Business and economy of contemporary china Essay

Business and economy of contemporary china - Essay Example During the 1950s to 1970s, the government seemed to be in control of the matter but in the early 80s, there was an increase in the number of missing women. Moreover, most institutions and government bodies linked this with the introduction of the one-child policy that is still there today. Naturally, the implementation of this initiative is an effort to control the increased population growth. People that get more than one-child face the set penalties of reduced salaries and limited access to social facilities; however, this takes place after the children are born. In the 1980s, the one-child policy did not work of well because the ratio of male to female was not proportionate leading to the allowance of a second child for families that lived in rural areas. However, this was only if the first-born child was a girl. The government supported this policy for a while but in the late 1990’s the World Health Organization intervened due to a significant number of missing women because of abandonment (Lehmann 2013). Generally, the current abandonment of girls and disabled children has its history with the only difference being the causes and implications for the different periods (Milson 2014). All the same, it has a been an economic and social problem for over fifty years and the different tactics implemented to counter this always end up failing. Significantly, China is in record for having the biggest imbalance between men and women in its population because of the abandonment of infant females that fairly contributes to the increased mortality rate. On the other hand, there are more men in China than any other state in the world, creating more gender issues for the nation. Some of the implications of female and disabled children abandonment include the popular abduction and slave trade market (Young 2014). Today, people refer to the different venues as

Psychological Assessment I, II, III Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Psychological Assessment I, II, III - Essay Example He was generally cooperative and seemed to give his best efforts to the tasks presented to him. It was apparent that it was easy for him to understand and respond to questions and his thought processes were mostly focused and clear, except in providing information about his past, which were sometimes incomplete and vague. When he did poorly, he became self-critical, annoyed and appeared slightly anxious. For example, in some items in the Boston Naming test, he would stare at the picture for some time before naming it, and when he realizes that he was wrong, would say, â€Å"Stupid, stupid, how hard could that be!† while pounding on the table. Dr. Anoxia was born in Wisconsin to a father who was a teacher and a mother who was a bookkeeper. When he was eight years old, his family had to move to New York because his father has accepted a teaching post in a school in Queens. When he was seventeen, his father died of a heart attack. Four years later, his mother died of cancer. According to him, he pursued graduate studies in Economics in her honor. He met his wife while attending graduate school at the New York University in 1963. Together, they raised three children who are currently successful professionals. The break-up of his marriage began when all the children have grown and left home to live their independent lives. He finally had a divorce after 22 years of marriage. His father, being a teacher had a great influence on his academic performance, expecting nothing short of excellence from him. His father’s mentoring made him excel in high school both in academics and in sports, specifically Golf. His above average school records earned him a spot at the University of Vermont where he graduated in 1957 with a bachelor’s degree in Economics. Upon graduation, he was hired by one of his professors to be one of the researchers for a government-funded study. The challenge and success he derived from his work inspired

Incident response policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Incident response policy - Essay Example IRT Team Leader:Â  The IRT must have an individual in charge of its activities. The IRT Team Leader will generally be responsible for the activities of the IRT and will coordinate reviews of its actions. This might lead to changes in polices and procedures for dealing with future incidents. IRT Incident Lead: In the event of an incident, one individual responsible for coordinating the response is assigned. The IRT Incident Lead has ownership of the particular incident or set of related security incidents. IRT Incident Lead works as representative to the outside when an incident occurs IRT Associate Members:Â  Besides the core IRT team, you should have a number of specific individuals who handle and respond to particular incidents. Associate members will come from a variety of different departments in Gem Infosys. They should specialize in areas that are affected by security incidents but that are not dealt with directly by the core IRT. The following member can be appointed depending on the incident; Legal Representative: - Apart from accidental virus attack, intruders may also launch attacks. Legal representative comes in to action in such incidents. This member is a lawyer who is very familiar with established incident response policies. The Legal Representative determines how to proceed during an incident with minimal legal liability and maximum ability to prosecute offenders. To be able to recover effectively from an incident, it is needed to determine how seriously the systems have been compromised. This will determine how to further avoid and minimize the risk, how to recover, how quickly and to whom that should communicate the incident. Compare systems to previously conducted file/system integrity checks. This enables you to identify additions, deletions, modifications, and permission and control modifications to the file system and registry. 1. Protect

Describe Your Own Leadership Style Essay Example for Free

Describe Your Own Leadership Style Essay Jim Collins and a group of 22 research associates conducted a five-year research project searching an answer on the question ‘how a company from merely good can be transformed to great one’ and identified that behind this transformation lies a level 5 leader. Level 5 leadership refers to the highest level in a hierarchy of manager’s capabilities. A level 5 leader transforms the organisation into a great institution through a paradoxical combination of personal humility plus professional will. Beneath Level 5 leaders, lie four other layers, each one appropriate in its own right but none with the power of Level 5. Level 1 leader is a high capable individual who plays an important role in the success of his organisation through his talent, knowledge, skills and good work habits. A level 2 leader is a contributing team member who is very good with his team members and ensures that his team meets its assigned objectives and fulfils the core purpose. A level 3 leader is a competent manager who is skilled at organising people and resources towards the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives. A level 4 leader is an effective leader. He sets high-level performance standards. He is remarkable at motivating his people and leading them towards realising his vision of the organisation. (Appendix 1, p. 11 summarises all levels of Collins’ Leadership Hierarchy) (Collins, J. (2005). Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 83. No. 7, p. 136-146) The purpose of this assignment is to conduct an evaluation of my own style of leadership within the organisation in which I work by using the above hierarchy as a frame of reference. In order to produce a thorough assessment on both my style and the usefulness of Collin’s model, a range of other theories and concepts must be taken into consideration. However, before proceeding to the analysis and evaluation, it would be helpful first to know the position I hold as well as its responsibilities within the organisation. A Brand Manager, member of the Marketing Department, is responsible for the planning, development and implementation of the Companys marketing activities, among others: Launching of new products, market research studies, promotional activities/materials, to organize and execute the raining programs for the Sales Force. In order to become an efficient and effective Brand manager, the company is requiring knowledge (good academic background), experience and managerial skills including: Strategic and analytic capabilities, entrepreneurial spirit, team player, and flexibility and strong skills in communication and leadership. The Idea of Leadership It is most likely to find a topic more important to business success today than leadership. Leadership is defined as the ability to influence people toward the achievement of goals. Leadership occurs among people, involves the use of influence and it is used to attain goals. Leaders are expected to persuade or inspire people, produce cooperative efforts and pursue goals. Leadership is different from management, though the two are easily confused. One may be a leader without being a manager and many managers cannot ‘lead a squad of seven- years –olds to the ice cream counter’ according to Gardner (1989). Gardner believes that there are several dimensions for distinguishing leadership from management. Leaders think long-term, look outside as well as inside and influence others regardless the position that they possess. In order to understand the idea of Leadership and which are the characteristics a leader usually has, studies and research have been conducted and several approaches to leadership styles as well as theories are arose. Some of them are going to be related to Collin’s Level 5 leadership hierarchy as well as to my own style of leadership. (Daft R. L. , Management, ch. 16, Leadership in Organisations , p. 514-515) Level 1 Leader The Leadership Traits Approach Leadership trait approach is the oldest approach to the study of leadership. From this approach occurs that there are certain qualities in some people that define them as leaders or potential leaders. Traits therefore are the distinguishing personal characteristics such as intelligence, values and appearance. Leaders extend their power and use their abilities to influence events. Effective leaders are usually more intelligent, more dependable, responsible and more active. They usually ask for more information and give out more information. However, the ppropriateness of a trait or a set of traits depends on the leadership situation. The same traits do not apply to every organisation or situation. (Appendix 2, p. 11 summarises the physical, social and personal leadership characteristics) On the contrary, Collin’s Hierarchy is consisted of several characteristics/ capabilities that most can be found also in the leadership trait approach such as knowledge, achievement to drive and working effectively with others in a group setting. However, two characteristics that are of great importance are not included in it. There are the most important ones and are a necessary requirement for transforming an organisation from good to great, humility and professional will. (Diploma in Management, Module book 1, section 6, Teams in Management, p. 6. 16) However, in order to understand in what extent these two concepts can be correlated, we can use ourselves as an example. For instance, my position requires being a highly capable individual (Collin’s Hierarchy Level 1). How can I accomplish this requirement? By demonstrating many of the personal traits such as intelligence, knowledge, judgement and cognitive ability. For instance, the products that I handle have intense competition. Good knowledge of the market as well as intelligent moves made them to differentiate from competition. The creation of a guideline for treatment at home as well as the delivery of the products at home gave a benefit to them. As a result, Doctors preferred to prescribe these products for long term use and hade great impact on the company’s name and reliability. When we speak of leadership, either we refer to the qualities/ competencies of an individual or we can refer to a function of organisation. The ‘trait’ theory of leadership- the traditional or popular management view of leadership- focuses on the concept that leadership is a quality or set of qualities particular to an individual. On the contrary, the group dynamics theory sees leadership as a function of organisation. Level 2 Leader Task versus people perspective styles Task versus people perspective styles of leadership do not take into consideration the organisation as a whole. They focus on teams. Every group of people has a task to accomplish. However, since groups are composed of people, several needs arise from them. According to the group dynamics theory of leadership, the person who adequately fulfils the needs that the group perceive to be the most important could be considered as an effective leader. A working team need to fulfil two functions. First, its formal tasks must be fulfilled. In order this to be accomplished; a set of competencies must be evolved. Technical knowledge, innovation and sense of achievement are related with the instrumental need to perform the tasks. Second, needs for affiliation, interaction and mutual support are usually observed within a team. Such needs are called expressive needs. The person who becomes leader must facilitate the satisfaction of some of the teams’ needs. This leader emerges to the group because he is the best able to help the group survive and succeed. ) (Master in Business Administration, Module book 3, section 1 The Theory of Leadership, p. 1. 7-1-11) According to Collin’s leadership hierarchy, the leader that is described in the group dynamics approach could be characterised as a level 2 leader. A contributing team member who is very good with his team members and ensures that his team meets its assigned objectives and fulfils the core purpose. Both group dynamics approach and Collins hierarchy are useful in helping us to see how leaders may relate to team members and to situations. (Collins, J. , (2005). Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 83. No. 7, p. 136-146) As a Brand Manager, one of my responsibilities to support our sales team by providing them with moderate amounts of detail and focus on why it is important for the team members to complete our objectives. However, I believe that co-owning the objective/action plan with team members and asking team members ideas as well as offering my own ideas is more efficient and can lead us easier to our goals. Besides, It is better to have, for instance, five people to think rather than one. Therefore, I strongly believe that teamwork can lead to better results. Level 3 Leader The Contingency Theory According to contingency models, leadership depends as much on the situation of the group as on the leader himself or herself. Thus, we have a choice; either the leader can fit to the situation or change effectively the situation to fit the leader. As we can understand, leadership is different for first-level supervisors than for chief executives and the kind of leadership needed for skilled and highly motivated followers may not work for followers who are alienated and untrained. According to Fiedler, contingency model divides the leadership situation into three variables. In order to determine the most effective leadership style, we must consider the inter-relationship of the three contingencies: leader – member relations, task- structure and position power. 1. Leader – member relations, where mutual trust, respect and open communication exist and can be consider as advantageous. This means that tasks are clear and structured and members are aware of the power the leader holds. On the other hand, where there is little or no trust, respect of communication, then the relationship can be characterised as disadvantageous (control over the situation is needed and a focus on a task will not detract from the leaders/ team relationship because this is not essential to start with. 2.  Task- structure, when work is highly structured and easy to know when somebody has not complied with an instruction and it is easy to impose sanctions. However, when work is unstructured, leaders cannot enforce compliance with external controls and therefore, the leader has much less power than when work is highly structured. 3. Position power, is the extent to which a leader has formal authority over the followers. When position power is high then the leader has the power to plan and direct the work of followers, evaluate it and accordingly reward or punish it. On the other hand, when position power is low, the leader has little authority over followers. (Appendix 3, p. 11 presents Fiedler’s examination on how Leader Style fits the situation) Finally, according to Fiedler, task-oriented leaders tend to be more effective in situations that are either highly advantageous or highly disadvantageous to them and that relationship-oriented leaders tend to be more effective in situations that are moderately advantageous to them. (Bolman,L. G. , Terrence,D. E. , Reframing Organisations, Ch. , Reframing Leadership, p. 342-344) According to Collin, a level 3 leader is a competent manager who is skilled at organising people and resources towards the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives. However, as it is showed above, an efficient leader must differ from situation to situation or from team to team, according to its special characteristics. Analysing a level 3 leader in correlation with Contingency theory, we understand tha t a level 3 leader should consider both leader –member relations and tasks. Predetermined objectives cannot be achieved, if mutual trust, respect and open communication do not exist in a team and if tasks are not highly structured and followers do not know precisely their responsibilities. However, we must never ignore the extent to which a leader has formal authority over the followers. (Collins, J. , (2005). Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 83. No. 7, p. 136-146) For instance, according to my position, my everyday contact is with the sales team. According to my opinion, it is clear that trust, respect as well as open communication and mutual understanding exist within our team. One of the responsibilities of my position is to organise in some extent, their work by indicating them what is our goal and how we can reach it, with what tools and where we want to focus. Another one is to monitor our products sales and ask questions whenever I believe it is necessary. However, my position power is not as high as to evaluate them and reward or punish them accordingly.

Measuring Levels of Patient Dependency

Measuring Levels of Patient Dependency Title: Should patient dependency be used to set nurse-staffing levels in general hospital wards? Introduction: In this section, we perform a literature review to discuss patient dependency in clinical settings, and examine how we can measure patient dependency levels. We also discuss whether patient dependency levels should and could form the criteria for setting nurse-staffing levels in the hospital. We will also analyze the other different methods and criteria that can help to determine nurse staffing levels within the clinical setting. Patient dependency levels indicates the requirements of nurses and the extent to which patients will need nurses for their continuous care. Nurse patient ratios are often used to discuss the nurse staffing levels and these figures indicate whether staffing levels have to be increased or decreased. We would aim our discussion of patient dependency necessitating increase in staffing levels and the patient nurse ratio as indicators of nurse staffing both within general hospital wards and at critical care and emergency units. Evidential Information Patient dependency may just form an important part of nursing staff and workload of an individual nurse. Hurst (2005) conducted an important study on the nature and value of dependency acuity quality (DAQ) demand side nursing workforce-planning methods, which are set in the context of nursing workforce planning and development. Extensive DAQ data was obtained from UK nursing workforce in 347 wards, which involved 64 high quality, and 62 low quality hospital wards. The study gives special consideration to workload and quality contexts. New insights have been generated with this study and Hurst emphasizes that poor quality care is more common in larger wards that have fluctuating and unstable workload and nurse – patient ratio. Smaller workloads having consistent and high workload of nursing staff results in inflexible nurse staffing so staff levels and performed duties remain the same. Studies definitely suggest that nursing activity and staffing differences do form an importan t part of defining and contributing to the quality of the wards with higher staffing levels and more consistent work for nurses at high quality wards and lower staffing levels and irregular services with low nurse-patient ratio in low quality wards. From this evidence, it is possible to provide recommendations for nursing management and practice and probe into more accurate relations of dependency acuity quality in DAQ measures. In a study using assessment of patient nurse dependency systems for determining nurse-patient ratio in the ICU and HDU, Adomat et al (2004) point out that a huge range of patient classification systems or tools are used in critical care units to inform workforce planning, and nursing workload although the application of these methods may not always be relevant, complete or appropriate. The systems or tools used for patient classification and categorization were developed solely for the purpose of more efficient distribution of patient across hospital sections, although now the same systems are used for workforce planning, distribution of workload, determining nurse-patient ratio in critical care settings. However these changes can raise a number of issues related to workforce planning, staffing levels and nursing management in general. Adomat and Hewison evaluate the three main assessment systems used in critical care units to effectively determine the necessary nurse-patient ratio t hat can provide the best quality service in the wards. The application of these tools is to enhance the quality of care by keeping nurse-patient ratio at its optimum. The authors suggest that decisions relating to workload planning and determining the nurse patient ratio are dependent on an understanding of the origins and purpose of the classificatory tools that categorizes patients and measures their dependency on care services. Patient dependency and classification systems as well as patient dependency scoring systems for severity of illness are measures indicating mortality and morbidity although Adomat points out that these dependency measure may not be real indicators or determinants of the nurse-patient ratio that help in measuring nursing input. The costs of providing a nursing service within critical care uses nursing intensity measures to give a framework for nursing management and patient care and also determines the exact role of patient dependency in nurse staffing leve ls. However, components of the nursing role and how it determines standards of care have not been fully determined (Adomat and Hewison, 2004). They point out that careful consideration of patient dependency and classification systems may be necessary to plan, organize and provide a cost effective critical care service. In a similar study, Adomat and Hicks (2003) evaluates the nursing workload in intensive care a there is a growing shortage of nurses in these care units. The problem identified in this shortage lies in the method for calculating the nurse/patient ratio using the Nurse Workload Patient Category scoring and classificatory system use in most intensive care units. The nurse-patient ratio is determined by using the patient category or dependency scales and the general assumption is that the more critically ill a patient is, the more care and nursing time will be required for the patient. Many critically ill patients placed on a high level of mechanical care such as a feeding or ventilator tube and in intensive units may however require less direct personal nursing care than patients who are self ventilating or have been considered to have lower levels of dependence. Thus patient dependence may be addressed by means other than direct nursing care and artificial care and support systems may b used instead of nursing staff. These and other factors show that patent dependency may not be a completely relevant measure for determining nurse –patient ratio or nurse staffing levels and many associate factors have to be considered. This study by Adomat and Hicks use a video recorder to document nurse activity in 48 continuous shifts within two intensive care units and helped to determine the accuracy of the Nursing Workload Patient Category scoring system to measure nurse workload. The data obtained from the video of nurse activity was then correlated with the Patient category scale score that was allocated to the patient by the nurse in charge. The results of this study showed that the nursing skills required in these care units were of low skill type despite the needs of care being complex in general. It was found that nurses spent less time with patients who were categorized as in need of intensive care than those in need and in high dependency range in all units. T he findings indicate that existing nurse patient ratio classifications are inappropriate as nurses spend less and less time with critically ill patients. The authors expose the flaws of classification or scaling systems that tend to correlate care with critical illness. They suggest that radical reconsideration of nursing levels and skills mix should make it possible to increase provisions and levels of intensive care providing the right numbers of staff at the appropriate units where patients need them most suggesting more flexible and alternative approaches to the use of nurse-patient ratios. In a similar study discussing relationship between workload, skill mix and staff supervision, Tibby et al (2004) proposes a systems approach and suggests that hospital adverse events or AE are more likely when sub-optimal working conditions occur. Proper working conditions are thus absolutely necessary to ensure the smooth working of the clinical setting. Tibby and colleagues analyzed the adverse events in a pediatric intensive care unit using a systems approach and observational study to investigate the association between the occurrence of these adverse events and latent risk factors including temporal workload, supervision issues, skills mix, nurse staffing and the interactions between established clinically related risk factors (Tibby et a, 2004). The data was collected form 730 nursing shifts and the analysis was done with logistic regression modeling. The rate of adverse events was 6 for every hundred patient days and the factors associated with increased AE including day shift , patient dependency, number of occupied beds, and simultaneous management related issues although these were considerably decreased with enhanced supervisory ability of the nurses. Decreased number of adverse events have been found to be related to the presence of a senior nurse in charge, high proportion of shifts handled by rostered, trained, permanent staff and the presence of junior doctors. Patient workload factors such as bed occupancy and the extent to which the patient needs help and nursing supervisory levels and level of staffing such as presence of a senior nurse have been found to be associated. This study sheds light on the factors increasing or decreasing adverse events and helps in identifying the issues closely related to the need of regulating and optimizing nurse staffing levels. As we have already suggested through a study by Adomat and Hicks, patients in high dependency units may require more frequent nursing care and higher nurse-patient ratios than critical care units where patients may be supported by artificial methods. According to a study by Garfield et al (2000) high dependency units are increasing in the hospitals and becoming more important as part of a hospital’s facilities. Although the optimum staffing ratio for patients is unknown for such units, the Department of Health and Intensive Care Society recommend a level of one nurse for every two patients. Garfield et al recorded Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System scores and Nurse Dependency Scores in high dependency units over 7 months. The results indicated a weak correlation between nurse dependency score and therapeutic intervention scoring system score. The authors argue that a nurse-patient ratio of 1:2 may be insufficient for the management of a high dependency unit and based on t heir findings recommends a nurse to patient ratio of 2:3. Balogh (1992) points out that the literature on audits of nursing care shows a strong relation between the quality of nursing care provided and nursing labour force and staffing issues. Balogh suggests that all assumptions for setting nurse staffing levels on the basis of variations in patient dependency are unscientific and there are moreover no opportunities to use personal judgment in decision-making within hospitals to determine nurse-patient ratios. Balogh points out that such methods for determining staffing levels as well as audit instruments are outdated and insufficient to optimize service levels. The paper highlights the need for greater flexibility, more decision making power, and a more significant role of nurses’ personal judgment in selection and management of appropriate nurse staffing levels in dependency and critical care units. Conclusion: In this review of literature on the exact role of patient dependency in determining nurse staffing levels, we began by suggesting that it is generally believed that the more critical condition a patient is in, the higher the requirements of direct care suggesting that nurse patient ratio should be high in critical care units. This assumption however has been refuted by studies which shows that such clear criteria may not be sufficient for nurse management and staffing level decisions and other factors have to be considered. These include artificial means of life support and other mechanical devices that minimizes the need for manual staffing and reduces a critical patient’s nursing needs. A related study suggested that high dependency units rather than critical care units should be provided with higher levels of staffing although many other factors such as supervisory levels of senior nurses, skills available and already established method of determining nurse patient ratios s eem to be crucial factors. Along with the approach taken by several authors we can also suggest that personal judgment of nurses on the care needed by patients rather than inflexible scaling or scoring systems should be used by hospitals to determine staffing levels, considering patient dependency levels as well. Bibliography Adomat R, Hicks C. Measuring nursing workload in intensive care: an observational study using closed circuit video cameras. J Adv Nurs. 2003 May;42(4):402-12. Adomat R, Hewison A. Assessing patient category/dependence systems for determining the nurse/patient ratio in ICU and HDU: a review of approaches. J Nurs Manag. 2004 Sep;12(5):299-308. Ruth Balogh Audits of nursing care in Britain: A review and a critique of approaches to validating them International Journal of Nursing Studies, Volume 29, Issue 2, May 1992, Pages 119-133 The importance of data in verifying nurse staffing requirements Intensive Care Nursing, Volume 4, Issue 1, March 1988, Pages 21-23 Lynne Callaway and Edward Major Curtis C. A system of measurement of patient dependency and nurse utilization. Aust Nurses J. 1977 Apr;6(10):36-8, 42. Donoghue J, Decker V, Mitten-Lewis S, Blay N. Critical care dependency tool: monitoring the changes. Aust Crit Care. 2001 May;14(2):56-63. Garfield M, Jeffrey R, Ridley S. An assessment of the staffing level required for a high-dependency unit. Anaesthesia. 2000 Feb;55(2):137-43. Hurst K. Relationships between patient dependency, nursing workload and quality. Int J Nurs Stud. 2005 Jan;42(1):75-84. Hearn CR, Hearn CJ. A study of patient dependency and nurse staffing in nursing homes for the elderly in three Australian states. Community Health Stud. 1986;10(3 Suppl):20s-34s. Miller A. Nurse/patient dependencyis it iatrogenic? J Adv Nurs. 1985 Jan;10(1):63-9. OBrien GJ. The intuitive method of patient dependency. Nurs Times. 1986 Jun 4-10;82(23):57-61. Prescott PA, Ryan JW, Soeken KL, Castorr AH, Thompson KO, Phillips CY. The Patient Intensity for Nursing Index: a validity assessment. Res Nurs Health. 1991 Jun;14(3):213-21. Seelye A. Hospital ward layout and nurse staffing. J Adv Nurs. 1982 May;7(3):195-201. Tibby SM, Correa-West J, Durward A, Ferguson L, Murdoch IA. Adverse events in a paediatric intensive care unit: relationship to workload, skill mix and staff supervision. Intensive Care Med. 2004 Jun;30(6):1160-6. Epub 2004 Apr 6. Williams A. Dependency scoring in palliative care. Nurs Stand. 1995 Oct 25-31;10(5):27-30. For scoring systems Depatment of health – www.dh.gov.uk Department of Health (2000) Comprehensive Critical Care; a review of adult critical care services. London. The stationary office. Its also available from the Department of health website.

Cultural Background Knowledge And English Teaching Cultural Studies Essay

Cultural Background Knowledge And English Teaching Cultural Studies Essay Language is a mirror which reflects the entire culture, and every nation has its own culture. Language learning is inseparable from the understanding of cultural background knowledge. Cultural background knowledge is very important in language teaching. Here I want to talk about the relationship between them and how to teach. I. Introduction Language is a product of society, cultural differences led to many difficulties language learning, if you want to learn English as well, you must grasp cultural knowledge. Language learning is inseparable from the understanding of cultural background knowledge. It is necessary for teachers to pass on cultural background knowledge to students. II. Cultural  background  knowledge  and  English  teaching 1. Problems aroused by different cultural backgrounds Cultural plays an important role in language. They are linked closely. Different countries have different languages and cultures. Because of cultural differences, misunderstandings may arise, although the language used in communication may be faultless. The same words or expressions may not mean the same thing to different peoples. Because of cultural differences, a serious question may cause amusement or laughter ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ºA harmless statement may cause displeasure or anger. On the one hand, without language, culture would not be possible. On the other hand, language is influenced and shaped by culture; it reflects culture. Each culture is unique. Learning a foreign language means more than merely mastering the pronunciation, grammar, words and idioms. It means learning the ways in which their language reflects the ideas, customs, and behavior of their society, learning to understand their language of the mind. Learning a language, in fact, is inseparable from learning its culture. In china, dragon means lucky, but in the foreigners eyes dragon is the embodiment of evil. In China, we can free to ask a persons age, salary, or an items price, in the West, this is very impolite. A foreign teacher see a female student wearing a beautiful dress, she looks very nice. The teacher said happily, You look very beautiful today! The girl said shyly, No, no. This is an ordinary dress. The teacher praise a students English is pretty well, Your English is quite fluent. The student at once modestly said, No, no, my English is quite poor. The two Students answer is that the teacher never thought; and the teacher doesnt understand is that obviously female student wears the dress which looks pretty, the second students English is very good, but why both of them say, No. They make the teacher feel that they dont have their own opinions and dont know how to distinguish what is good, what is bad. A student, he met a foreigner in the park, he would like to practice his own spoken language, he said, Whats your name? What are you doing here? Follow me! The foreigner confused and thought that he did something wrong, and he had to be arrested and inquired. At last, let us see the following dialogues in many textbooks: 1. A: Whats your name? B: My name is Xiao Hong. A: How old are you? B: Im eleven. 2. A: Where are you going? B: Im going to the zoo. In china, when people meet each other, they always say, Where are you going? Are you out? although people do not want to know where you go. All the above dialogues, although forms are correct, they are not appropriate. So in language teaching, we should not only pass on knowledge of language and train learners competence of utilizing language, but also enhance teaching of relative cultural background knowledge. 2. Importance of cultural background knowledge in language teaching As we all know, Language is a part of the culture, they can not be separated each other. Therefore its necessary to understand the cultural background knowledge. In Modern high schools, the teachers mainly cultivate ability in listening, speaking, reading and writing, the ultimate aim is to train students to use English communicate with each other, the four aspects are inseparable from the cultural background knowledge. Without language, culture would not be possible. Language is influenced and shaped by culture; it reflects culture. Some people say that listening is an important aspect of communicative competence. Listening ability, reading ability, the listeners language skill, cultural background knowledge, thinking skill are closely related. If the language capability of the listener is relatively strong, but he knows a little cultural background knowledge, it is difficult to understand the meaning of the listening materials, even he makes a mistake in understanding. From this, culture plays an important role in English teaching. Speaking is not merely concerned with pronunciation and intonation. Students can only improve their oral English and reach the aim of communication by means of enormous reading, mastering rich language material and acquaintance of western culture. Therefore, in oral training, teachers should lay stress on factuality of language and adopt some material approaching to daily life, such as daily dialogues with tape, magazines, newspapers and report etc., because the material is from real life, and it helps students to be well acquainted with standard pronunciation and intonation, to speak English appropriate to the occasion, to understand western way of life and customs etc. Otherwise, misunderstanding and displeasure are inevitably aroused. In English, there are so many euphemisms that sometimes its hard to know the other ones actual mood. So we should pay attention to our answer. Reading English articles requires a certain language basis, but the competence of reading comprehension is not entirely related to ones language level. Knowledge of cultural background is also important. You can guess the meaning according to available language material, cultural background and logical reasoning. However, when we read English articles, differences between Chinese and western cultures often bring us many difficulties. People always recognize which kind of articles wrote by foreigners, which kind of articles wrote by Chinese. There are three main reasons, first, the writers English level is not so high, second, Chinese and western have different thinking ways, third, the articles style is very different because of different cultural. These three aspects show cultural play an important role in writing. In writing, we often use some modifiers to enhance the color of the article, and the articles are so vivid. Western thinks the magpie is not a sign of good luck, but Chinese think magpie is a symbol of celebration. People always say: Magpie call, something good will be happened. Therefore, cultural difference is the key that makes the articles be natural or not. If you want to achieve the level of writing of foreigners, you must grasp cultural background knowledge. Every aspects of language always reflects cultural, It means language learning and cultural background knowledge learning are not separate d. The content of cultural is very abundant, in the teaching process, the teachers shall explain cultural background knowledge in any time, make the students take language and cultural knowledge into listening, speaking, reading, writing skills, so as to the students can easily communicate with foreigners and read foreign materials. Translating and writing cant be separated from cultural background knowledge. We shall take the word dog as an example. To English-speaking people and Chinese, there are very different meanings. Lai Pi Gou and Sang JiaZhiquan are often used to describe disgusting people. But dog in English, especially in proverbs, is a commendatory term. If we translate dog into Chinese dog without exception, we may make jokes. For example: 1. Every dog has his day. 2. You are, indeed, a lucky dog., 3. Last night my father came home dog-tired. Because some learners are not well aware of the cultural differences, they take it for granted that the three sentences should be translated into the following: 1.à ¦Ã‚ ¯Ã‚ Ãƒ ¦Ã‚ Ã‚ ¡Ãƒ §Ã¢â‚¬ ¹-à ©Ã†â€™Ã‚ ½Ãƒ ¦Ã…“†°Ãƒ ¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¡Ã‚ ªÃƒ ¥Ã‚ ·Ã‚ ±Ãƒ §Ã… ¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒ ¨Ã…  Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒ ¦- ¥Ãƒ £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ 2.à ¤Ã‚ ½Ã‚  Ãƒ §Ã…“Å ¸Ãƒ ¦Ã‹Å" ¯Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã¢â€š ¬Ãƒ ¦Ã‚ Ã‚ ¡Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ¹Ã‚ ¸Ãƒ ¨Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ Ãƒ §Ã… ¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒ §Ã¢â‚¬ ¹-à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ 3.à ¦Ã‹Å" ¨Ãƒ ¦Ã¢â€ž ¢Ã… ¡Ãƒ ¦Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃƒ §Ã‹â€ Ã‚ ¸Ãƒ §Ã‹â€ Ã‚ ¸Ãƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ… ¾Ãƒ ¥Ã‹â€ Ã‚ °Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ®Ã‚ ¶Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã‚ ­Ãƒ ¥Ã†â€™Ã‚ Ãƒ §Ã¢â‚¬ ¹-à ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã¢â€š ¬Ãƒ ¦Ã‚  Ã‚ ·Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ¾-à §Ã‚ ´Ã‚ ¯Ãƒ £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ In fact, the right translations are as follows: 1.à ¤Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ºÃƒ ¤Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ºÃƒ §Ã… ¡Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¦Ã…“†°Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ¾-à ¦Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ Ãƒ ¦- ¶Ãƒ £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ 2.à ¤Ã‚ ½Ã‚  Ãƒ §Ã…“Å ¸Ãƒ ¦Ã‹Å" ¯Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã‚ ªÃƒ ¥Ã‚ ¹Ã‚ ¸Ãƒ ¨Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ Ãƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¿Ãƒ £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ 3.à ¦Ã‹Å" ¨Ãƒ ¦Ã¢â€ž ¢Ã… ¡Ãƒ ¦Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃƒ §Ã‹â€ Ã‚ ¶Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ²Ãƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ… ¾Ãƒ ¥Ã‹â€ Ã‚ °Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ®Ã‚ ¶Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã‚ ­Ãƒ ©Ã‚ Ã… ¾Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ¸Ã‚ ¸Ãƒ §Ã‚ ´Ã‚ ¯Ãƒ £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ It is clear that cultural background knowledge is necessary in language teaching. Teachers should help students to solve the difficulties in language as well as in culture. Thus, teachers should further improve your quality of teaching. Especially you should teach cultural background knowledge as possible as you can. 3. How to carry out the teaching of cultural background knowledge Firstly teachers should choose proper teaching material. Especially the foreign material should be used, just like dialogues, next, teachers should explain cultural factors involved in the material with purpose. There is an example like this: Helen: Hello, Susan, where are you going? Susan: Im going to get a magazine and some chocolate. Helen: Lets go to that newsagent in the corner. I want some cigarettes. Susan: I want to go the one down the road. Ive got to send off this parcel and there is a post-office in that one. It tells us in England some newsagentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¡those shops not only sell sweets and cigarettes, but also install post office where people can send off letters and parcels. But in China, there are not such shops. If teachers dont explain for this, students may feel puzzled. Secondly, Teachers should take cultural background knowledge and English teaching into four aspects of language learning, they are listening, speaking, reading, writing skills. Teachers should give some information about cultural background knowledge in listening course. A lot of students listening level is not so high, not only because they do not grasp English words and their grammatical concept is unclear but also they dont have cultural background knowledge. There are two jokes here: à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚  A: Where are you from? B: Ill ask her (Alaska) A: Why do you ask her? à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¡A: Where are you from? B: How are you? (Hawaii) In the two jokes, to A, B do not understand question, but if you know the United States has two states: Alaska and Hawaii, then A will not make a mistake. From this, in listening course, teachers give cultural background knowledge to students, not only enhance the listening skill of them, but also enable students to obtain knowledge. In reading course, teachers should explain cultural background knowledge. If you want to read, you must have English basic. Cultural background knowledge is so important. Thirdly, in the classroom, teacher should pay attention to proper language forms as well as suitable use of language. One way of classroom teaching is to ask students to make similar dialogues to the text. A student inevitably needs to play a role and carry on a conversation according to a certain role. Teacher should attract the students attention to his role and point out his expressions which are improper for his character or the occasion. Furthermore, remind students to pay attention to details such as pronunciation, intonation, countenance wording, gesture etc. Fourthly, teachers should use good native English videotapes and films in teaching, and then organize discussions. Teachers should use pictures, movies in teaching, students can easily understand some cultural background knowledge, and Western social and cultural factors. Fifthly, encourage students to communicate with native English speakers. But so far, we havent carried out such activities enough. In contact with native speakers, in such relaxed conversations, students can learn much knowledge, which cannot be learned in the classroom. Sixthly, hold some lectures about cultures and customs, comparing Chinese culture with western culture. In teaching, teachers should pay attention to cultural differences and study these differences. As English teachers, we should not only help students to learn a foreign language, but also to learn social and cultural background knowledge. Only so, students can widen their knowledge and thus further learn English well. III. Conclusion Language is a mirror which reflects the entire culture, and every nation has its own culture. Language learning is inseparable from the understanding of cultural background knowledge. Language is a product of society, cultural differences led to many difficulties language learning, if you want to learn English as well, you must grasp cultural knowledge. It is necessary for teachers to pass on cultural background knowledge to students. In short, there are great differences between Chinese and Western culture, language and culture are inseparable, if you do not understand the foreign language and cultural background, you can not correctly understand and use language. Not only enable students to master the basic knowledge, but should also strengthen cultural Background Knowledge in teaching, so that they learn and come from different social background, cultural practices, political systems of the people live in harmony, so as to really reach in English teaching purposes

Value of an Education Essay -- Education School College

Value of an Education In today's society education is really important. Education has evolved a lot over time and has shaped American society. Back in the day, education was not as important because many jobs did not have educational requirements. In those days you could have a high school diploma and get a good job. Today, if you only have a high school diploma the types of jobs that you can get include fast food restaurants or maybe construction work. Getting your college degree is very essential to your economic success and your ability to get a good job that pays well. Prior to entering college in the fall, I felt that college would be very challenging for me because of what my friends that were already attending college told me. I feel that high school as a whole does not prepare you for work at the college level. Many people in high school study very little or they might not study at all and they can still maintain an A average. At the college level you can not study very little and expect to get the same results. If high school better prepared students for college there would be more college students making it to their sophomore years of college instead of dropping out. Another big difference between high school and college is the fact that there is so much freedom in college. In high school you are on such a tight leash that you are forced to do things that you aren't forced to do in college. For example, in high school, if you don't go to class, your parents will be notified. In college, you're on your own and you need to make the decision t o go class as scheduled. I think that this is one of the main reasons why students flunk out of college. Many students at the age of 18 and 19 see that most classes don't take ... ...education very highly, so it is fitting that the University of Kentucky do the same. Values teach us that we can reach as high as we can, rather than cutting ourselves short. The University offers highest standards of achievement which enable students to realize their full potential. I believe that the University of Kentucky is a good school that supports every student to be the best they can be. " A school that operates with a set of values that ensures a common and consistent code of respectful and responsible behavior makes a significant difference. Students learn far better when they are a part of a school that consciously applies values education policies, behavior strategies and teaching programs that employs trained teachers who can discuss values issues in all areas of the curriculum." Lawley, Judy. Living Values. Values Education, 2003