Beowulf Discussion Questions

E4-9-2-Beowulf Discussion Questions #11. Herot was the place in which men would gather with their King, drink mead and listen to bards sing songs of God. 2. Grendel’s lair is like a swamp it is far away from the kingdom and it is where the other monsters live as well. Grendel’s lair compared to Herot which is lavish and elaborate and not swampy and stinky. 3. The significance of Grendel being descended from Cain was so significant because Cain killed his own brother, Abel the first murder in the Bible. 4.Grendel attacks Herot because he does not like the songs about God’s creation of the earth sung by the bards it makes him angry. 5. Herot symbolized the greatness of the kingdom before the coming of Grendel. Unfortunately after it became a place of fear and concern many people stopped coming to celebrate the King’s excellence because they were afraid of Grendel. 6. Hrothgar’s lieutenant was concerned about the arrival of Beowulf & men because he was not sure of what they wanted, he was being cautious. 7.The lieutenant soon realizes Beowulf as a hero when they arrive onshore as outsiders without fear stating his business as being a help to the King by killing Grendel. 8. Unferth brings up Beowulf ’swimming match with Brecca because he wanted to prove Beowulf isn’t the hero everyone says he is. In return, Beowulf responds by saying first of all that he is drunk and that he did slay the monster and eight other sea beasts. 9. Welthow is the Queen and also the hostess in Herot. The narrator praises her for being so kind and serving other before herself. 10. Hrothgar’s speech is significant because he speaks to all telling them to bond together in battle trust no one else other than your men and you will all have true victory. 11. As Beowulf and his men wait for Grendel’s arrival, Beowulf thinks that he is as dangerous as Grendel and that his men fear for their lives doubting if they will even live until morning. 12. Grendel is referred to as a demon or dreadful monster. Grendel symbolizes the evil that is tormenting the Danes.

Influence of Technology in Visual Art Essay

How does technology influence visual art? And how does photography influence the development of painting? This essay considers the impact of technology on the visual art and how this technology accelerated the development of the art and how people respond, adapt and incorporate modern technology into their own work. The impact of technology in visual arts has been in photography. Willian Melin stated that, â€Å"the dominant forces during the past century has been modern technology and has affected virtually every aspect of modern life – social, political, economic and cultural† (Melin p. 3). Photography has influenced many painters and has admitted its impact on their work. Their art was greatly affected by this new medium. The effect of this technology was not only to alter the world of painting and the role of the painter but also to use it as a new method or tool to develop their work. Some Artists uses photographs as the basis of their painting or as a reference or guidelines. One of the photograph’s first benefits to the painter was its possible use as a sketch. The photograph could capture exactly a face, a pose, a scene and even actions of different motion. The earliest work by photographers Eadward Muybridge and Etienne-Jules Marey influenced among many painters such as Edgar Degas, Giacomo Balla and Marcel Duchamp. â€Å"When in the late 1870’s, Muybridge’s snapshots of the animal locomotion, specially the studies of horse’s different gaits, came to be known in France and the United States† (de Duve p. 114). Eadweard Muybridge was known for his early use of multiple cameras to study motion. Muybridge’s photographic motion study shows by separating motion into a series of stills. Each subject shows us series of motion as parts in the subject. These cameras capture the image, introducing a single moment from all possible movements of the subject in motion. Taken as a whole, he presents us with an idea of the motion; when projected rapidly on a screen in proper sequence creating rapid consecutive intervals of number of images following one after the other, the motion becomes clear. â€Å"With this demonstration at a meeting of the San Francisco Art Association on May 4, 1880, moving pictures were born† (Newhall p. 336). Muybridge’s motion studies are considered to be a vital step in the development of photography to motion pictures as we know them today.

Code-switching among students in the UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Code-switching among students in the UK - Essay Example Without doubt, the intertwining of the languages can be noted as a globalization issue, which has occurred in unprecedented way in the today’s highly communicative world. The standardization of the world has been brought forth due to the immense communication as well as escalating of the process of globalization (Rouchdy, 2004). It follows therefore that the increased spread of English language, the pace of globalization and the media progression has ease the potential of â€Å"code-switching† each day (MacSwan, 2010). On the other side, code switching is taken as a negative experience. As much as it is a frequent phenomenon in several parts of the globe, many assert that code switching is a sign of illiteracy or the lameness of having the ability to control two languages (Poplack, 1980). Among the Mexican-American the term â€Å"Tex-Max,† which can be noted as a derogative is used to indicate the mixing of the English and Spanish. In the same way the French –speaking but Canadian communities, the word joule is used to point out a speakers who posses poor language skills just to mention but a few (Nortier, 2008). There are several notion of pointing out fingers to some individuals who usually switch codes (Warner, 2007). At most, they find themselves being sidelined. However, the question is, what is the reason behind these increasing negative attitudes that faces those individual who switch codes? According to scholars, one of the major reasons behind this is the adherence to social norms that goes against the use of mixing codes in the scholarly scenario. One of the areas that code switching has been viewed as a negative phenomenon even by teachers is Hong Kong. In addition, students have joined the teachers in support of negativity on the code switch ing (Suleiman, 1974). This has instilled fear into many students during lesson,

Australian Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 3

Australian Economy - Essay Example Figure 1 - Historical real GDP growth in Australia's economy The Australian economy is expected to see a rise of between 3.75% and 4% in the GDP for the 2011-12 fiscal year. However certain estimates see this prediction as too high given the current global economic climate (Reserve Bank of Australia, 2010; Brinsden, 2010). The figure below speaks volumes of the success of the Australian government and the Australian Reserve Bank in keeping the Australian economy afloat (Australian Government, 2010; Reserve Bank of Australia, 2010; Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2010). Figure 2 - Comparison of international GDP growth rates The GDP of any nation is composed of the consumption (C), the investment (I), the net governmental fiscal spending (G) and the net exports (X – Q) which can be expressed mathematically as: Australia’s response to these components can be used to better delineate the response of the Australian government and the Australian Reserve Bank to deal with the ch allenges in the wake of the global financial crisis. Consumption can be used as a major indicator of the economic situation. Australia saw an increase in retail spending of around 0.8% by volume between June 2009 and 2010 which indicates greater consumer confidence (The Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2010). However there is little denying that the global financial crisis made Australian consumers all the more conservative (Gruen, 2010) as the household savings rate went up by 1.3% by May 2010 (Reserve Bank of Australia, 2010). Given that consumption growth alone is responsible for 1.5% of the growth of the Australian GDP, it serves as an important sector. The GDP also witnessed a boost in investment especially in the mining sector although the government’s new tax on mining was expected to prohibit further growth. The mining industry witnessed a growth in investment of 29% between June 2009 and 2010 which was around 50% more than expected (Pascoe, 2010). As an initial respo nse to the global financial crisis the government spending shot up dramatically but this was slowed down fearing: overstimulation of the economy; crowding out of private investment; placing a large debt burden. The GDP was positively supported by the net exports as the current account deficit first fell and then went into a positive trade surplus. The increase in net exports can be seen to result from increased demand for Australian minerals in the South East Asian market. Moreover contribution from net exports is expected to rise in 2011 as new capital investment is lowered into mineral operations that will remove bottle necks that affect production capacity (Stutchbury, 2010). The policies and approaches adopted by the Australian government since 2008 have been directed at handling the impacts of the global financial crisis. Macroeconomic policies have been specifically designed and geared to minimise damage from the global financial crisis. Moreover another chief aim of these pol icies remains the provision of adequate exit strategies that would be implemented once economic stability is seen on the horizon. The current fiscal stance of the Australian government is more towards contraction as the budget deficit for 2010-11 was some 40.8

Development Finance and Funding Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Development Finance and Funding - Research Paper Example The city has diversified from office use; for instance, hotels and department stores have been opened (Adair and Norman 2005, p. 255). This study examines the parameters influencing the form and function of office buildings in the City of London and what effects are brought in terms of location decisions of businesses. Developments are underway, for instance, the Canary Wharf scheme which is believed to slow the demand that exists from within and outside the UK for high-quality office buildings and at a lower cost. In 1980s financial instruments were introduced to fund office developments as there was a high demand for new office space. The supply had been restricted by government policy and planning controls introduced in the previous years (Blackwell 2005). This brought about pressure for a realistic and flexible planning framework for office improvement. Richard (1973, p. 30) describes that Information Technology influenced the design and internal configuration of buildings needed. Competitiveness of financial centers depends on the ability to provide the right type of office building for global business. This aims at supporting sustainable growth and providing a high quality of life to citizens. The issue is to make London a low carbon city through the provision of spaces and places to live and work. Investments are targeted through design-led regeneration plans which tend to combine environmental, housing and transport policies as well as land improvement. Design and development of the physical environment is the major issue in encouraging sustainable growth (Atkin 2004). A lease of a commercial building which includes an agreement between the landlord and tenant showing how the building is to be developed, managed and occupied is known as a green lease. These include specific scheduled provisions meant to monitor and improve energy performance thus helping to achieve efficiency  targets such as water, energy, and waste. It also minimizes the environmental impacts of the structure.  

Rhetorical Analysis based on the rhetoric of a SPECIFIC web site(s) Essay

Rhetorical Analysis based on the rhetoric of a SPECIFIC web site(s) that writes about creationism and, or evolution - Essay Example there is an improvement and support of education in evolution, change in climate, science nature and the general increment of public understanding of the subjects (NCSE). Through their website, the centre has been able to identify their target market which is the main audience who happen to be the teachers thereby ensuring that the knowledge put on their website will be put through to the students by teachers through educating them on the issues that concern science and the science world. This is mostly done before the launch of the website although hit is a continuous process that goes beyond the launching into actual hosting with the help of the marketing fraternity. Moreover, the centre has been able to determine the size of its target market-who are mostly teachers and other concerned parties. They are sure that the teachers in public schools are growing with the increase of pupil in school hence facilitating the education of science and science world, which is their main aim as a centre. Through their website, it is evident that (NCSE) has been able to meet their mission and purpose especially with the fact that the information put is been used by the audience appropriately. The NCSE has been able to identify with the teaching fraternity all over the world since it was started over three decades ago, by ensuring that there is a production of a series of publications, which report on the creationism and or evolution controversy as well as providing resources for activists, which in this case are the teachers and other concerned parties. In essence, it has been able to give a wide coverage of all aspects of science that revolve around these theories. Additionally, NCSE has been able to bring teachers and activists together for a common goal. Members have the privilege of having printed, which help the share knowledge to other people. NCSE has been able to pass its message to the audience in several ways. First, the centre has been able to give information

Issue of Gender and Racial Discrimination in the US Essay

Issue of Gender and Racial Discrimination in the US - Essay Example Overly, despite these drastic demographic changes, the  connotation  of citizenship and the ability to treat or cure various germ and contagion related chronic infections were consistently blamed on the foreigners. This article’s key structure, therefore, revolves around three periods of immigration historical events, which include the 19th Century at around 1924, an era of retrenchment period of 1924-1965, and 1965 that was marked by an outrageous immigrant’s domination into American society (Markel & Stern, 2002). An outstanding quote in this article towards the understanding of feminist studies is, â€Å"If the relevant authorities and anti-immigration advocates found that one immigration classification is the most objectionable, they will soon mitigate every drawback in the United States associated with immigration† (Markel & Stern, 2002). This article presents racial discrimination, diseases and significantly the meaning of public change in feminist studies. This article beyond any reasonable doubt draws on archival registers in California’s Imperial Valley in the years 1940. These events resulted in the arrest and deportation of various groups of Mexican workers, some of whom presented themselves passionately as human rights union activists. These workers had entered the country legally and had inhabited the United States for many years. According to the immigrants’ officials, they rendered these activists â€Å"likely to become a public change† LPC, which was unlawful in America as a deportable offense (Natalia, 2010). According to me, I am in agreement with this author’s main points of argument. Firstly, immigration is one of the factors that have affected the American economic growth for quite a long period. In the 1940s, United States border patrol agents experienced intriguing migrato ry records into America. This experience, in turn, spearheaded the deportation proceedings for Mike Gutierrez, who acted as the president of a Congress of Industrial Organisations (CIO) local.

Salvador Dali's History Backriound Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Salvador Dali's History Backriound - Essay Example The essay "Salvador Dali's History Backriound" aims to analyze Salvador Dali's background. Salvador Dali is a Spanish painter. His parents had a strong influence on his development and artistic practices as his father’s strict disciplinarian approach contributed to Dali’s structured pursuit of art, while his mother’s creative nature influenced his artistic process. In 1926 he would leave Spain and move to Paris, where he came into contact with Pablo Picasso. While Dali had experimented with Cubist methods during this time in Madrid, it was clear that he did not fully understand the genre. During the next few years Dali would produce work heavily influenced by Picasso and fellow surrealist Joan Miro. Dali would then go on to combine a broad variety of influences into his work. Among these influences included academia, classical and modernist techniques, as well as recent psychological explorations by psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. Through World War II and his later life Dali would increasingly focus on his unique approach to surrealist art. When examining Dali’s art it’s clear that there are a number of notable elements related to subject matter, content, meaning, and iconography. One notes that in examining Dali’s art within this context of understanding that his work has shifted during different periods of the artist’s life. Still, throughout these periods Dali implemented characteristic forms of oil on canvas in constructing his works. He became primarily interested in exploring abstract notions.

Autism College Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Autism College - Essay Example Autism is the best recognized and most frequently occurring form of a group of disorders collectively known as the pervasive developmental disorders (PDD). "It is diagnosed on the basis of abnormal social development, abnormal communicative development, and the presence of narrow, restricted interests, and repetitive activity, along with limited imaginative ability" (Baron-Cohen 1999). Autism is the result of an abnormality in the structure and function of the brain. Although technology still does not allow researchers to see much of how nerve cells grow or come together in the brain, or how information is passed from nerve to nerve, there is increasing evidence that the problems associated with autism and the other forms of PDD are the result of structural differences in the brain that arise during pregnancy--either due to something that injures the brain or due to a genetic factor that interferes with typical brain growth (Frith 1993). The capacity to understand that others think the same way you do is a capacity called "theory of mind". Autistic children are very slow to develop even a partial theory of mind, and many never really develop it at all. Hand-leading is also used by other language-handicapped children, and by deaf children, but when they hand-lead, they combine gaze between the parent and the object with the hand-leading, making it a more social activity. Closely related to the observation that autistic children do not point or develop a theory of mind at the usual time is the observation that autistic children lack social referencing. Social referencing is an early form of social behavior that every parent recognizes: Usually social referencing first appears when the baby is about six to eight months old. "The theory of mind suggests that the key social, communicative and imaginative impairments which characterize this disorder result from an inability to represent mental states" (Frith et al 1994, p . 108). In thinking about the nonverbal communication of an autistic child, it is important to distinguish between nonverbal cues that the responsive parent just knows how to read (like a little boy who keeps playing, but holds the front of his pants when he has to go potty) versus intentional messages that the child is sending to the adult (like a little boy who looks at his mom with a pained expression and wiggles up and down while holding the front of his pants). True nonverbal communication involves a type of "mind-reading"--knowing that what you're thinking is somehow going to be conveyed to someone else through you facial expressions or gestures, and without the use of words. The main limitation of this theory is that simply put, a theory of mind is the belief or "theory" you hold that others have a "mind" capable of understanding things the same way your mind does. A lack of theory of mind results in unawareness of others' thoughts and feelings, and so contributes to the lack of interest on the part of autistic children in sharing their triumphs and failures with significant adults (Frith and Happe, 1994). Another theory of autism is the extreme male brain theory. "The model depends on the notion of there being a "male brain", defined psychometrically" (Baron-Cohen 1999, p. 24). Researchers suppose that females and males and differ in cognition: "females are show faster levels

Downgrade Warning Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Downgrade Warning - Term Paper Example According to the report ‘J.P. Morgan Tells Analysts To Warn of a Downgrade’ analysts independence is negatively affected when it needs to clearly communicate to the company and the client banker the reason behind specific stock recommendations. Analysts are warned from conducting negative research and some firms penalize investors for recommending sale options. †¢ What exactly does Peter Houghtons memo say? Does the memo say that analysts should compromise their independence? How does the memo raise questions about analysts independence? Does it make any difference whether "analysts arent pressured to change recommendations, but only to make factual changes"? Ans) The memo of Peter Houghton does not directly point to analysts’ independence. The memo states that analysts should consult the company and the client banker before making recommendations to an investor. Also the analyst should either accept the request of the research note recommended by the firm or should clearly communicate to the firm as to why it cannot follow those recommendations. Yes, there is difference between asking analyst to change recommendations and making factual changes. †¢ What are the "buy side" and "sell side"? Why might the "sell side" be unwilling to make "sell" recommendations on stocks? If the "buy side" has its own analysts, would the "buy side" ever look at "sell side" analysts reports? Ans) The ‘buy side’ and the ‘sell side’ are the two types of analysts. ‘Sell’ recommendation is considered as a part of negative research which affects the firm negatively so the sell recommendation on stocks is viewed in a negative manner. â€Å"Sell-side analysts typically work for full-service broker-dealers and make recommendations on the securities they cover. Buy-side analysts typically work for institutional money managers— that purchase securities for their own accounts† (Analyzing Analyst Recommendations para. 6). †¢ Why might "sell

Unrealistic Optimism Gender and Culture Essay Example for Free

Unrealistic Optimism Gender and Culture Essay Several studies have been conducted to determine the influence that unrealistic optimism has over gender differences and culture. Unrealistic optimism is defined as the belief that positive (negative) events are more (less) likely to happen to one ’s self-versus others. Researchers have reported that both men and women from across cultures tend to be influenced by this bias. Nevertheless, they’ve found that Western cultures (such as Americans or Canadians) are identified by being independent and individualist, whereas Eastern cultures (such as Japanese) tend to focus on interdependence and collectivism. Given this basic traits, experimenters have discovered that Canadians tend to believe that positive events are more likely to happen to them, whereas Japanese tend to believe that they are more likely to experience negative events. In the other hand, both men and women have revealed to be unrealistically optimistic. However, men have reported higher levels of unrealistic bias compared to women around the world. Introduction Unrealistic optimism or optimistic bias is defined as the tendency for people to believe that they are more likely to experience positive events and less likely to experience negative events compared to others. (Weinsten, 1980). Taylor and Brown stated that almost 121 studies have demonstrated this phenomenon. Various findings have confirmed that American college students think that they were more likely than others to experience positive events such as getting a good job or forming a family. In opposition, most people think that they are less likely than others of experiencing negative events such as having a drinking problem or being fired from a job. The purpose of this essay is to determine the extent to which cultural and gender differences are influenced by unrealistic optimism. Unrealistic Optimism Unrealistic optimism could cause a negative effect over an individual’s life as it can distort their perception about reality. However, unrealistic optimism has also shown favorable effects over and individual’s well-being. This bias is significantly important because it can impact people’s intentions to engage in preventive behaviors. In addition, it can also affect the way in which people process information to update their beliefs. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that optimistic bias appears to be motivated by threat. In other words, if a negative future event is perceived to be particularly serious, it’s more likely that the person will feel invulnerable toward that particular event. Western vs. Eastern Cultures The tendency of believing that one has better-than-average attributes has been researched and discussed lately. Researchers have found that people from Western cultures tend to be more unrealistically optimistic than people from Eastern cultures when comparing their chances of experiencing negative events to the average’s person. Markys and Kitayama stated that this bias influences every culture in a different way because they emphasize to tasks relevant to everyday life in different forms; independence and interdependence. Additionally, they stated that the cultures that have developed an independent construal of self are characterized by having an autonomous sense of self that’s different from others and the environment, whereas cultures that have fostered an interdependent construal of self are mutually reliant on each other and don’t attribute their individuality and uniqueness separately from the social world. Study #1 Cultural differences in unrealistic optimism and pessimism For this particular study participants form Japan and the United States responded to questions about negative health events that varied in event frequency and severity. The overall purpose of this study was to examine cultural differences in unrealistic optimism and pessimism through the direct versus the indirect method. The direct method involved a question in which participants compared themselves to the average group (e.g., â€Å"How likely are you to have a heart attack, relative to the average student of your age/sex?†). In the other hand, the indirect method involved a single question in which participants made absolute separate ratings for themselves (e.g., â€Å"How likely are you to have a heart attack?†). For the indirect method, the researchers predicted that participants across cultures would present different patterns. For instance, they expected that Japanese participants would report equal or higher risk estimates than for the average student for most events. In the other hand, they predicted that U.S participants would present higher risk estimates for themselves than for the average student for most events. In contrast, for the direct method investigators predicted that participants across cultures would report similar patterns of unrealistic optimism since cognitive biases such as egocentrism on direct comparisons will have a significant influence over respondents. After 127 students from the University of Iowa (United States) and 123 students from Kansai University (Japan) were tested through both the direct and the indirect methods, researchers acknowledged that in order to determine whether there are cross-cultural differences in unrealistic optimism they needed to take in consideration on whether direct or indirect comparisons were made. Considering the direct method, there was evidence that both Japanese and U.S. participants displayed high levels of unrealistic optimism about avoiding infrequent/negative events but, unrealistically pessimistic about avoiding frequent/negative events. However when measuring unrealistic optimism or pessimism through the indirect method the Japanese participants reported to have a tendency towards being less unrealistically optimistic than the U.S. participants. Contrarily, U.S participants showed that they tend to be more optimistic about themselves than for the average student for the majority of the events. Study#2 Does the West feel more vulnerable than the East?. At the same time, Steven J. Heine and Damn R. Lehman from the University of British Columbia compared the levels of unrealistic optimism between Canadians and Japanese through two different studies. The first study examined levels of unrealistic optimism exhibited by a sample typical of an independent construal of self (Canadians) and a sample typical of an interdependent construal of self (Japanese). Three different hypotheses were stated by the researchers. The first hypothesis anticipated that Canadians would show significantly more unrealistic optimism than Japanese; the second hypothesis drawn expected that constructs that have been shown to sustain the optimism bias, and availability of stereotypes, would be more pronounced in Canadians than in Japanese. And the last hypothesis predicted that Japanese’s optimism judgments will be less strongly related to threat whereas, Canadians unrealistic optimism would increase with perceived threat. For this particular study a total of 510 students who were taking different introductory psychology courses participated. Respondents were evenly separated between each of the Japanese and the Canadian samples. Moreover, in order to obtain membership in the westernized Canadian sample, respondents had to meet each of the following criteria: (a) the respondent had to be born in either Canada or the United States; (b) both of the respondents parents had to be born in Canada, the United States, or in a European country; (c) the respondent had to declare his or her ethnic descent to be that of a European culture; and (d) to keep the age range of the Canadian sample comparable to that of the Japanese sample, the respondent had to be between the ages of 18 and 25. All participants completed a questionnaire packet that included 15 future life events. Unrealistic optimism was measured for both negative and positive events through two methods: within-groups measure and between-groups measure. In the within-groups measure, participants had to respond questions about the chances they thought they had about experiencing a particular future event compared to other university students. In the other hand, through the between-groups measure the experimenters measured unrealistic optimism between groups. Participants received two different versions of the questionnaire. In the first version, beneath each future life event respondents were asked to estimate the absolute percentage chance that this event would happen to them. Contrarily, in the second version of the questionnaire, beneath each future life event, participants had to estimate the absolute percentage chance that a future event would happen to another same-sex student from their university. The assumptions made by Heine and Lehman about Study 1 were strongly supported since Japanese showed less unrealistic optimism than Canadians in all instances, regardless the methodology used. Surprisingly, experimenters found an in teresting pattern among participants’ estimates for themselves and others. Their findings suggested that Canadians tend to believe that positive events are more likely to occur to themselves in comparison to Japanese that reported to believe that positive events are less likely to happen to them than to others. Conversely, compared to Japanese, Canadians reported that the negative events were non significantly less likely to happen to themselves and significantly more likely to happen to others. Similarly, the main purpose for Study 2 was to examine only future life events. Researchers wanted to determine if Japanese would self-enhance more in cases in which their interdependence is threatened. Their findings were done through two subsets of future life events that we believed would be particularly threatening to people with independent and interdependent construals of self, respectively. Furthermore, Heine and Lehman anticipated that independent events would be perceived as more threatening than interdependent events for Canadians whereas interdependent ev ents would be perceived more threatening than independent events for Japanese. 215 introductory psychology students were taken in consideration for Study 2, including Japanese and Canadian students divided evenly within samples. All respondents completed a questionnaire which contained 10 questions about negative independent future events and 10 questions about interdependent future life events. These events were selected based on reasoning that independent events will threaten the individual; whereas interdependent events will threaten the individual’s relations with close others such as co-workers, friends or family members. The researchers’ findings revealed that comparing across cultures, Japanese perceived interdependent events to be more threatening than Canadians. Control and stereotype ratings were also examined in terms in how these independent and interdependent events would be rated. With respect to control, Canadians found that both independent and especially, independent events are more controllable. However, Japanese reported that in terdependent events are more controllable than independent events. Taken together both the controllability and severity findings, ratings suggest that negative future events were perceived differently by both cultures. As a result, Canadians and Japanese showed unrealistic optimism for both independent and interdependent events. In brief, Canadians were more unrealistically optimistic than Japanese for both independent and, especially, interdependent events whereas Japanese actually showed significant unrealistic pessimism for both types of events. Similarly, recent findings have shown several differences in the way in which genders (feminine and masculine) are influenced by unrealistic optimism. Most predictions suggest that men would show greater levels of unrealistic optimism than women. In fact, as women have a more interdependent self-construal of the self and men possess a more independent construal of the self, unrealistic optimism should be stronger and more resistant for men than for women. Furthermore, gender research has shown that men an d women have different expectations of marital quality; specifically different definitions of what constitutes a happy marriage Study #3 Gender differences in unrealistic optimism Two different studies held by Ying-Ching Lin and Priya Raghubir examined gender differences in optimistic bias, and their beliefs about marriage using a Taiwanese population. Study 1 tested the strength of the optimistic bias for men compared to women with respect to their expectations for a happy marriage or divorce. They hypothesised men to report higher levels of unrealistic optimism than women. In the other hand, Study 2 examined the bias’s resilience among men and women, and expected men’s beliefs to be less likely to be influenced by base rates compared to women. 309 students from a Taiwanese university were part of the study in which they had to respond to different questions regarding a target person (self, same-sex best friend, average undergraduate, and average person) and their likelihood of getting divorced or having a happy marriage. Half of the participants answered questions regarding the likelihood of having a happy marriage and the other half answered q uestions regarding the likelihood of getting divorced. Finally, they were asked to estimate the likelihood of an event occurring in the future from 0% to 100% for each of the four target persons. The results of this study suggested that Taiwanese men and Taiwanese women are unrealistically optimistic with respect to their relationships, and that men think that positive events, such as a happy marriage, are more likely to happen to them compared to an average person than women do. Similarly, they believe that negative events, such as divorce, are less likely to happen to them than to another person compared to women. 188 students participated in Study 2. They were divided into two groups assigned randomly to one of the two event conditions: happy marriage or divorce and were asked to estimate their own likelihood for that particular event. Subsequently, all participants were given base rate information for the event to which they were assigned (divorce = 25%, happy marriage = 60%). These base rates were based on an official publication of the Government Statistical Reports: Monthly Bulletin of Statistics. After being exposed to base rate information, all respondents were asked to estimate the likelihood of the event occurring to them, and to estimate the likelihood of the event occurring to someone else. The findings for this study reported, that both men and women show high levels of unrealistic optimism regarding a happy marriage and a divorce. Compared to men, women with a positive prior were influenced by the base rate information regarding a happy marriage. However, neither women nor men updated their estimates about their own divorce. In the other hand, men’s answers with a negative prior got influenced by the provided base rates at the beginning of the study whereas women’s answers were only influenced when talking about a happy marriage, but not about divorce. In general terms, both studies showed that both men and women tend to be influenced by optimistic bias about their expectations of their marriage. However, men showed greater levels of unrealistic optimism than women did. Regarding base rate information, women were more realistic in their estimates about a happy marriage compared to their estimates of getting divorced. Finally, only men with a negative initial prior were influenced by base rates whereas men with a positive initial prior do not updated their self- estimates. Gender vs. Culture The data used in both studies was collected using a Taiwanese sample (collectivist culture). However, the experimenters found that this bias is a universal phenomenon that occurs to both individualist and collectivist cultures. Moreover, recent work has reported that the bias is lower for participants who belong to collectivist cultures such as Japanese compared to individualist cultures such as Canadians. Because marriage is considered a relational aspect, consistent with a collectivist attribute, the population under this domain should show unrealistic levels of optimism. Conclusion Unrealistic optimism is a universal phenomenon that affects both gender and cultural differences around the world. Recent findings have demonstrated that both men and women across cultures (Eastern vs. Western) tend to be unrealistically optimistic about avoiding frequent/negative events, and unrealistically pessimistic about avoiding infrequent/negative events. However, the extent to which men vs. women and Eastern vs. Western cultures are affected by the bias varies among them. Being the West an independent and individualist culture, they report a higher tendency to be unrealistically optimistic. In contrast, being the East an interdependent and collectivist culture they present lower levels of unrealistic bias. At the same time, men and women have reported to be biased to some extent. Men have reported higher levels of unrealistic optimism, whereas women have shown to be less likely influenced by this threat. Now the question is: have you ever felt influenced by unrealistic bias?

Authentic materials as supplementary materials

Authentic materials as supplementary materials Plagiarism is a practice that involves the using of another persons intellectual output and presenting it as ones own. This includes the presentation of work that has been copied, in whole or part, from other sources (including other students work, published books or periodicals, or unpublished works or unauthorized collaboration with other persons), without due acknowledgement. A student found guilty of plagiarism will be subject to some or all of the following: Referral to Course Coordinator for: counseling; submission of further work; use of the services of Student Learning Unit; the placing of a record of the alleged infringement on the students file. Referral of the matter to the Head of School for: issuing of written warning; re-submission of work for assessment or the undertaking of another form of assessment such as an oral or unseen examination; allocation of a fail grade to part or all of the assessment; allocation a fail grade to the subject. Referral of the matter to the Dean for: suspension from the course; official disciplinary action by the University Disciplinary Committee Student Declaration I declare that this assignment is original and has not been submitted for assessment elsewhere. I declare that this assignment is my own work and does not involve plagiarism or collusion. I give my consent for the electronic version to be examined by relevant plagiarism software programs. I have made a photocopy or electronic copy of my assignment, which I can produce if the original is lost for any reason. Signed: ___________ ____________ Dated: / / How to submit Your assignment Students are required to submit their assignment to their lecturer. This should be done in class, but can be done via email or via the mail with prior agreement from the lecturer. Students should ensure they are aware of how and when to submit their assignment by checking with their lecturer before the due date. How to Collect Your Marked Assignment Your work should be collected from the lecturer in class or from the VU-HANU Program Coordinator in HCM City, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Ha or in Hanoi, Ms. Nguyen Thai Ha. If work is not returned in class or prior to the end of semester please contact your lecturer or the program coordinator (Mr. Martyn Brogan ) More information about Plagiarism is available from the Faculty of Arts, Education and Human Development Student Information Website: http://www.vu.edu.au/Faculties_and_TAFE/Arts_Education_and_Human_Development/Current_Students/Undergraduates/Faculty_Student_Forms/indexdl_88408.aspx TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I Introduction Research questions CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW Text book 2.1.1 Textbook Description 2.1.2 Textbook Evaluation 2.2 Authentic materials for ESP course book 2.2.4. The role of reading materials 2.2.1. Definition of authentic materials 2.2.2. The role of authentic materials 2.2.3. Advantages of authentic materials 2.2.5. The criteria of selecting reading authentic materials 2.3. Applying authentic materials in extensive reading program 2.3.1. Applying authentic materials in extensive reading program 2.3.2. Post-reading activities 2.4. Motivations 2.4.1. Definition of motivation 2.4.2. Factors effecting motivation CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Kind of research 3.2 Participants 3.2.1 The researcher 3.2.2 Selection of the subject 3.3 Data collection instruments CHAPTER IV: RESULD AND DISCUSSION OF THE DATA 4.1 Comparison of experimental and control groups reading proficiency after the experiment 4.2 Comparison of economics reading proficiency in the pre-test and post- test 4.3 Comparison of economic reading proficiency between two classes 4.4 Subjects preference of the post reading activities 4.5 Attitude to the post reading activities 4.6 Discussion and implication CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION REFERENCES APPENDICES Appendix 1: The Pre-Test and Post-Test Appendix 2: Answer to the pre-test and post-test Appendix 3: The post program questionnaires Appendix 4: Result of the pretest and posttest ABSTRACT This research was carried out at faculty of economics at Luong The Vinh Univesity (LTV) to prove the assumption that authentic materials could enhance motivation of economic students in reading proficiency. Fifty 3rd year economics students at the faculty of economics at LTV University divided in to two groups serve as the subjects for this research. The target class uses the Market Leader- Pre- Intermediate as the course book with authentic materials as a supplement. The other class uses Market Leader- Pre- Intermediate as course book only. The research was conducted in the twelfth week of the syllabus with three teaching hours (of forty-five minutes each) per week. Authentic materials were the reading texts selected from different sources and were chosen by the researcher at the faculty of English and ensured of reliability. The same topics, similar types of exercise and teaching methods were designed by the researcher to evaluate proficiency levels of students in the 2 groups and to use them as evidence for the reliability of the assumption. The researcher uses pre-test, post-test and questionnaire as data collection instruments. Results from the experiment prove that the target grou p with authentic materials as supplementary materials to the course book was the group where student motivation in reading was significantly enhanced. The results of the research state that the role played by authentic materials in language classes, particularly in English for Specific Purpose (ESP) class was of great significance. Authentic supplementary reading materials are hoped to be used for the third- year students at economics faculty at LTV in the near future. With the result of this research, it is recommended that authentic materials should be used for English classes in general and third- year ESP classes in particular at economics faculty at LTV University. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1. Introduction In Viet Nam, English for Specific Purpose (ESP) has long been considered as an important subject because of its practicality-related demand. To meet the demand of the real economic-social life, ESP is used in the curriculum of Vietnamese universities and colleges and Luong The Vinh University is no exception. At the University, ESP courses in different discipline areas such as Economics, Construction Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Foreign language and Tourism, Informatics Technology, and Agricultural sciences are taught with strong interests from the discipline students. In response to these interests of the students much attention has been paid to the use of ESP text books and materials that develop professional skills. Robinson , Nunan, (1991) assert that materials in general play a key part in language learning. Materials not only provide learners a wide range of useful and fascinating information but they also can play a part in enhancing learners motivation- one of the ess ential issues in language learning- thus, facilitating their acquisition (Dudley- Evan St John, 1998, Nonaka, 2001). However, collecting materials that best serve the learners interests and needs is an obstacle for many teachers. There arise such questions related to this obstacle as what teaching materials should be selected? Where a teacher should start? What a teacher should do to boost the motivation of the students and whether authentic materials boost motivation of students in reading. These questions should be considered as authentic materials can surely provide students with fresh knowledge, expose them to the world of authentic language, while they can bring the real world into the classroom and enliven the class (Martinez, (2002), Kaprova, (1999), Leloup Ponterio, (2000), Dumitrescu, (2000) ) The aim of this research is to investigate the role of authentic materials in enhancing third- year-students motivation in classes for non-English majored students, to be more specific, students of economics at LTV University. To investigate ways to motivate third- year economics students at LTV University to read by using authentic supplementary reading materials and To give recommendations on how to use authentic reading materials efficiently. To enhance economics students English reading proficiency and suggest ways to motivate the teaching of ESP in general and ESP reading in particular at LTV University as well as other universities that share the same mandate. The specific objectives of this research are as follows: to investigate the effects of the authentic supplementary materials on the students reading proficiency level. to find out about the students attitude to the use of authentic materials as a means to enhance motivation of students in post reading activities. This research is organized in 5 chapters, with a list of references and appendices. Chapter one: Introduction and research questions Chapter two: Literature review Chapter three: Methodology Chapter four: Findings and discussions Chapter five: Conclusion Research question Question 1: To test the assumption if there is a significant difference between the English reading proficiency level of the control group (students who do the course with the textbook only) and those of the target group (students who do the course with the textbook plus supplementary authentic materials). Question 2: To test the assumption of the role of authentic materials in enhancing students motivation in reading activities. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW English Reading Textbook 2.1.1 Textbook Description At LTV University, Market Leader Pre-Intermediate is the text book used for third year students of economics. This course book is written by Cotton. D., Falvey. D., Kent S. The course book consists of twelve units which can be completed in thirty two weeks with three periods of forty-five minutes per week in eight 4 per week 45 minutes class period each. The total time of 120 periods is divided equally in to two terms of the academic year. Third year economic students complete 4 periods and each period lasts 45minutes a week. The usual format of each unit is coherence among Starting up, Vocabulary, Discussion, Reading, Listening, Languages, Skill, and Case study. The book also contains four revision units, based on materials covered in the preceding three course book units. This course book is intended for pre-intermediate students taking the course of English in Economics. By the end of the term, students are designed to acquire and develop essential business communication skills: 1 Getting for information and note taking. 2- Making presentation, taking part in meetings, negotiating, telephoning, and using English in social situations. 3- Scanning and skimming, learning and increasing business vocabulary. Students are required to read book able to participate in class regularly and involve in the lessons, to do mid-term test at week 8th and the final test at the end of the term. 2.1.2 Textbook Evaluation Mentioning the issue of evaluating the textbooks Nunan (1988) provides his reader with valuable data resulting from evaluation, which may assist them in deciding whether a course needs to be modified or altered in someway; therefore adequate objectives may be achieved more effectively. According to Cunningsworth (1995: 15-17), there are four general guidelines with special emphasis on the syllabus and methodology such as the following. Guideline one: Course books should correspond to learners needs. They should match the aims and objectives of the language learning program. Guideline two: Course books should reflect the uses (present and future) which learners will make of the language. Select course books which will help to equip students to use language effectively for their own purposes. Guideline three: Course books should take account of the students the needs as learners and should facilitate their learning processes, without dogmatically imposing a rigid method Guideline four: Course book should have a clear role as a support for learning. Like teachers, textbooks mediate between the target language and the learners. Looking at the English textbook being used at the LTV University, it is found that the main aims of the course book Market leader- pre-intimidate is to offer opportunities for either students or businesspeople to improve their English communication skills in general, their English for business purpose in particular. According to Richards and Rodgers, (1986: 66), the nature of communicative approaches is to (a) make communicative competence the goal of language teaching and (b) develop procedures for the teaching of the four languages skills that acknowledge the interdependence of language and communication.. To realize these (ie. communicative competence and interdependence between language and communication), the course book being used at LTV University functions as the major supplier of teaching materials in 12 topic-based units and four revision units. Each unit consists of language review and vocabulary development activities. Additionally, key business functions are focused on a regular basis and students can practice the language which they have learned during the unit in the section on Case Study. In sum, the textbook is essential for teachers, business men and business students to cater for their needs. With regard to students following the course at LTV University, third- year economics students have studied some economic majors since they are students majoring in economics. Reading texts in the course book seem to be not challenging to them (as it is easy for them to acquaint themselves with English economic terms and vocabularies related to economics). However, evaluating the Textbook which is currently used for teaching ESP at LTV University is needed for ESP teachers to identify the strengths and weakness of a currently used textbook. 2.2. Authentic materials for ESP course book 2.2.1. The role of reading materials To all Vietnamese students in classes for non-language majors in general and to economics students at Luong The Vinh University in particular, reading is a task that they do everyday, it is an integral part of their work to pass the exam or to improve their knowledge. Karlin Kartin, (1998:2) states that Reading without reading comprehension is meaningless. Alderson (2000) defines reading as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦an enjoyable, intensive, private activity, from which much pleasure can be derived, and in which one can become totally absorbed. How to collect materials plays an important part in developing reading skill. Referring to materials Alderson (2000: 28) defines reading materials as anything which is used to help to teach language learners.. Brown (1985: 139) defines materials as any systematic description of the techniques and exercises to be used in classroom teaching. If the materials are interesting to students, they will be far more likely to want to read them. Dudley-Evans St Jo hn (1998:171) show some reasons why materials are used: (i) as a sort of language: (ii) as a learning sport: (iii) for motivation: (iv) for references. Materials then play a crucial role in exposing learners to the language, which implies that the materials need to present real language, as it is used, and the full range that learners requires. 2.2.2. Definition of authentic materials Wallace (1992: 145) defines authentic text as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦real-life text, not written for pedagogic purposes. (p.145), it is used for native speakers and contains genuine language. According to Peacock (1997) authentic materials are materials that have been produced to fulfill some social purposes in language communities. It means that they are aimed for learning proposes. Richards (2001) holds that authentic materials refer to the use in teaching of text, photographs, videos selection, and other teaching recourse that were not specially prepared for educational purposes. There are many different viewpoints which view authentic materials from different angles but all the authors share things in common in their definitions: Authentic materials refer to exposure to real language and its use in its own community, appropriateness and quality in terms of goals, objectives, learner needs, interest and naturalness in terms of realized and meaningful communication. 2.2.3. Advantages of authentic materials There are a number of books and journals which refer to the advantages of using authentic materials, especially in ESP brand. Firstly, authentic materials have a positive effect on learner motivation. One of the main motivations for learning a new language is to get closer to native speaker, to understand them better and to take part in their lives, authentic materials strongly utilize this motivation by their linguistic gentility and flavour of everyday life. Authentic text can be motivating because they prove that the language is used for real life purpose by real people. Nuttall (1996:172). When students are highly motivated, they prefer to work with authentic materials, finding it more interesting, more up to date than the text book. They can produce a sense of achievement (Martinez, 2002) Secondly, authentic materials provide exposure to real language. Many authors who support the use of authentic materials have shared idea of authentic materials: that are authentic materials provide students with language exposure- the benefit students get from being exposed to the language in authentic materials (Martinez, 2002). Authentic materials give students more chance to gain real information and real-to-life language that help bring the real world into the classroom. Authentic materials and media can reinforce for student the direct relationship between the language classroom and the outside world (Briton, 1991). The link between the classroom and real world enables students to comprehend the relationship between learning and practicing. Thirdly, authentic materials provide authentic cultural information. Authentic texts bring learners closer to the target language culture with the materials of native speaker. Books, articles, newspapers, and so on also contain a wide variety of text types, language styles not easily found in conventional teaching materials (Martinez, 2002) Because of these benefits, authentic materials result in an overall increase in motivation, a more positive attitude towards learning as well as active involvement and interest in the subject matter. 2.2.5. The criteria of selecting reading authentic materials Three main criteria for selecting text suggested by Nuttal (1996:170) are useful in application of selecting authentic reading materials. Firstly, authentic reading materials are selected on the basis of suitability of content, which means that authentic reading texts should be suitable to learners age, background knowledge, interest and need. Authentic materials should interest the readers by providing new, interesting information through natural and learnable language that suits the course objectives. Furthermore, it should be the type of material that students will use outside of the class for enhancing students reading skill. They should fit the proficiency level of students; the input should be challenging enough to sustain their motivation so materials which are compatible to the proficiency levels of the students or slightly above the level of students should be collected. Kennedy and Bolitho (1984) strongly suggest the use of authentic materials appropriate to the conceptual level of learners. Authentic reading materials should be used in accordance with ability of students, with suitable tasks so they feel mor e confident more secure when handing authentic materials. They are designed not only for the purpose of entertainment but also for practice of reading skill as well. They should be applicable to the students knowledge of their foreign culture or to their functional needs. Secondly, authentic reading materials should match up with the criterion of readability. This refers to the combination of structure and lexical difficulty. It is important to know at which level the students language proficiency is in order to find out about what vocabulary and structures the students are familiar with and choose authentic reading materials at the right level balancing different levels of proficiency. How to choose materials appropriate to students is suggested by Widdowson (1990: 67) as follows: It has been traditionally supposed that the language presented to learners should be simplified in some ways for easy access and acquisition. (p. 67) besides, the sources of authentic reading materials are infinite. Teachers can collect them from the most common sources such as; internet, television, magazines, newspapers, literature and mammal but some of them are full of errors, typos, and spelling mistakes so teachers should check the quality of the materials while selec ting and consider the organization of the text are clear and the content appropriate with the text or not. More important, the impression authentic reading materials should make is: the students feel that they are interacting with quality materials because there is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦an essential interaction between language and thoughtà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Goodman (1988: 12) Thirdly, authentic materials should meet the criterion of exploitability. These materials should facilitate learning. Authentic reading texts will be exploited if it can develop ESP reading skills with various kinds of activities that are designed not only for the purpose of entertainment but also for language practice. Davies (1984:192) gives an interesting explanation of what an authentic material really is: It is not that a text is understood because it is authentic but that it is authentic because it is understood. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Everything the learner understands is authentic for him. 2.3 Applying authentic materials in extensive reading program 2.3.2 Applying authentic materials in extensive reading program Nuttall (1996) regards an extensive reading program (ERP) as the single most effective way of improving skills in general. An extensive reading brings in students to be dynamic of reading as it is done in real life by including such key elements of real life reading as choice and purpose. And in fact, authentic materials have been defined as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦real life texts, not written for pedagogic purposes Wallace (1992) They are, therefore, written for native speaker and contain the real. Hedge (2000) indicates, before any training in the use of authentic materials can be effective, it may be the case that a certain level of language competence is necessary. Since reading extensively with authentic materials are the preeminent choice for the third year economics students who study English with a bit authentic environment. 2.3.3 Post-reading activities Post reading activities provide students a good chance to review, summarize, and react to the reading passage. Williams (1984), Greenwood (1988), and Jacob (2002)s hold that the purposes of the post reading stage, is (i) to consolidate or reflect upon what have been read, (ii) to relate the text to the learners own knowledge, interest, or view. Davies (2000) offers some activities in the final stage: discussing what is new or interesting in the text, discussing or debating the topic of the text if it is controversial; doing tasks on the language or the structure of the text, summarizing the text either orally or in writing. Jordan (1997:143) states that ESP students read for a purpose. To achieve the goal, the ESP teacher, should provide the students with different sub- reading skill though a big variety of reading activities dealing with contextual differences, rephrasing. The activities are engendered by the text and are used to extend its potential for meaningful language work, a variety of exercises follow the post reading selection. These are intended to help students acquire English reading skill. The exercises may be Asking students to do the close exercises which relates the text to individual personal details Asking students to summarize the economic reading text to list some sentences encouraging students to perform their ability about finding out the main ideas of the text, and make them possible to express their ideas in their own of words. Asking students to present what they have learned from the text in order to together make plans, monitor and review its progress. Asking student to write business letters or reports which activities provide an opportunity for students to apply their new vocabulary to an authentic and personally relevant. Asking students to play a role so as to persuade audients to involve in the activities. It is an important stage which assists students in linking up what they have read with their background knowledge and experience. Greenwood (1988) regards this stage as stimulating students reflection upon what has been read and enabling them to expand, and reinforce their perception. 2.4 Motivation So far, the role of motivation in second language learning has been the concern of many language researchers. They all agree that learners with positive attitudes towards the subject and high motivation are more likely to be successful when learning a second language. 2.4.1 Definition of motivation Crookes and Schmidt (1991) indicated that motivation is the learners desire that relates to the goal of learning a second language. In the same vein, Dornyei and Ottà ³ (1998) assert that motivation energizes human being and provides direction. Brown (2000: 160) adds motivation is some kind of internal drive which pushes someone to do things in order to achieve something. Although motivation is very difficult to define in second language field, the main characteristics of motivation can be summarized as: (i) attitudes towards the learning a language, (ii) the desire to learn a language and (iii) motivational intensity. 2.4.2 Factors effecting motivation According to Oxford and Shearin (1994) there are twelve motivational theories or models, including those from social- psychology, cognitive development, and social cultural psychology, and identified six factors that impact motivation in language learning. Attitude Belief about your self Goals Involvement Environmental support Personal attributes Based on our discussion with colleagues, we learn that these factors are interrelated and if one of the factors is positively effected, all the other factors will accordingly be influenced and motivation is therefore increased. CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY 3.1 Kind of research In order to achieve the aim of the research, pre-experimental research is used by the researcher. Pre- experimental research used in this study is to find out how much students reading motivation improved with time and to investigate the effect of authentic materials on enhancing motivation of students in reading. Nunan (1990) stresses that experiments are often carried out exploring the strength of the relationship between the variables. Salkind (2006) points out those casual relationships between variables may be established with this type of research. 3.2 Participants 3.2.1 The researcher The researcher has been an experienced teacher of English for 8 years and been teaching English for business for more than four years 3.2.2 The selection of the subjects Fifty 3rd year economics students at faculty of economics, LTV University were divided into two groups as subjects for the experiment. They are both males and females aged from 20 to 22. They come from different provinces in Viet Nam especially many of them are from the southern area of the Red River Delta in the North of Viet Nam. They all had similar educational background. These students have been acquired the equal background knowledge and skills of English by studying General English for two years in a 240 hour teaching programme at the university. New Headway Elementary and Pre- intermediate has been adopted for the syllabus. In the third year, they have learnt ESP for four months before the experiment. Data collection instruments The experiments were carried out in two classes, which are called target group and control group. The target group uses Market Leader- Pre- Intermediate as course book and authentic materials as supplement The control group uses Market Leader- Pre- Intermediate as course book only. The research was conducted in the 12 weeks programmer with three teaching hours of forty-five minutes each. The researcher used the T-test to find out the mean (M), the standard deviation (Sd), and the ratio of each group to analyze the data collected from the research. The data needed were taken from a test which is used to identify the students achievements. The information on the students reading proficiency, motivation and attitude towards the evaluation were collected by a pre-test, and a post-test. The researcher uses the same test before and after the experiment to measure exactly the different level of reading proficiency of two groups before and after the experiment. The tests were taken from www.about.com and Cambridge University. The test is focus on such specific reading skill as Guessing vocabulary from the context Matching a word with its appropriate definition Comprehension Multichoice The test consists of 40 questions divided in to 4 part based in topic of economic plan, deliveries and suppliers, economic terms, business people. The period between the pre-test and post-test was 12 weeks. The time allowance for each test is 60 minutes and the test was delivered for both groups and then collected and graded by the researcher. Firstly, the researcher gave students a pre-test to find out about their level of reading proficiency without using authentic supplementary materials. A Post test was given to the students to find out about how much students improved the motivation in reading with time and to investigate the effect of authentic materials on enhancing motivation of students in reading from the research. Beside the tests, questionnaires were also used as data collection instruments so as to evaluate the experimenter techniques were used of the researcher and the materials. Questionnaires also were collected; the data of the questionnaires were only gathered in experiment class. Brown (1995) suggests that questionnaires are more efficient for gathering information on a large scale than other approach. The questionnaire consists of 12 questions divided in to four sections. The first section consists of 3 questions in order to get information on the attitude of stud

Lord Of The Flies Civilization Versus Savagery English Literature Essay

Lord Of The Flies Civilization Versus Savagery English Literature Essay The theme for Lord of the Flies can be different things to different people. Some of the themes could be good vs. evil, sensibility vs. impulsiveness, or civilization vs. savagery. In Lord of the Flies there are two sides conflicting with each other throughout the whole story, and these are civilization vs. savagery. In Lord of the Flies civilization represents good while savagery represents evil. Civilization is the good inside of man to choose to live by rules, under authority, act reasonable, and peaceful with others. Savagery represents the evil of choosing not to live peacefully with others and not live by rules, but instead living to gain power over others and acting violently. However, living by rules and authority does not always guarantee peace and acting violently does not make someone a savage. The boys in Lord of the Flies show the decision they have to make whether to live by rules or to live violently and gain power for themselves; this shows the boys change of behavior from being civilized and having good behavior to being wild and violent, as shown in the two main characters Ralph and Jack, and the loss of the boys innocence. When Ralph and Piggy arrive on the island they realize that there are other boys on the island other than themselves and decide to gather the boys all together by blowing through a conch that they find. . Once all the boys are gathered, Ralph tells them they need a chief to rule over them. Some thought that they still needed adult leadership and asked, Arent there any adults? (Golding 20). Once they realized there were no adults on the island with them, they were not exactly sure what to do. The boys decide to still stick by previous rules and behavior. They decide they want a leader when they say, Vote for a chief! (Golding 22). This shows the boys believed in some kind of leadership whether an adult or an older kid. Once they voted Ralph as chief they also agreed to use the conch that Ralph used to call them together. The conch plays a very important role throughout the story. The conch helps gather meetings and also allows the person holding it to speak. This is an example of order among the boys. The conch governs the group of boys more than Ralph does. As the boys good behavior starts to disappear, so does the power of the conch and order. The disappearance of this is shown throughout the entire story until at the very end of the story all the boys, even Ralph, became what Golding wanted to show: Golding sees moral behavior, in many cases, as something that civilization forces upon the individual rather than a natural expression of human individuality. When left to their own devices, Golding implies, people naturally revert to cruelty, savagery, and barbarism (SparkNotes Editors). This shows the decision the boys in Lord of the Flies had to make either to live by rules or to live wild and violently. In the end they chose to live wild and violently. The two main characters of Lord of the Flies are Ralph and Jack. Ralph is the protagonist and the representative of civilization (Golding 206). Jack is the antagonist and symbolizes savagery and violence. The conflict between Ralph and Jack begins at the very first meeting when the boys vote for a chief and Ralph is chosen over Jack. I ought to be chief, said Jack with a simple arrogance, because Im a chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing in C sharp (Golding 22). This shows the beginning of Jacks jealousy towards Ralph because he was used to being the leader. It also shows the jealousy of man and how it makes someone want their own power. Ralph is a very big influence on the younger boys. He believes in taking care of the boys and finding ways for everyone to be rescued. Some ways he did this is by building the fire and huts. For this reason, Ralphs power and influence over the other boys are secure at the beginning of the novel (SparkNotes Editors). To the boys, Ralph, Piggy, and Simon are a sign of security. However, gradually, throughout the story the security of Ralph is not enough for the boys when their violent side takes over. Throughout the whole story Ralph symbolizes order until he is the only who doesnt join Jacks group. Jack is the opposite of Ralph. Jack desires to have power over all the boys but it is taken away when Ralph is voted chief. The violent side of Jack begins when he starts hunting pigs and uses the idea of the beast. The idea of a beast causes the boys to feel fear. The more of a savage Jack becomes, the more he influences the boys to become savages. Some symbols that represent Jack are the Lord of the Flies that becomes both a physical manifestation of the beast, a symbol of the power of evil, and a kind of Satan figure who evokes the beast within each human being (SparkNotes Editors). This shows the evil that hid in Jack but is also in mankind. The beast is the primal instinct of savagery that exists within all human beings (SparkNotes Editors), the one thing that frightens all the boys and is the main reason that Jack gains power over the boys. In The Scarlet Ibis there is a resemblance between brother and Jack because they manipulate people to listen to them and do what they want them to do. The conflict between Ralph and Jack is the choice of gaining ones own power or caring for the needs of others. When they come to the island the boys have no thought of acting violent or wild. They dont know really what to do without adult supervision so they create their own rules. Here it is hinted that the rules the boys have agreed to will not be followed or enforced for very long because of the situation the boys are in which is complete freedom from everything theyve known. In Liberty the family wants freedom from the danger that they are in. However there is good freedom and bad freedom. The boys are in a place where freedom is all around them and there are no adults to tell them what is right or wrong. This kind of freedom is very dangerous because the longer they stay on the island without any rules, the more they forget what good behavior is and eventually become wild and violent. Through the influence of the beast and Jack all the boys slowly become enthralled by the ways of savagery. The influence of Jack causes the boys to find pleasure in killing, torturing and spilling the blood of animals. The boys become so enthralled that they chant, Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! (Golding 152) They become so violent and wild that they even beat and kill some boys, pretending they are the pig. It was dark. There was that that bloody dance. There was lightning and thunder and rain. We was scared! (Golding 156) shows the boys dont think of what they did as wrong but as a game. Their savagery represents the evil that dwelt inside them of wanting to hurt someone or something. The group of boys in the beginning of the book is far from being the same group of boys at the end of the story. Ralph at the end of the story cries because he realizes that evil dwells not only in adults but also in children. Throughout Lord of the Flies civilization represents good, while savagery represents evil. However, the books theme also shows the evil that man has inside if given the opportunity to show it. The boys in Lord of the Flies had to decide if they wanted to live by rules or live violently. They had rules that they followed but there was no one to enforce it on them. Civilization may have rules but that does not mean that people will always obey them. Lord of the Flies shows that a good amount of time away from civilization can have a drastic affect on a person and they might not remember how to act properly in society. The decline of the boys behavior throughout the story from being civilized and having good behavior to being wild and violent shows that evil dwells in every human. Man can chose to control that evil or fall under its control as shown in the fall of the boys in Lord of the Flies.

The Importance of Style :: Writing Writer Style Styles Essays

The Importance of Style If there’s one thing that this class has taught me, it’s that one of the single most important aspect to consider in writing, is that of the style. Style can be defined many ways, whether it be an analysis of oneÂ’s writing proficiency and technical accuracy, or the writerÂ’s voice, and how they bring across their message to the readers. Without style, all writing becomes at least one of two things: a boring, dragging piece whose clipped pace turns the reader totally off, or it becomes so poorly written that the question of the author’s intelligence comes into play while reading the piece. While I could easily say simply that style is the most important aspect of writing, that would be far too much of an oversimplification. There are many individual pieces that make style what it is. In fact, whole books have been written solely on that subject, such as "Style Toward Clarity and Grace" by Joseph M. Williams, or "The Elements of Style" by William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White. These texts try to pin down exactly what are the key points that make a successful style, as opposed to one not as well crafted, just as the purpose of this essay is. The first thing I think of when I try to define good styles of writing is a knack for grammar and vocabulary. These are the most important aspects of writing when it comes to getting oneÂ’s message across. Without proper grammar, confusion and misinterpretation reign supreme. Strunk and White feature an entire chapter exclusively to the practice of using the correct grammar (Strunk and White chapter 4). Williams, meanwhile feels that the rules are not necessary to dwell on ever, and breaks rules down into three ways: rules that "No native speaker of English has to think about", rules that educated writers only think about "when they see or hear them violated" and finally, rules that are apparently there for grammarians to find faults in writing, and that educated writers generally accept that these rules can be ignored (Williams 176). If nothing else, this dichotomy in policies from several sources is totally indicative of the very nature of writing itself. Writing has existed for thousands of years, and it seems like at least once a generation, the general acceptance of rules, and even which rules are applicable change dramatically.

Avian Song Control :: Birds Bird Neorology Essays

Avian Song Control Bird songs continue to fascinate neurobiologists and neuroethologists because the development of song has been a popular model used to examine the role of environment on behavior. In most species, only male birds sing complex songs. Their vocalizations are the result of sexual dimorphism in the brain regions responsible for the production of song. However, this behavior is not genetically hardwired into the avian brain. Certain conditions must exist in order for male birds to successfully produce their species-specific song. Additionally, the neuronal circuitry and structure of the avian song system shows high levels of plasticity. If the brain and behavior are indistinguishable, then the structural differences in the avian brain are responsible for behavioral differences across the sexes. Nottebohm and colleagues identified six anatomically distinct regions of the forebrain involved in the production of song, which are arranged into two independent pathways, the posterior pathway, which controls song production, and the anterior pathway, which controls song learning. The collective unit is typically referred to as the vocal control region (VCR) (1) (2). Female birds sing rarely and this behavioral difference is reflective of the anatomy of the female avian brain. There are significant differences in the size of three neural areas involved in the production of song across the sexes, and a specific area, Area X, is present in the male and absent in the female. Additionally, the incorporation of radiolabeled testosterone in certain locations is different in males and females (3) (4). Scientists have been particularly interested in the origin of the structural differences in male and female songbirds. Research has suggested the importance of gonadal hormones, specifically testosterone in the production of song. It was observed that castration eliminated all song production (5). Additionally, when testosterone levels are low, there is not only a decrease in the production of song, but also a decrease in the size of some nuclei involved in song production (6). Further support for the necessity of testosterone for song production was demonstrated by Nottebohm (1980) when he injected female birds with testosterone, which lead to the production of song (7). This research has interesting implications regarding anatomical changes that may occur when an organism is chemically imbalanced. Disruptions in chemical equilibrium may alter brain structure and subsequently influence behavior. Nevertheless, not all research has supported the claim that testosterone is responsible for anatomical and behavioral differences between male and female songbirds. Avian Song Control :: Birds Bird Neorology Essays Avian Song Control Bird songs continue to fascinate neurobiologists and neuroethologists because the development of song has been a popular model used to examine the role of environment on behavior. In most species, only male birds sing complex songs. Their vocalizations are the result of sexual dimorphism in the brain regions responsible for the production of song. However, this behavior is not genetically hardwired into the avian brain. Certain conditions must exist in order for male birds to successfully produce their species-specific song. Additionally, the neuronal circuitry and structure of the avian song system shows high levels of plasticity. If the brain and behavior are indistinguishable, then the structural differences in the avian brain are responsible for behavioral differences across the sexes. Nottebohm and colleagues identified six anatomically distinct regions of the forebrain involved in the production of song, which are arranged into two independent pathways, the posterior pathway, which controls song production, and the anterior pathway, which controls song learning. The collective unit is typically referred to as the vocal control region (VCR) (1) (2). Female birds sing rarely and this behavioral difference is reflective of the anatomy of the female avian brain. There are significant differences in the size of three neural areas involved in the production of song across the sexes, and a specific area, Area X, is present in the male and absent in the female. Additionally, the incorporation of radiolabeled testosterone in certain locations is different in males and females (3) (4). Scientists have been particularly interested in the origin of the structural differences in male and female songbirds. Research has suggested the importance of gonadal hormones, specifically testosterone in the production of song. It was observed that castration eliminated all song production (5). Additionally, when testosterone levels are low, there is not only a decrease in the production of song, but also a decrease in the size of some nuclei involved in song production (6). Further support for the necessity of testosterone for song production was demonstrated by Nottebohm (1980) when he injected female birds with testosterone, which lead to the production of song (7). This research has interesting implications regarding anatomical changes that may occur when an organism is chemically imbalanced. Disruptions in chemical equilibrium may alter brain structure and subsequently influence behavior. Nevertheless, not all research has supported the claim that testosterone is responsible for anatomical and behavioral differences between male and female songbirds.

Animal and Human Nature in Steinbecks Of Mice and Men Essay

Animal and Human Nature in Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The relationship between animal nature and human nature in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men is a major theme throughout the work. Lennie and Candy are connected with animals via their various individual characteristics, such as physical appearance, mental capacity, or emotional maturity. Other characters, such as Curley and Carlson, demonstrate their animal-like natures in their interactions with others. Despite the obvious connection between the human natures and animal natures of the characters in the work, some of the characters attempt to rise above their bestial nature by dreaming and seeking companionship. Lennie is perhaps the most obvious example of an animal-like character. The very first description of Lennie is as "a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws" (Steinbeck 2). This opening description of Lennie immediately connects him with a large animal, and for the rest of the novel, whenever his name is mentioned, the reader instinctively pictures a big, bear-like man. Lennie is also likened to a dog, just a few pages later, when he is compared to a "terrier who doesn't want to bring a ball to its master" (Steinbeck 9). This connection is further emphasized when, at the novelà ­s end, Lennie is shot with the same gun and in the same way as Candy's dog was shot earlier in the novel. Lennie is also connected with animals in his mental capacity and preferences. His "simplemindedness as well as his attraction to animals, especially the rabbits and the puppy, would seem to fix him as animal-like" (Johnson 16). Candy is identified... ...to live together as a family. Candy and Crooks eagerly volunteer to join George and Lennie in their dream in hopes that they can contribute to the welfare of the group and act as one unit, one family. George already shows this kind of selflessness throughout the book in his looking out for Lennie, and, likewise, Lennie's looking out for George. These characters escape their primal, animalistic tendencies to fend for themselves and chose to help each other. Of Mice and Men presents many interesting connections between the animal natures and human natures of its characters. Though most characters display characteristics that could qualify them as bestial, only a few exhibit the drive to rise above this base level of existence and distinguish themselves from their animal nature.    Works Cited: Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York: Penguin Books, 1937.

Astronomy Final

The age of the cluster can be estimated by viewing a cluster of stars on the HR diagram in reference to where they end on the main sequence. 2. Seasonal variation of a planet depends on the frequency with which any given side of the planet changes it's position with respect to the star. For a planet like Uranus, which has a high tilt (73 deg), the same side always faces the sun and hence it's always summer on one side and winter on the other. Thus we can conclude that seasonal variation is directly related to the tilt of the planet. 3. a.Among the given planets, D has the minimum tilt – So the answer is D, which shows max seasonal variation. b. A planet will be geologically active if it has a high density, since that would assure wide vvariety of rocks and minerals and ores and less amount of hot gases; so among the planets, A has the highest density and is the most geologically active. 3. The younger surface would go to Moon A due to the fact that Moon B possesses many crater s, which are clearly visible as the picture represents (this is clearly shown by the illuminated spots).Genesis shows that the craters were developed over time. Since moon A has far less craters, this mearns it was recently formed thus making it the younger moon. 4. a. The Hubble Expansion: As the distance increases, the apparen't brightness of the object decreases meaning it becomes darker the farther away it gets. This technique determines the relative distances of ssimilar objects. In addition, a phenomenon called the Doppler effect can be used to determine the velocity of an object.The sonic Doppler effect is caused by compression of sonic wave fronts, which can be generalized to electromagnetic radiation and other wavelike phenomena. The magnitude of an object's Doppler shift is a function of its radial velocity relative to the observer. Velocities of various objects, such as stars and galaxies, have been tabulated in our vicinity. An almost straight line with positive slope wa s obtained when the distance was plotted for various galaxies against their velocities. This shows us that the farther away an object is, the greater the velocity.This lends support to the Big Bang theory–if the universe does indeed expand in a manner consistent with the Big Bang model, then two objects that are close to each other should have smaller relative velocities than in comparison with distant objects. b. Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB): This is the result of theorized energetics, which was discovered in 1965 by Penzias and Wilson. Their discovery showed microwave radiation emanating from all directions in our observable locality of the universe. As predicted by the Big Bang Model, the universe is filled with plasma at high temperatures.As a result, hydrogen can only exit as plasma with an ambient temperature of about 3000K. c. Primordial abundance of light elements: This is the observed abundance of elements in the universe. Examinations through the spectra of var ious objects shows us that helium makes up about 23% of observable mass in the universe, which is entirely too large to be accounted for by stellar fusion. Since stellar nucleosynthesis makes the abundance of lighter nuclei hard to explain, the Big Bang model theorizes that the nuclei were created during the fierce explosion. . Due to the numerous negative effects on the body, human space travel remains physiologically difficult. Many of these affects are due to long-term weightlessness. Examples include: muscle atrophy, skeletal deterioration, slowing of cardiovascular functions, red blood cell production decrease, balance disorders, and weakening of the immune system. In addition, without the appropriate protection, space exposure becomes a sever threat due to the environmental differences between space and earth – especially the lack of oxygen and pressure.Interstellar space travel consists of many problems, which makes human travel extremely difficult – even in the future. One problem is the amount of fuel needed for long-duration flights. In addition, we have to worry about the damaging effects of galactic radiation. Also consider the loneliness and boredom of generations of humans spending their entire lives aboard a spacecraft. In order to get to the nearest star system beyond our Solar System (Alpha Centauri), we would have to travel 4. 3 ly with a constant flight velocity of 50 km/s; which is roughly about 25,000 years.Although that velocity would allow us to escape the Solar System, it would still take 250 centuries to reach our closest star system. It is very unlikely that humans will be able to equip themselves with the technology, at least anytime soon, to make contact with extraterrestrial life. Even if we took into account the many factors in the Drake equation, galactic civilizations are probably spread out like small islands tthroughout space. Even if the average lifetime of extraterrestrial civilizations is 1 million years, our most optimistic estimates suggest that each is separated by ~300 ly.Additionally, thousands of sorties would have to be launched toward candidate star systems for any hope of successful extraterrestrial contact. In summary, although it may never become feasible, interstellar space flight is both uneconomical and impractical now and anytime in the foreseeable future. 6. Galileo Galilei was a very influential astronomer because he defended his beliefs in a time when the Roman Inquisition was in power. Galileo defended his idea of heliocentrism against the Inquisition and was put on house arrest. This did not stop him from doing what he loved.While on house arrest, he made observations and continued his work. His contributions to astronomy include the discovery of three moons of Jupiter, the idea that the nature of each planet is unique, identification of sunspots, and his continued examinations of the Milky Way and sea tides. 7. As of March 23, 2012, 763 exoplanets (extrasolar) within our Milky Way have been discovered by satellites such as the Kepler. Consequently, these satellites have been flying through space, uncovering hundreds of new planets within our galaxy.Recently, two planets (Kepler 62e and 62f) have been discovered, which orbit a sun ssimilar to ours but cooler. These planets are at just the right distance that allows water to remain liquid – an essential must for a planet to support life. In addition, these planets are very ssimilar to the size of Earth. Because of their size and orbits, it is highly likely that they are either rocky or watery. The two planets are located 1,200 light-years away in a five-planet system orbiting a star dubbed Kepler-62. 8. The milky is a flat disk surrounded by a halo with a bulge at the center.Within the disk, lay clouds of gas and dust that amount to around 15% of the mass of stars. Although we cannot see the nucleus due to all the scattered dust – radio, infrared, and x-ray telescopes allow us to se e through the dust and show us that the core contains a dense swarm of gas and stars and a massive black hole. A majority of the gas and dust clouds lie within the disk. In addition, bright stars gather into spiral arms winding in an outward direction. The location of our solar system is about 26,000 ly from the center, lying on the inner edge of the spiral arm. 9. D C B A

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Essay

This is a specialized influence of the United Nations that leads transnational efforts in the controvert against hunger. It serves both developing and the already certain countries. FAO acts as a neutral assemblage where all nations meet as equals to conduct agreements and debate policy. It is excessively a fountain of advice and knowledge to member countries as it helps in the provision of information, and helps developing nations to modernize and emend tillage, forestry and fisheries practices, by ensuring good sustainment and pabulum tribute for all (Amin,2002).In urban culture, FAO plays a general role of educating the urban farmers on the best methods of res publica such(prenominal) as proper animal husbandry. It also offers them variety of species of crops to cultivate on in the urban areas. It protects the farmers from interventions by the specific governments, and they see viands security for the already produced crops. federation Food Security Coalition (CF SC) This is a North Ameri tush coalition of hoi polloi from different nationalities and organizations working from the local to international levels to build corporation victuals security. membership in CFSC is diverse with almost maven-third hundred organizations from social and economic justice, anti-hunger, environmental, community development, sustainable agriculture, community gardening and some other fields. The main objective of CFSC is to build a strong, sustainable, local and regional food dust that ensure door to affordable, nutritious, and culturally confiscate food to all people at all times.CFSC has facilitated the development of urban agriculture through developing self conviction among all cities in obtaining their food and to creating a system of exploitation, manufacturing, processing, making lendable, and selling food that is regionally based and grounded in the principles of justice, body politic and sustainability. urban and Peri-urban cultivation (APA) This organization involves the growing of plants and the rearing of animals within urban and peri-urban areas.It influences urban agriculture in a publication of ways. UPA branchs the availability of locally grown vegetables and fruits. This is do through making land available to increase production. UPA also recognizes the added value of combining vacant spaces with growing food in or near cities. It helps to restore consumer office in locally produced food. It helps promote food production to help reduce penury and inequalities in urban centers.UPA has helped growers in urban agriculture to get closer cogitate to their consumers and made it possible for retailers to improve memory access to affordable fresh vegetables and fruits sourced from the urban farming. UPA has improve logistics which has in turn increased access for instance transport services and kinsfolk deliveries for those unable to get to the shops to buy food products. Resource centers on urban agri culture and Food Security (RUAF Foundation) This is an international earnings of seven regional resource centers and one global resource centre on urban Agriculture and food security.It was organise as a result to the uttered need of organization and local governments for useful mechanisms for the documentation and exchange of explore of research data and practical experiences in urban agriculture. The major objective of RUAF is to help in eradication of exiguity, generation of examples, food security and to help in stimulate pop outicipatory urban center governance and improved urban environment al management. This is achieved through humanity of conditions for empowerment of male and female urban and peri-urban farmers. 3.Importance of urban agriculture Agriculture has been the primary occupation even in societies that are advanced. any form of cash advance and innovation in agricultural methods has prodigious importance to the ever increasing populations (White, younger , 1974). Urban agriculture has come with improvements which thrust seen the societies benefiting economically, socially and environmentally. Economic importance Urban and peri-urban agriculture expands the economic base of the metropolis through production, processing, packaging and marketing of consumable products.This results in an increase in entrepreneurial activities and the creation of job opportunities. This has led to increase in supply of food products in the cities, leading to decrease in prices of commodities. The timber of food products also improves, and the country can export more food products abroad and earning the country foreign exchange. Urban agriculture gives women an important opportunity to be weaken of the informal economy of a city (Paul, 1984). Farming and selling activities can be combined more easily with planetary house tasks and child billing.As women take care of the home, men are out thither trying to make ends meet in urban agriculture. Throug h this, women participate in the economic development of the country as they help their spouses in other chores (Feder, 1970). In another perspective, women provide labor to farming activities, therefrom contributing to economic development. Urban agriculture provides employment, income and access to food for urban populations, which together contributes to relieve from chronic and emergence food security.With employment, every individual earns income and the cases of poverty in the city will considerably reduce with the practice of urban agriculture. accessible Importance Better health and nutrition is one social importance of urban agriculture. With production of food products, there is comme il faut supply of food in the city. Children cannot mother from malnutrition because they have enough food and thusly have a balanced diet. Having a balanced diet helps reduce diseases thus better health and nutrition.Increased income and employment are other social benefits of urban agr iculture. Urban agriculture has been seen as intend of improving the livelihood of people upkeep in and around cities (Pereira, 1999). Taking part in such practices is seen mostly as informal activity, but in umteen cities where inadequate, unreliable, and irregular access to food is an occurring problem, urban agriculture has been a positive solution to tackling food concerns. Households and small communities take wages of vacant land and contribute not only to their resident city (Pereira, 1999).