestern Ontario, the prevalence has been found to be as high as 80 per cent among women between 50 and 64 years of age. However, this trend has not spared people much younger among the first nation communities with studies showing that 53 per cent of those living with diabetes are below 41 years of age and 65 per cent are below 45 years. This type of diabetes, although not observed in youths, it has been found in young children between 5 and 8 years in

International and Cross-Cultural Marketing Essay

International and Cross-Cultural Marketing - Essay Example The concept of cross cultural marketing suggests that it is important for the marketers to know that there is very little room for ethnocentrism in the modem 21st century and there is no culture that is superior to the other. Globalization is inevitable and so is ‘cross-culturalization’. Hence one of the key parameters of success for global firms would be the ability to distinguish and understand the cultural aspects of the host nations. The present context of the study has been conducted to analyze the international and cross cultural marketing strategy of Al- Jumeirah a UAE based luxury hotel chain. The host or target country has been selected as China. The reason for such choice is due to the fact that china is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and since the entry of china in to WTO various major companies are looking to enter the prospective Chinese market. ... egment; positioning; cultural; educational; demographic issues of China has been analyzed along a set of recommendations for Jumeirah for the future has been provided (Deresky, 2011, p. 231). Reasons making the transfer of practices attractive to the parent company Presence in Saturated Markets Prior to the entry to China Jumeirah has had presence in the saturated and matured economies like UAE (the home country), U.K., Germany. Such economies provide very few opportunities of growth. Also the economic downturn possessed additional threat to the luxury hotel chain. Hence in order to gain the competitive advantage and cope up with the volatile economy the hotel chain decided to enter China . (Doole and Lowe, 2008, p. 391) High amount capital gain from local market Another probable factor could be the relative strong position of the hotel chain that may have prompted the hotel chain to enter in China. Analysis (Findings) Factors influence the transfer of such practices Market Attractiv eness Entry of China to WTO In an attempt to welcome foreign companies invest in China after several years of negotiation the country became a member of WTO in September 2001. This opened up the economy of China as the trade related barriers went down. This was the beginning of the economic developments in China. Today China is regarded as one o the most emerging economies in the world (Appendix1). Educational Developments in China As foreign companies started to come to China; the demand for the skilled labours went up. Over the years the Chinese education system has gone through several reforms. The government has made considerable amount of investment to develop the colleges and universities. The focus of the government has shifted from quantity based education system to quality based

Sujata Bhatt Biography Essay Example for Free

Sujata Bhatt Biography Essay Sujata Bhatt (b. 1956) grew up in Pune but emigrated with her family to the United States in 1968. She studied in the States receiving an MFA from the University of Iowa and went on to be writer-in-residence at the University of Victoria, Canada. More recently she was visiting fellow at Dickinson College, Pennsylvania. She currently lives with her husband and daughter in Bremen, Germany. Her first collection, Brunizem, won the Commonwealth Poetry Prize (Asia) and the Alice Hunt Bartlett Award. Subsequent collections have been awarded a Poetry Book Society Recommendation and in 1991 she received a Cholmondeley Award. For Bhatt, language is synonymous with the tongue, the physical act of speaking. She has described Gujarati and the Indian childhood it connects her to as the deepest layer of my identity. However, English has become the language she speaks every day and which she, largely, chooses to write in. The repercussions of this divided heritage are explored in her work, most explicitly in Search for My Tongue which alternates between the two languages. The complex status of English its beauties and colonial implications are also conveyed in the moving ironies of A Different History and Nanabhai Bhatt in Prison about her grandfather who read Tennyson to comfort himself during his incarceration by the British authorities. Such division finds geographical expression in poems which explore ideas of home (The One Who Goes Away) and question our mental mapping of the world (How Far East is it Still East?). Its present too in her voice, with its musical melding of Indian and American inflections. However, its in the non-verbal world of animals and plants that Bhatt finds a source of unity denied to humans except for the very young, as in her poem The Stare in which the monkey child and the human child experience a moment of tender connection. Perhaps it is this longing for unity which makes Bhatts writing so sensual; her poems are rich with the smell of garlic, the touch of bodies, the vibrant plumage of parrots. An intense colourist like the women artists who inspire some of these poems, Bhatt acknowledges that language splits us from experience but through the physical intensity of her writing brings us closer to it so that the word/is the thing itself. Her recording was made for The Poetry Archive on 1 September 2005 at The Audio Workshop, London and was produced by Richard Carrington.

Errors and strategies in language acquisition

Errors and strategies in language acquisition Error Correction Why Correction is Necessary Correction is necessary. The argument that students just need to use the language and the rest will come by itself seems rather weak. Students come to us to teach them. If they want only conversation, they will probably inform us or, they might just go to a chat room on the Internet. Obviously students need to be corrected as part of the learning experience. However, students also need to be encouraged to use the language. It is true that correcting students while they are trying their best to use the language can often discourage them. The most satisfactory solution of all is make correction an activity. Correction can be used as a follow-up to any given class activity. However, correction sessions can be used as a valid activity in and of themselves. In other words, teachers can set up an activity during which each mistake (or a specific type of mistake) will be corrected. Students know that the activity is going to focus on correction, and accept that fact. However, these activit ies should be kept in balance with other, more free-form, activities which give students the opportunity to express themselves without having to worry about being corrected every other word. It is to S.P. Corder that Error Analysis owes its place as a scientific method in linguistics. As Rod Ellis cites (p. 48), it was not until the 1970s that EA became a recognized part of applied linguistics, a development that owed much to the work of Corder. Before Corder, linguists observed learners errors, divided them into categories, tried to see which ones were common and which were not, but not much attention was drawn to their role in second language acquisition. It was Corder who showed to whom information about errors would be helpful (teachers, researchers, and students) and how. There are many major concepts introduced by S. P. Corder in his article The significance of learners errors, among which we encounter the following: It is the learner who determines what the input is. The teacher can present a linguistic form, but this is not necessarily the input, but simply what is available to be learned. Keeping the above point in mind, learners needs should be considered when teachers/linguists plan their syllabuses. Before Corders work, syllabuses were based on theories and not so much on learners needs. Mager (1962) points out that the learners built-in syllabus is more efficient than the teachers syllabus. Corder adds that if such a built-in syllabus exists, then learners errors would confirm its existence and would be systematic. Corder introduced the distinction between systematic and non-systematic errors. Unsystematic errors occur in ones native language; Corder calls these mistakes and states that they are not significant to the process of language learning. He keeps the term errors for the systematic ones, which occur in a second language. Errors are significant in three ways: to the teacher: they show a students progress to the researcher: they show how a language is acquired, what strategies the learner uses. to the learner: he can learn from these errors. When a learner has made an error, the most efficient way to teach him the correct form is not by simply giving it to him, but by letting him discover it and test different hypotheses. (This is derived from Carrolls proposal (Carroll 1955, cited in Corder), who suggested that the learner should find the correct linguistic form by searching for it. Many errors are due to that the learner uses structures from his native language. Corder claims that possession of ones native language is facilitative. Errors in this case are not inhibitory, but rather evidence of ones learning strategies. The above insights played a significant role in linguistic research, and in particular in the approach linguists took towards errors. Here are some of the areas that were influenced by Corders work: STUDIES OF LEARNER ERRORS Corder introduced the distinction between errors (in competence) and mistakes (in performance). This distinction directed the attention of researchers of SLA to competence errors and provided for a more concentrated framework. Thus, in the 1970s researchers started examining learners competence errors and tried to explain them. We find studies such as Richardss A non-contrastive approach to error analysis (1971), where he identifies sources of competence errors; L1 transfer results in interference errors; incorrect (incomplete or over-generalized) application of language rules results in intralingual errors; construction of faulty hypotheses in L2 results in developmental errors. Not all researchers have agreed with the above distinction, such as Dulay and Burt (1974) who proposed the following three categories of errors: developmental, interference and unique. Stenson (1974) proposed another category, that of induced errors, which result from incorrect instruction of the language. As most research methods, error analysis has weaknesses (such as in methodology), but these do not diminish its importance in SLA research; this is why linguists such as Taylor (1986) reminded researchers of its importance and suggested ways to overcome these weaknesses. As mentioned previously, Corder noted to whom (or in which areas) the study of errors would be significant: to teachers, to researchers and to learners. In addition to studies concentrating on error categorization and analysis, various studies concentrated on these three different areas. In other words, research was conducted not only in order to understand errors per se, but also in order to use what is learned from error analysis and apply it to improve language competence. Such studies include Kroll and Schafers Error-Analysis and the Teaching of Composition, where the authors demonstrate how error analysis can be used to improve writing skills. They analyze possible sources of error in non-native-English writers, and attempt to provide a process approach to writing where the error analysis can help achieve better writing skills. These studies, among many others, show that thanks to Corders work, researchers recognized the importance of errors in SLA and started to examine them in order to achieve a better understanding of SLA processes, i.e. of how learners acquire an L2. STUDIES OF L1 INFLUENCE ON SLA Various researchers have concentrated on those errors which demonstrate the influence of ones native language to second language acquisition. Before Corders work, interference errors were regarded as inhibitory; it was Corder who pointed out that they can be facilitative and provide information about ones learning strategies (point 7, listed above). Claude Hagà ¨ge (1999) is a supporter of this concept and he mentions it in his book The child between two languages, dedicated to childrens language education. According to Hagà ¨ge, interference between L1 and L2 is observed in children as well as in adults. In adults it is more obvious and increases continuously, as a monolingual person gets older and the structures of his first language get stronger and impose themselves more and more on any other language the adult wishes to learn. In contrast, as regards children, interference features will not become permanent unless the child does not have sufficient exposure to L2. If there is sufficient exposure, then instead of reaching a point where they can no longer be corrected (as often happens with phonetics features), interference features can be easily eliminated. Hagà ¨ge stresses that there is no reason for worry if interference persists more than expected. The teacher should know that a child that is in the process of acquiring a second language will subconsciously invent structures influenced by knowledge he already possesses. These hypotheses he forms may constitute errors. These errors, though, are completely natural; we should not expect the child to acquire L2 structures immediately (p. 81). In addition to studies of L1 transfer in general, there have been numerous studies for specific language pairs. Thanh Ha Nguyen (1995) conducted a case study to demonstrate first language transfer in Vietnamese learners of English. He examined a particular language form, namely oral competence in English past tense making. He tried to determine the role of L1 transfer in the acquisition of this English linguistic feature as a function of age, time of exposure to English, and place and purpose of learning English. The influence of L1 on L2 was also examined by Lakkis and Malak (2000) who concentrated on the transfer of Arabic prepositional knowledge to English (by Arab students). Both positive and negative transfer were examined in order to help teachers identify problematic areas for Arab students and help them understand where transfer should be encouraged or avoided. In particular, they concluded that an instructor of English, whose native language is Arabic, can use the students L1 for structures that use equivalent prepositions in both languages. On the other hand, whenever there are verbs or expressions in the L1 and L2 that have different structures, that take prepositions, or that have no equivalent in one of the languages, instructors should point out these differences to their students. Not only was L1 influence examined according to language pair, but according to the type of speech produced (written vs. oral). Hagà ¨ge (p. 33) discusses the influence of L1 on accent; he notes that the ear acts like a filter, and after a critical age (which Hagà ¨ge claims is 11 years), it only accepts sounds that belong to ones native language. Hagà ¨ge discusses L1 transfer in order to convince readers that there is indeed a critical age for language acquisition, and in particular the acquisition of a native-like accent. He uses the example of the French language, which includes complex vowel sounds, to demonstrate that after a critical age, the acquisition of these sounds is not possible; thus, learners of a foreign language will only use the sounds existing in their native language when producing L2 sounds, which may often obstruct communication. STUDIES OF CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK Corder elaborated on Carrolls work to show that the most efficient way to teach a student the correct linguistic form is to let him test various hypotheses and eventually find the right form (point 6, listed above). In these steps, Hagà ¨ge points out the importance of self correction (p. 82-83). According to Hagà ¨ge, it is useful to always perform an error analysis based on written tests administered by the teacher, but without informing the student of the purpose of the test. On that basis, self-correction is preferable to correction by the teacher, especially if the latter is done in a severe or intimidating way. Self correction is even more efficient when it is done with the help of childrens classmates. According to teachers, the younger the children, the greater the cooperation among them and the less aggressive or intimidating the corrections. Hagà ¨ge dedicates a section in his book to the importance of treating errors in a positive way. In this section, titled The teache r as a good listener, he notes that it is useless, if not harmful, to treat errors as if they were diseases or pathological situations which must be eliminated, especially if this treatment becomes discouraging, as occurs when teachers lose their patience because of childrens numerous errors. This, of course, does not mean that corrections should be avoided; after all it is the teachers duty to teach the rules of the L2. But the correction of every error as soon as it occurs is not recommended. The justification that Hagà ¨ge offers is the following: the linguistic message that the child tries to produce is a sequence of elements which are interdependent; immediate corrections which interrupt this message tend to produce negative consequences, even to the less sensitive children; such consequences include anxiety, fear of making an error, the development of avoidance strategies, reduced motivation for participation in the classroom, lack of interest for learning, reduced will for s elf correction, and lack of trust towards the teacher. Esser (1984, cited in Hagà ¨ge) also made a similar point: repetitive and immediate corrections, he noted, may cause sensitive children to develop aggressive behavior towards their classmates or teacher. Thus, Hagà ¨ge concludes, correction must not be applied by the teacher unless errors obstruct communication. This is the main criterion for error correction (i.e. obstruction of communication) presented by Hagà ¨ge; however there have been studies which examined such criteria in greater detail, such as Freiermuths L2 Error Correction: Criteria and Techniques (1997). Freiermuth accepts Corders view (point 6) and proposes criteria for error correction in the classroom. These criteria are: exposure, seriousness, and students needs. In the case of exposure, Freiermuth claims that when a child creates language (for example, when he tries to express an idea by using a linguistic form he has not yet acquired), he will most likely make errors; correcting these errors will be ineffective because the learner is not aware of them. Thus, error correction would result in the acquisition of the correct form only if the learner has been previously exposed to that particular language form. As regards the seriousness criterion, Freiermuth claims that the teacher must determine the gravity of an error before deciding whether he should correct it or not. Here Freiermuth sets a criterion which agrees with that of Hagà ¨ges: the error, he states, must impede communication before it should be considered an error that necessitates correction. But what constitutes a serious error? Which errors are those which should not be corrected? As an examples of non-serious errors, Freiermuth mentions those errors which occur due to learners nervousness in the classroom, due to their stress or the pressure of having to produce accurately a linguistic form in the L2. These errors can occur even with familiar structures; in that case, they are not of serious nature and are similar to what Corder called mistakes. Here again we see Corders influence in error analysis, and in particular in the distinction between errors and mistakes. Freiermuth goes on to suggest a hierarchy of errors (accor ding to seriousness) to help teachers decide which errors should be corrected: Errors that significantly impair communication [are] at the top of the list, followed by errors that occur frequently, errors that reflect misunderstanding or incomplete acquisition of the current classroom focus, and errors that have a highly stigmatizing effect on the listeners. He also clarifies what can cause stigmatization: profound pronunciation errors, or errors of familiar forms. Another important criterion that must be considered by the teacher is individual students needs. The importance of this factor is mentioned in Corder, who in turn notes that this idea had been suggested previously by Carroll (1955, cited in Corder 1967) and Ferguson (1966, cited in Corder 1967). Each student is different and thus may react differently to error correction. We infer from Freiermuths claim that the teacher must perform two main tasks: first, assess some specific character traits of students, such as self-confidence and language acquisition capability. Freiermuth agrees with Walz (1982, cited in Freiermuth) that self-confident, capable students can profit from even minor corrections, while struggling students should receive correction only on major errors. This claim agrees with Esser and Hagà ¨ges claim that repetitive corrections are likely to decrease motivation; it is reasonable to accept that students who lack self-confidence will be stigmatized to a greater degree than confident students. The teachers second task, according to Freiermuth, is to listen to learners L2 utterances in order to determine where errors occur (i.e. which linguistic forms cause students difficulties), their frequency, and their gravity (according to the severity criteria mentioned above). Then the teacher can combine the outcome of these tasks and decide on correction techniques for individual students. A different approach to error correction was suggested by Porte (1993), who stressed the importance of self-correction. Porte refers to Corders distinction of errors and mistakes and points out that many students do not know the difference. It is important, Porte notes, that students know how to identify an error in order to avoid it in the future. She agrees with Corder that it is more efficient for learners to correct themselves than be corrected by the teacher, and goes on to suggest a four-step approach for self-correction. This approach consists of questions that the teacher provides to students. After writing an essay, students should read it four times, each time trying to answer the questions included in each of the four steps. Thus, in each re-reading task (each step) they concentrate on a different aspect of their essay. In brief, the first task asks them to highlight the verbs and check the tenses; in the second task students concentrate on prepositions; the third task req uires them to concentrate on nouns (spelling, agreement between subject and verb); finally in the fourth task students should try to correct potential personal mistakes. Porte also offers some clarification of what is meant by personal mistakes, in order to help the students identify them. The studies mentioned above are only a few examples that demonstrate how S. Pit Corders work influenced the area of error analysis in linguistics. The concepts that Corder introduced directed researchers attention to specific areas of error analysis; they helped linguists realize that although errors sometimes obstruct communication, they can often facilitate second language acquisition; also they played a significant role in training teachers and helping them identify and classify students errors, as well as helping them construct correction techniques. REFERENCES Corder, S. P. 1967. The significance of learners errors. International Review of Applied Linguistics 5: 161-9. Dulay, H., and Burt, M., Errors and strategies in child second language acquisition, TESOL Quarterly 8: 129-136, 1974. Ellis, R., The Study of Second Language Acquisition, Oxford University Press, 1994. Esser, U., Fremdsprachenpsychologische Betrachtungen zur Fehlerproblematic im Fremdsprachenunterricht, Deutsch als Fremdsprache, 4:151-159, 1984, (cited in Hagà ¨ge 1999). Freiermuth, M. R., L2 Error Correction: Criteria and Techniques, The Language Teacher Online 22.06, http://langue.hyper.chubu.ac.jp/jalt/pub/tlt/97/sep/freiermuth.html, 1997. Hagà ¨ge, C. Lenfant aux deux langues (The child between two languages), Greek translation, Polis editions, Athens 1999. (Original publication: Editions Odile Jacob, 1996). Kroll, Barry, and John C. Schafer. Error-Analysis and the Teaching of Composition, College Composition and Communication 29: 242-248, 1978 Lakkis, K. and Malak, M. A.. Understanding the Transfer of Prepositions. FORUM, Vol 38, No 3, July-September 2000. (Online edition: http://exchanges.state.gov/forum/vols/vol38/no3/p26.htm) Mager, R.F. Preparing Instructional Objectives, Fearon Publishers, Palo Alto, CA 1962. Nguyen, Thanh Ha. First Language Transfer and Vietnamese Learners Oral Competence in English Past Tense Marking: A Case Study., Master of Education (TESOL) Research Essay, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia1995. Porte, G. K., Mistakes, Errors, and Blank Checks, FORUM, Vol 31, No 2, p. 42, January-March 1993. (Online edition: http://exchanges.state.gov/forum/vols/vol31/no1/p42.htm) Richards, J., A non-contrastive approach to error analysis, English Language Teaching 25: 204-219, 1971. Stenson, N. Induced errors in Shumann and Stenson (eds.), 1974, cited in Ellis (p. 60). Taylor G., Errors and explanations, Applied Linguistics 7: 144-166, 1986.

Summary and Analysis of The Second Nuns Tale :: Canterbury Tales The Second Nuns Tale Essays

Summary and Analysis of The Second Nun's Tale (The Canterbury Tales) Prologue to the Second Nun's Tale: The Host praises the Nun's Priest for his tale, but notes that, if the Nun's Priest were not in the clergy he would be a lewd man. He says that the Nun's Priest, a muscular man with a hawk's fierceness in his eye, would have trouble fending off women, if not for his profession. The Second Nun prepares to tell the next tale, warning against sin and idleness. She says that she will tell the tale of the noble maid Cecilia. Analysis The Host's description of the Nun's Priest highlights the disparity between traditional conceptions of the clergy and their actual roles and personalities. The Nun's Priest is, as dictated by his profession, celibate, but the Host serves to remind the reader of his sexual persona. The Second Nun's Tale: Saint Cecilia was by birth a Roman and tutored in the ways of Christ. She dreaded the day in which she must marry and give up her virginity. However, she came to be engaged to Valerian. On the day of their wedding she wore a hairshirt, praying to God to remain unspoiled. On their wedding night she told a secret to Valerian: she had an angel lover who, if he believes that Valerian touches her vulgarly, will slay him. He asks to see this angel, and she tells him to go to the Via Appia and find Pope Urban among the poor people. Once Urban purges him of his sins, Valerian will be able to see the angel. When he reached Via Appia, Urban suddenly appeared to Valerian and read from the Bible. He baptized Valerian and sent him back home, where he found the angel with Cecilia. He has brought a crown of flowers from Paradise that will never wilt, and gives it to Cecilia. The angel claims that only the pure and chaste shall be able to see this crown. Cecilia asks for the angel to bless her broth er and make him pure. This brother, Tibertius, enters and can detect the flowers. The angel gives crowns to Valerian and Tibertius, and advises Tibertius to give up false idols. They plan to visit Pope Urban, and Tibertius asks Cecilia how she can worship three gods. She says that each divinity represents part of God. But after both Valerian and Tibertius were christened, Roman sergeants brought them to Almachius the prefect, who ordered their death.