Second Language Acquisition in Children Essay Example

Second Language Acquisition in Children Essay Why is it so difficult for some children to learn second-languages in school and why do some children, who seem to have learned the language, nonetheless do poorly in their academic work? These questions have long puzzled educators, but they have become more salient in many parts of the world as millions of children enter school each year with limited knowledge of the language of instruction. In Europe and the United States alone it is estimated that ten million children come from families where the language of the home is different from the language of the country in which they live. In many parts of Asia and Africa it is assumed that an educated person will know one or more languages beyond the language of the home. Yet learning a second language in school is a slow and tedious task for most children some of whom never succeed in becoming bilingual (Eckman 21). One reason why children find learning second languages in school difficult may be that they are taught in the wrong way. This is a perennial argument made by educational innovators who periodically announce some new technique that will revolutionize language teaching in school. Indeed, the teaching of second languages is a long and fascinating tale. A brief review of various developments will be presented in this paper. Another reason why children fail to learn second languages well in school relates to understanding of what it is that they have to learn. There may be more to learning a second language in a school setting (especially when that language is the language of instruction) than simply learning how to speak the language well. In addition to the question of what must be learned (the product of learning), there is the question of how learning takes place (the process of learning). The paper will deal with the cognitive and linguistic processes that the child uses in learning a second language. The demands of the classroom What is it that children from minority language backgrounds learning a second language in school need to learn? What language skills are needed for school? What is it that the school demands of the child? How can one characterize the language of the classroom (whether it be a bilingual or a monolingual classroom), and how does this language differ from the language the child has learned to use in natural communication settings? We will write a custom essay sample on Second Language Acquisition in Children specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Second Language Acquisition in Children specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Second Language Acquisition in Children specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer When the six-year-old child comes to school, he or she has mastered the task of learning to communicate in the first language. The child has learned to use language to express needs and feelings within the social context of the everyday life of the home. The classroom presents a new complexity: In some sense, all formal education is bilingual, since the forms and ways of expression of written language never reflect the spoken language exactly. Words, ways of speaking and forms of discourse are used in the school setting which are not used in ordinary conversation and in other nonschool settings. The first aim of formal education since its beginnings in the third millennium B.C. has always been to teach the pupils a written form of language (Ferguson, Houghton, Wells, 1977, p. 159). Just what are the ways of speaking and forms of discourse used in the school? There have been a number of discussions of this issue and different authors have somewhat different terminology to distinguish the language of the home and the language of school. What of children who have to learn ‘the language of school’ in a second language? When the language of instruction is different from the language the child speaks, the child has a dual task. It is not simply a question of learning the formal, academic language of school; the child has to do this in a second language. Some children seem to have no trouble with this dual task; others find it very difficult. One particularly influential hypothesis as to why children succeed or fail in a school where instruction is in a second language is the ‘linguistic interdependence hypothesis,’ proposed by Jim Cummins (1980). According to this hypothesis, the level of competence a child attains in a second language learned in a school context is a function of certain competencies attained in the childs first language. In particular, Cummins suggested that the use of certain functions of language and the development of vocabulary and concepts in the first language are important determinants of success in a school situation where instruction is in a second language (Eckman 78-80). In elaborating on this position, Cummins (1980) suggested that there are three general aspects of a childs knowledge of language that are closely related and that constitute the basic skills that children need to realize positive benefits from a bilingual school experience. The first is what Becker (1977) has called vocabulary-concept knowledge specifically, the childs understanding of the concepts or meanings embodied in words. Obviously, if the child does not have any understanding (or a very limited understanding) of the concepts represented in the words on a printed page, reading comprehension is impaired. A second basic skill involves metalinguistic insights, especially two specific insights: (a) the realization that print is meaningful, and (b) the realization that written language is different from spoken language. The first insight is necessary for the child to be motivated to read; the second helps the child give structure and predictability to written language: Unless the child realizes that written language is different from spoken language, predictions about the meaning of text are likely to be inaccurate. The third prerequisite is the ability to decontextualize language. That is, the child must be able to take language out of its immediate context. This capacity relates to a considerable extent to experiences the child has had before coming to school. Children who have had the experience of being read to are aware that written language is different from spoken language. The processes of second language acquisition What are the mental representations that underpin second language acquisition (SLA)? What is the nature of the mapping processes involved in learning them? To what extent are these representations learned unconsciously? And to what extent are explicit learning or explicit instruction necessary in order to attain native-like competence, fluency, and idiomaticity? SLA in children is the learning of constructions that relate form and meaning. Some constructions and interpretations are much more frequent than others. Fluent speakers of a language implicitly know this and their processing systems are tuned to expect them accordingly. Every element of surface language form is multiply ambiguous in its interpretation, just as every meaning can be expressed in a variety of ways. Fluent language learners are tuned to these mapping strengths: They know implicitly the most likely interpretation of a linguistic cue as well as the relative likelihoods of the range of alternatives and how these ch ange in differing contexts. Their language processing is sensitive to input frequency at all levels of grain: phonology and phonotactics, reading, spelling, lexis, morphosyntax, formulaic language, language comprehension, grammaticality, sentence production, and syntax. Thus, SLA must involve acquisition of the strengths of these associations. The influence of the first language The evidence from research on second language learning in children is that connection between languages is not as inevitable or ubiquitous as was once supposed. Contrastive analysis, in its traditional form, was not able to account for the vast majority of errors that second-language learners made; in fact, learners from quite different language backgrounds appeared to make the same types of mistakes in the target language. Research in the early 1970s (especially Dulay Burt, 1973) suggested that regardless of their first language, children learning English as a second language made similar kinds of mistakes. If, as contrastive analysis supposed, first-language structures were the major source of a second-language learners errors, one would expect that children from such structurally dissimilar first languages as Chinese and Norwegian would make dissimilar mistakes in English. However, the research seemed to indicate that they did not, but instead made the same kinds of errors error s that were similar to those made developmentally by children acquiring English as a first language. Subsequent studies (e.g., Wode, 1978) revealed that transfer from the first language does occur in the speech of children from certain first-language backgrounds and at certain times in the learning process. It is an exaggeration to say that transfer from the first language is minimal and unimportant. The acquisition of phonological, syntactic, and morphological structures in a second language involves an interplay of both developmental and transfer factors. Transfer errors do occur and are extremely interesting for the researcher because of what they reveal about the learners strategies. Nonetheless, the influence of the learners first language is more indirect and restricted than was once supposed. The evidence suggests that preschool children approach the task of second-language learning in much the same way they approached the task of learning their first language. Some authors speak of the reactivation of childrens facility for language acquisition (Corder 76-90) or of a creative construction process (Dulay Burt 89). The idea behind these notions is that children seem to be guided in second-language learning, as in first-language learning, by strategies that cause them to formulate certain types of hypotheses about the language system being learned. They reconstruct the rules for the speech they hear on the basis of these hypotheses, until the mismatch between the target language they are exposed to and their own speech productions is resolved. SLA is the learning of constructions relating form and meaning The task of the language learner is to make sense of language. Understanding is built, or falls, depending on the adequacy of the learners construction set for meanings. Language construction sets are as infinitely combinatorial and creative as are Lego and Meccano, and as limiting also. Without the right piece, the support buckles and the structure crashes. Without preparatory organization and practice, activity focuses on searching for the right block rather than the process of building itself. Less tangible than plastic or metal, the language learners kit consists of constructions that map forms and meanings—the recurrent patterns of linguistic elements that serve some well-defined linguistic function. They may be complex structures, like Lego arches, trucks, or houses. Some frequent, smaller structures, like generic Lego arches, walls, and wheeled axles, are abstract patterns—the noun phrase, the prepositional phrase, and so forth. Others come preformed, like Lego w indows, doors, and beams (where kit frequency inversely relates to beam size)—formulas like â€Å"how are you?†, â€Å"I think Ill†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , â€Å"a great deal of†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , and â€Å"survival of the fittest.† A construction is part of the linguistic system, accepted as a convention in the speech community, and entrenched as grammatical knowledge in the learners mind. Constructions may be complex or simple. Hence, â€Å"morphology, † â€Å"syntax, † and â€Å"lexicon† are uniformly represented in construction grammar, unlike both traditional grammar and generative grammar. Constructions are symbolic: In addition to specifying the defining properties of morphological, syntactic, and lexical form, a construction also specifies the semantic, pragmatic, and discourse functions associated with it. Constructions form a structured inventory of a speakers knowledge of language, in which schematic constructions can be abstracted over the less schematic ones that are inferred inductively by the learner in acquisition. A construction may provide a partial specification of the structure of an utterance. If language is represented as a community of constructions, induced from exemplars and evidencing classic prototype effects, then the understanding of language acquisition can be informed by classic psychological research on category formation, schema learning, and classification. Construction-based theories of child language acquisition (Tomasello 2000) emphasize the piecemeal learning of concrete exemplars and widespread lexical-specificity in LI grammar development. A high proportion of childrens early multiword speech is produced from a developing collection of slot-and-frame patterns based around chunks of one or two words or phrases (e.g., I can + verb; wheres + noun + gone?). Children are very productive with these patterns and both the number of patterns and their structure develop over time. They are, however, lexically specific: A child who consistently uses two patterns, / can + X and / don 7 + X, will typically show little or no overlap in the verbs used in the X slots of these two constructions (Tomasello 2000). Second and foreign language acquisition is different from LI acquisition in numerous respects. First, it differs in conceptual development: In child language acquisition, knowledge of the world and knowledge of language are developing simultaneously, whereas adult SLA builds upon preexisting conceptual knowledge. Moreover, adult learners have sophisticated formal operational means of thinking and can treat language as an object of explicit learning, that is, of conscious problem solving and deduction, to a much greater degree than can children (Ellis 1994). Second, it differs in language input: The typical LI pattern of acquisition results from naturalistic exposure in situations where caregivers naturally scaffold development (Tomasello 2000), whereas classroom environments for second or foreign language teaching can distort the patterns of exposure, function, medium, and social interaction (Ellis 1994). Third, it differs in transfer from LI: Adult SLA builds on preexisting LI knowl edge. Phonotactics People are very good at judging whether or not nonwords are native-like and young children are sensitive to these regularities when trying to repeat nonwords. Phonotactic competence simply emerges from using language, from the primary linguistic data of the lexical patterns that a speaker knows (Bailey Hahn, 2001). Bailey asked native speakers to judge nonword stimuli for whether they were more or less like English words. The nonwords were created with relatively high or low probability legal phonotactic patterns as determined by the logarithm of the product of probabilities of the onset and rime constituents of the nonword. The mean wordlikeness judgments for these nonword stimuli had an extremely strong relationship with expected probability (r .87). An emergentist account of phonotactic competence is thus that any new nonword is compared to the exemplars that are in memory: The closer it matches their characteristics, the more wordlike it is judged (Eckman 87). The gathering of such relevant distributional data starts in infancy. Saffran, Aslin, and Newport (1996) demonstrated that 8 month old infants exposed for only 2 minutes to unbroken strings of spoken nonsense syllables (e.g., ‘bidakupado’) are able to detect the difference between threesyllable sequences that appeared as a unit and sequences that also appeared in their learning set but in random order. Phonological Awareness Childrens awareness of the sounds of their language, particularly at the segmental levels of phoneme, is important in their acquisition of literacy. It is an awareness that develops gradually. De Cara and Goswami (2002) show that 4- to 7- year-old children are better able to identify the word with the odd sound (e.g., â€Å"bag, rag, jack†), rather than when the stimuli came from sparse ones (e.g., â€Å"pig, dig, lid†). The children were also better in short-term memory span tasks at remembering nonword triples from dense phonological neighborhoods like â€Å"cham, shen, deek† than triples like â€Å"deeve, chang, shem† derived from sparse ones. These phonological neighborhood density effects are driven by vocabulary age, not by chronological age. Schmidt (1990) proposed a Lexical Restructuring Hypothesis of these effects whereby, as vocabulary increases, more and more similar words are acquired. Context and Second Language Acquisition One incontrovertible fact that scholars in the field of second language acquisition can agree on is that language is not learned in isolation. What is not clear is what the role of context is as learners move forward to learn forms, to leam meanings, and to make the necessary connections between those forms and meanings. Nearly 22 years ago Gass Madden (1985) published the first book dealing with input in second language acquisition. Given the history of the field of second language acquisition, the role of input had never received much attention until that time. In the following years, the role of input, which is of course central to any discussion of context and form-meaning connections, has endured and yet is still not entirely clear. Todays research world is dealing with greater theoretical and methodological sophistication and a greater focus on psycholinguistic aspects of form-meaning relationships than in the 1980s. Conclusions Researchers argue that input is necessary for acquisition, defined as the development of an underlying mental representation. Certainly, input is necessary, but interaction plays an important role for acquisition because it facilitates the attentional link that is crucial to understanding how learners extract information from the environment and use it in the development of their second language grammars. This is very similar to conclusion about the roles of input and of output. Acquisition is input dependent. As stated earlier, there can be no acquisition without input. Output is similarly important, but is not a sine qua non. However, as shown in the study described here, the combination leads to greater learning than either one alone. What seems to be emerging is that there are numerous factors that guide second language acquisition. They can be investigated in isolation and their significance can be determined, but they should also be investigated as interacting and converging fa ctors to truly see how they operate in the learning of a second language for children. As many have said before, selective attention is a crucial mechanism in the development of second language knowledge. Importantly, it is what links the context with internal learning mechanisms. But part of the controversy as to whether it is essential for learning may be obscured by the fact that no one has looked carefully enough at the contributing factors to attention of which there are many. To just take the examples, it is necessary to understand the what of attention—that is, what parts of language can be attended to and can benefit from focal attention—and to pay attention to the when of attention. For example, is it in conjunction with large doses of input, the socalled input-flooding with regard to positive and negative evidence? Is it the same at all proficiency levels? What sort of input is necessary? Is input through interaction necessary? Is input through specific explanation necessary? But, this too, is only a drop in the bucket. In sum, this paper consid ers the questions of whether or not context is relevant and begins to examine the nature of the role of the environment. An initial attempt was made to understand what internal mechanisms are necessary for linkage with the linguistic context.

A Few Words With Gordon Parks essays

A Few Words With Gordon Parks essays Q: What inspired you to compose music? @ Well, it is quite strange really; youre going to think Im crazy. One summer when I was about seven, I was hunting June bugs in our cornfield when I heard something in the cornstalks. The noise got louder and turned into music, and all I could do was just stand there, with my mouth full of mulberries (which I now think are poisonous), confused, looking up at the slow-drifting clouds to see if they were where the music was coming from. The strings, horns and drums were as real to me as the sunlight, and I had a feeling that this music was stuck inside my head, that is it would have been there even if I had no ears- sort of like Beethoven. So, I covered my ears with my hands, and the sounds were still there and they continued until all the clouds moved away and there was nothing above me but the blue sky. Then the music was gone just the same as it had came, and I ran toward the house a little scared but jubilant at the same time. But since no one was around I just went ahead and sco oted up on the piano stool and started banging on our Kimball upright-trying to imitate the sounds I had heard. You see, my father was out in the field working and he dropped his hoe and ran to the house hearing all the noise. He opened the door and watched me with amazement because I was sitting there at the piano, screaming as loud as I could! I think that this introduction to the fact that the joyous sounds of nature could be expressed through music influenced my life in a great way, no matter if it was because of some berries I had been eating, or as the will of God. Either way Im grateful for the way that it has changed my life. Q: Did you ever write any music, and if so, did it ever get it published? @ No, I never really wrote music because I didnt know how. I started playing piano the same day that I heard the music out in the field, and started t ...

Print Advertisement for Product Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Print Advertisement for Product - Assignment Example The advertisement of the product by the company has been effective in influencing the customers informing them about the various quality features and natural ingredients used in its production. In this respect, the company with its quality ingredients and other essential characteristics is effective in attracting customers and changing their preferences from national to local branded products. Contextually, informing the customers about the quality and natural features of the product was able to evoke their preferences for natural ingredients and their health concern too. Focused on the concept of an informative advertisement, it also promoted regarding the user convenience feature, which also attracted quite a considerable number of customers (Batada, Seitz, Wootan & Story, 2008).  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  3. Consumer group that the ad excludesIrrespective of the widened attempt of the ad, customers of certain age group can be observed to have been excluded from its group of targeted audiences. In this regard, the ‘Impulsive group of customers’ can be identified as the group excluded from the dais of the ad’s targeted audiences. This is because of the fact that these set of customers are unplanned buyers and prefer discount as variable to choose between products that is not being offered by the brand owing to which, the ad apparently misses on this aspect. Moreover, the ad does not show any time limit in buying the product, to lure this particular group of audiences, and thus, the ad can be said to exclude the unplanned. buyers from its ad campaign (Karbasivar & Yarahmadi, 2011). 4. Evaluation of the advertisement and its relationship with cultural value

Answer brief question about budhism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Answer brief question about budhism - Essay Example Although I agree that the states of nirodha and nirvana relieve one of all tensions, yet these states are only myths for individuals who are in their senses, and are thus unattainable in the real sense. Likewise, the concept of a path in which there is no suffering at all is false. Concluding, I feel that all truths are objectionable except for the second one. 2. Ans. Budda is thought of as Vishnu’s Avatar in Hinduism. Bhagavata Purana considers Buddha as the 24th avatar, and says that Buddha prefigures the last incarnation. Likewise, many Hindus consider Buddha as the 9th avatar. I disagree with the belief that Buddha is similar to a Hindu god in figure. Affiliating the figure of Buddha with the Hindu god is a viewpoint that tries to merge Buddhism into Hinduism, whereas the two are totally different religions in reality. The teachings of the Buddha deny Veda’s authority. 3. Ans. Symbols in Buddhism are meaningful. They represent certain concepts and convey certain mes sages. Quite often, symbols boost the communication and enhance the conveyance of concepts. â€Å"â€Å"Mandala,† a Sanskrit word literally meaning, â€Å"a circle and surroundings,† is a universal symbol of enlightenment for both the viewer and the artist† (Webster University). Mandala is of a huge significance in the Buddhists’ worship.

The Limits of Efficiency Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Limits of Efficiency - Essay Example And so unions formed, and enough of a public outcry was raised to stir Congress to action. The COPE Act sounds like a promise to return to the easier days before regulation in some parts of the cable television and Internet industry. Because it can take months for cable companies to be awarded franchises, this bill sets up a system of "national cable franchising" in Title I (Summary of COPE Act). The bonus is that applications will now be awarded in thirty days. However, this will lead to the elimination of competition, and insufficient media infrastructure in poor communities, and so this bill threatens the access of many to affordable media. As a result, it should not be made into law as it is currently written. It may seem that creating one franchising standard nationwide would be a positive change. As it stands now, cable providers have to work out local franchising agreements with every local government where they want to offer their programming. Because telephone companies want to enter the cable television industry, they also have to go through this maze of negotiation, and one force behind the COPE Act is the telephone companies' complaint that the negotiation process is excessively "burdensome"(COPE Act of 2006). However, for this bill to be fair to all Americans, it should contain more specific requirements for infrastructure. There are currently no requirements for providers to set up infrastructure to all neighborhoods within a particular market, and so people in rich neighborhoods could end up with more choices, and therefore better pricing, than those in poor neighborhoods (COPE Act of 2006). Without this requirement, companies are likely to avoid areas where collections and maintenance costs could be higher, because of higher occurrences of delinquent accounts and vandalism. If one segment of the American population has the chance to receive lower cable prices, then all segments should have that chance. Also, by creating a national set of franchising requirements, this bill takes away the ability of state and local government to regulate the cable industry in the area of consumer protection, giving that ability instead to the FCC, an already burdened government agency that does not have the time to regulate the cable industry's consumer practices as well. The FCC is not currently authorized to order refunds, as state and local governments are - the FCC only has the power to fine companies, and that money just goes to the government - not to the victims (COPE Act of 2006). Another area of concern has to do with public, educational, and government channels, or PEG TV. If cable companies no longer have to answer to municipal and state governments, it will no longer have the incentive to give up channels for public/community access space (Davies). This will even further reduce the amount of non-commercial media available

Is Character Education is more important today?

Is Character Education is more important today? Is Character Education is more important today than ever? Weve become a society that has not been taught basic moral values. We constantly see in the news that character is set aside for the feeling of the moment. Anger, jealousy, hatred, and selfishness are instead placed center stage and acted upon. The time has come to bring character to the forefront again and raise the moral values we have as a society, and as individuals. Is it to late to start teaching character? No, No matter what the circumstances, or who is involved, everyone can benefit from character education. Both children and adults will see positive changes in their lives when this character education program is followed. With it, we have a working society of self-controlled, respectful individuals, who think before they act and consider the consequences of their actions before deciding what direction those actions will take. Students will then make the right choices. The idea of introducing citizenship in middle school in my opinion is more important than a core curriculum requirement. The understanding of citizenship for middle school students will help students develop a perceptive of what it means to be a responsible member of a community. Many students do not correlate their own behaviors and how it affects their own community. The lessons within the unit will help students to reflect on their own ideologies of citizenship. Also the lesson plans will force students to think about how they can change their behavior to become better citizen in their own communities. Citizenship education helps students understand what it means to fit in to communities. Citizenship education engages students because it provides students an opportunity to reflect on their own experiences. Teaching citizenship to our students in the middle schools will ensure that students can contribute to the quality of life in their communities. Citizenship education is needed to help recreate the equilibrium that citizenship and community mean the same to all within the community. As middle school student move forward in their academic careers many aspects of life will be revealed to them. Racism, sexism, peer acceptance, religion, and crime are a few issues that middle school students will deal with in their communities. Also many communities are filled with poverty, drug abuse, and apathy towards education and these are the very communities that many of our students will come from. Students who understand the meaning of what a good citizen is will learn to become more tolerant, understanding, and sympathetic to other people and their individual needs. Students will realize that they have rights and responsibilities as citizens in their communities, which could lead to better opportunities for the students and their communities. The personal, cognitive, and social development of students are the focal point of middle school communities; citizenship education must be included for the future of our students. As a teacher I want my students in my social studies class to have the knowledge, skills, and understanding of what a good citizen can accomplish. I want students to want a better future, appreciate different cultures, and develop a social conscious that helps them make better decisions that will result in non violent solutions. There is no uncertainty that there must be some form of citizenship education. Students are given basic information about citizenship without being given opportunities to apply lesson learned in the real world. As a future social studies teacher it is important to teach the idea of citizenship in a lecture but its more important to show students how becoming a good citizen can change their future and their communities future as well. The reason I choose this topic of citizenship education is that it is fun and informative for the students. It is a great way for students to participate in their own education progress. The activities in the unit plan will require the students to become more engage in the activities and truly apply the lessons learned from the activities in their own communities. Most of the activities will be revolved around literacy and discussion groups. This will help students who may not do well in their English class get another opportunity to develop writing skills without the pressure of writing being the focal point of the activity. The activities in the unit allow the students to learn, and understand the concept of being a good citizen. The final activity offers a service learning piece for the students to enjoy. I do not think students can fully understand a concept without applying the lesson learned in the classroom to real life situation. I want my students to be emotionally vested in the opportunity to help someone, and become a good citizen in their communities. The service learning activity will give many students a chance to be apart of a new environment where everyone is making good choices for themselves and the community. The activity will also require students to synthesis all of the information they have learned in the unit, and put it together to formulate their own idea of what a good citizen can do for a community. This will help them when reflecting on the experiences of the service learning piece, because they will be able to connect the lessons in the classroom to their behavior in their com munity.

Steroids: A Growing Role in Society Essay -- Sports Drugs Steroid Essa

Steroids: A Growing Role in Society Dear Mr.: Here is my research project on steroids and its effect on society. While conducting my research I have learned that steroids are becoming a serious and dangerous problem in society. I believe that my research project would be a good reference for anyone interested in the science and culture of steroids in America. Some of the topics I covered in my project are topics that have for the most part been ignored by most scholarly works on steroids. For example, I have devoted a whole section of my paper to the prevention and care of steroid use. I also included a large section on the scientific facts and effects that steroids have on the body. The issue of steroids in society is a very hot topic and I was able to find many helpful materials from many different sources. One of these sources is a controversial book written by a former Major League Baseball player. Other sources are from newspaper and magazine articles written in lieu of the recent controversies. By using subjective materials such as these I was able to get a feel for the opinions within American culture regarding the use of steroids. I’ve enjoyed working on this project, and would be happy to answer any questions. Sincerely, Name Abstract   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Steroid use is a growing problem in society. There is a multitude of research pertaining to the science of steroids but the prevention and treatment of steroid use has for the most part been largely ignored. In order to get to the root of the problem the research should contain not only the basics of steroids, but also the culture of steroid use.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The reasons why people use steroids range from improving sports performance to prevention of abuse and rape. By focusing not only on the obvious reasons for steroid use, the prevention and treatment of steroid use becomes a much bigger and more complicated problem than most would assume.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many different procedures being used to control steroids and their abuse. Some of them appear to be working but many of them do not. Only telling people the adverse affects of steroids is the most ineffective way to control the problem. Rather, teaching people the risks and rewards of steroids and how to receive the same rewards without actually using the drugs seems to be the most effective method.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Steroids have now t... ...2005). Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big. New York: Regan Books.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ciola, T. (2004). Steroids Kill. Orlando: Axion Publishers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gallaway, S. (1997). The Steroids Bible. Belle Intl.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Info Facts: Steroids. (2005). National Institute on Drug Abuse. Retrieved March 28, 2005, from the World Wide Web: http://www.nida.nih.gov/infofacts/steroids.html   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kerr, R. (1982). The Practical Use of Anabolic Steroids With Athletes. Research Center for Sports.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lukas, S. (2001). Steroids (The Drug Library). New Jersey: Enslow Publishers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Paris, J. (2005, April 16). Steroids: dangerous, illegal and so very easy to obtain. North County Times [Online newspaper]. Retrieved April 16, 2005 from the World Wide Web: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/04/17/sports/amateur.txt   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Silverstein, A. (1992). Steroids: Big Muscles, Big Problems. New Jersey: Enslow Publishers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Teens and Steroids. (2000). Focus Adolescent Services. Retrieved April 10, 2005, from the World Wide Web: http://www.focusas.com/steroids.html   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Yesalis, C. (2000). Anabolic Steroids in Sports and Exercise. Philadelphia: Human Kinetics Publishers.

Professional Issues in Nursing Essay

As a nurse, I make judgement that would affect patient’s health every day, I am aware that I have a great duty to ensure my patient’s safety to maintain the public trust (Chitty & Black, 2011). After learning this module, it helped me acquire adequate knowledge to better manage legal and ethical issues at work. For the sake of providing a high quality of care to my patients, I must be knowledgeable in both (Croke, 2003). Nowadays, the public is aware of legal issues and organized information is available through the internet. As a result, medical litigation claims have been rapidly increasing. Most claims against nurses are due to medical negligence (Tay, 2001). I am liable for my own practice, and if I fail to act as a reasonable prudent person in certain conditions, I may be liable for medical negligence (Chitty & Black, 2011). Research shows several errors leading to nursing negligence. For instance, a nurse fails to follow standards of care, fails to use equipment in a responsible manner, fails to communicate, fails to document, fails to assess and monitor and fails to act as a patient’s advocate (Croke, 2003). In 1998, Hurwitz states in order to prove medical negligence, the patient plaintiff must prove: The defendant nurse owned the plaintiff a duty of care and breached in this duty of care by failing to provide the required reasonable standard of care. Thus this breach of duty of care caused the plaintiff damage. I would like to discuss a case encounter in my practice for example to reflect my knowledge. A 55 year old patient admitted for chest pain and on telemetry monitoring. This patient requested for shower, a nurse removed his telemetry and was ask to assist the patient during shower, but the patient insisted to shower on his own. Then the nurse left the patient alone without instructing him to call for help if he felt any discomfort. After a while, the nurse went back to check, patient was found collapsed on the toilet floor. The issue that came across my mind is â€Å"If I am that nurse, am I negligent?† Learning point 1: Duty of care A patient went to the hospital and hospital is agreeable for patient’s treatment, there will be a contract between the hospital and patient. The hospital has the duty to provide quality treatment to the patient. Nurse as the employee, if he acts badly, it can be reasonably foreseen that the  patient may be injured. Therefore the nurse owes a duty of care in treating the patient (Staunton & Whyburn, 1996). In this scenario, I have a bond with my patient; therefore I owe a duty to provide reasonable and competent care to my patient (Hurwitz, 1998). Learning point 2: Standard of care The nursing standard of care is what the reasonably prudent nurse did in the same circumstances (Staunton & Whyburn, 1996). In Singapore, we have the standard of care and code of ethics for nurses and midwifes as our guideline for practice, it is our responsibility to follow the standard ( Singapore nursing board, 2011). In this case, the patient’s determination to shower without assistance, is his autonomy (Tay, 2001). According to value statement of code of ethics, I respected the patient’s individual needs and privacy, and also respected and promoted patient’s autonomy by allowing patient to do so (Singapore Nursing Board, 2011). In this case, there is a conflict between respecting patient’s autonomy and providing care in a responsible and accountable manner. I need to make a choice between two alternatives. There is no absolutely right or wrong decision (Keilman & Dontje, 2002). The decision made by me is to respect the patient’s autonomy, but this may violate the principle of non-maleficence as this decision of allowing patient to shower alone may delay the time to find out patient has collapsed, then it unintentionally caused harm, so I failed to provide in a responsible and accountable care (Chitty & Black, 2011). If I choose to provide care in a responsible and accountable manner, I should have insisted to accompany patient, but by doing so I may violate patient’s autonomy. According to standard of care of nurses and midwives, I should communicate with client effectively and provide appropriate information to the patient (Singapore nursing board, 2011). I should inform patient that he is on high risk of developing heart attack and shall be monitored closely. Failure to communicate effectively leads a breach of duty. Learning point 3: Avoid medical negligence To avoid medical negligence, I think the most important is to prevent the breach of duty of care. According to Bolam test, I will not breach the duty of care if I followed the standard of care (Hurwitz, 1998). In order to meet the standard of care, I need to be a knowledgeable and a safe practitioner,  be technically competent, and keep up-to-date with current practice (Chitty & Black, 2011). We must be familiarized with the standard in nursing practice. When we use them to guide our daily practice, we are acting in the best interest of the patient (Singapore Nursing Board, 2011). When you do decision making, ask yourself, â€Å"have you followed the standard of care?† Nowadays, â€Å"the nurses are also being encouraged to act as advocates for their patients, to safeguard standards of care and to speak out where those standards may be at risk.† (McHale & Tingle, 2001, p36). I think, our role as an advocate needs to improve, as nurses do not have the courage to interr ogate the doctor’s order. Clinical improvement If this scenario happens again, what do you think will help the patient? I feel there are some good strategies to adhere: Set hospital policy and educate the staff to provide comprehensive information (Chitty & Black, 2011), for example, they must understand that for clients on telemetry monitoring, patient should not be left alone. The patient must be warned that he is at risk of heart attack. To persuade patient for his desired action, and for his own safety, he should allow assistance. If patient is stubborn and insists to shower without supervision, delegate a staff to standby at the shower door, the hospital need to ensure adequate staff patient ratio (Chitty & Black, 2011). References Chitty, K. K., & Black, B. P. (2011). Professional nursing: concepts & challenges (6th ed.). Maryland Heights, Mo.: Saunders/Elsevier. Croke, E. M., (2003). Nurses, Negligence, and Malpractice. American Journal of Nursing, 103(9). 54-63. Retrieved from http://www.nursingcenter.com/lnc/journalarticle?article_id=423284 Hurwitz, B. (1998). Clinical guidelines and the law: negligence, discretion, and judgement. UK: Radcliffe Medical Press. McHale, J. V., & Tingle, J. (2001). Law and nursing (2nd ed.). Oxford: Butterworth/Heinemann. Singapore Nursing Board. (2011). Codes of Ethics & Professional Conduct. Retrieved from http://www.healthprofessionals.gov.sg/content/dam/hprof/snb/docs/publications/Code%20of%20Ethics%20and%20Professional%20Conduct%20%2815%20Mar%201999%29.pdf

Kentucky Vital Records - Marriage, Death Births

Kentucky Vital Records - Marriage, Death Births Learn how and where to obtain birth, marriage, and death certificates and records in Kentucky, including the dates for which Kentucky vital records are available, where they are located, and links to online Kentucky vital records databases. Kentucky Vital Records: Kentucky Department for Public HealthOffice of Vital Statistics275 East Main Street - IE-AFrankfort, KY 40621Phone: (502) 564-4212Fax: (502) 227-0032 What You Need to Know:Personal check or money order should be made payable to Kentucky State Treasurer. Call or visit the Web site to verify current fees. All requests MUST include the signature and a photocopy of a valid photo ID of the individual requesting the record. Web site: Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics Kentucky Birth Records Dates: From 1911 (statewide); selected counties from 1852 Cost of copy: $10.00 Comments: Access to birth records in Kentucky is not restricted by law.  With your request, include as much as you can of the following: the name on the birth record being requested, date of birth, place of birth (city or county), fathers full name, (last, first, middle), mothers full name, including her maiden name, your relationship to the person whose certificate is being requested, your daytime telephone number with area code, your handwritten signature and complete return mailing address.Application for Kentucky Birth Certificate * The Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives has birth records for the cities of Louisville, Lexington, Covington and Newport, which enacted records collection ordinances before 1911. KDLA also has selected birth records (statewide coverage) covering the years 1852-1862, 1874-1879 and 1891-1910. Consult their website for a list of available birth records by county. Online:Kentucky Vital Records: 1852–1914 is a collection of free, digitized microfilm images on FamilySearch; includes birth records from the 1908–1910 range for many KY countiesKentucky Birth Records, 1847–1911 includes indexes and images (requires subscription to Ancestry.com) Kentucky Death Records Dates: From 1911 (statewide); selected counties from 1852 Cost of copy: $6.00 Comments: Access to death records in Kentucky is not restricted by law.  With your request, include as much as you can of the following: the name on the death record being requested, date of death, place of death (city or county), your relationship to the person whose certificate is being requested, your purpose for needing the copy, your daytime telephone number with area code, your handwritten signature and complete return mailing address. For deaths occurring from 1900 to 1917, the city and/or county of death is required in order to locate the record.Application for Kentucky Death Certificate * The Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives has death records for the cities of Louisville, Lexington, Covington and Newport, which enacted records collection ordinances before 1911. KDLA also has selected death records (statewide coverage) covering the years 1852-1862, 1874-1879 and 1891-1910. Consult their Web site for a list of available death records by county. Online:Kentucky Death Index 1911-1992 (free)Kentucky Death Certificates and Records 1852-1953 including digitized Kentucky death certificates from 1911-1953 (requires subscription to Ancestry.com) Kentucky Marriage Records Dates: From June 1958 (statewide), but many go back to early 1800s Cost of Copy: $6.00 Comments:  The Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics does not have records of marriages prior to 1958. Copies of marriage certificates prior to June 1958 may be obtained from the county clerk in the county where the license was issued. Send your request to the Clerk of Court in the county where the marriage license was issued.Application for Kentucky Marriage Certificate Online:Kentucky Marriage Index 1973-1993 (free)    Kentucky Divorce Records Dates: Varies by county Cost of copy: Varies Comments: The Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics does not have records of divorces prior to 1958. Records of divorce proceedings prior to June 1958 are available from the clerk of the circuit court that granted the decree. Online:Kentucky Divorce Index 1973-1993 (free) More US Vital Records - Choose a State

Night Flying Woman Essay Example

Night Flying Woman Essay Example Night Flying Woman Paper Night Flying Woman Paper Essay Topic: Woman On the Edge Of Time Gina Plumer Night Flying Woman Assignment American Indian Social Welfare Perspective The book that I decided to read was Night Flying Woman by Ignatia Broker. The tribal identity in the book was Oibwe from the White Earth Band. Ms. Broker started out the book from the present day in Minneapolis where she grew up. There wasn’t much culture to be seen, and the younger generations were getting too lost in the new world. Ms. Broker made sure to mention that she still taught her children the Ojibwe ways, and told them the stories that her grandmother had once told her. Throughout Ignatia Broker’s introductory chapter, we got a sense of the amount of respect she had for you great-great grandmother Oona, or Night Flying Woman. When Ms. Broker first moved to Minneapolis, she lived in a diverse neighborhood, heavily populated with Latinos. She described being a Native American woman growing up in the urban Minneapolis area. From the time she had first moved there until the present time she was writing about, there had been an increase in the Native population. With the increase in population, she explained how where she lived suddenly was surrounded by factories and freeways. Many of the Ojibwe people in Minneapolis identified themselves as Native American from a certain reservation, not like a clan as they did in her great-great-grandmother’s childhood. Her opening introduction was explaining the differences of the land and customs of the past to the present way. The book then began to tell the personal story of Ignatia Broker’s great-great-grandmother Ni-bo-wi-se-gwe, or Night Flying Woman. Ni-bo-wi-se-gwe was an only child to Me-ow-ga-bo (Outstanding), and Wa-wi-e-cu-mig-go-gwe (Round Earth). Three weeks after birth, in Indian tradition, came the time when naming must be planned. Oona’s parents consulted with Grandfather and Grandmother and decided that A-wa-sa-si would be the namer. A-wa-sa-si chose the name Ni-bo-wi-se-gwe (Night Flying Woman) because Oona was born during the darkness of the day. The tribal identity was Ojibwe, and the village that they lived in was very close-knit. Everyone that lived in the village was good at something and they helped each other out when they needed it. For instance, some were good at ricing, some at hunting, at picking berries, some at sugaring, and some at making necessities. It was the environment we could only hope for in this day and age. The elders were respected above everyone else, and they were to always speak first. The children were to start learning the traditions from birth so that they would be efficient at an early age. The family structure was very open, and I could easily detect who was in the leadership roles. At birth, Oona’s caregivers were her parents, but she also looked to her grandparents for guidance. When she was given her Indian name, she looked up to her name giver as well. The responsibility of Oona as a child was to learn the traditions and the Ojibwe way of life. She was to help with the ricing, hunting, berries, sugaring, and berries for one day she was going to have to do it all on her own. She was taught that when she entered her grandmother and grandfather’s home, she was not to say a word until she was spoken to. If nothing was said by them, nothing would be said in return by Oona. The roles and responsibilities that everyone in the village was given depended on the strengths that they had as an individual. In the new land, Oona’s people weren’t able to hunt, fish, pick berries, or do any of their customary things freely. They were to build real houses, and wear real clothing like the â€Å"strangers†. Soon afterward, the strangers demanded that the children attend school, which soon turned into boarding school because of the distance it was away from their homes. At the boarding schools, the Native children were forced to speak English and forget their traditional ways. They were beaten if they disobeyed their teachers. This brought the book into how the Native culture is today. There aren’t many fluent Ojibwe people, and children are taught the customary methods of survival they were back before treaties were made. When the European settlers came over and started taking over the land, it served as a turning point of the Ojibwe culture and the way that they practiced their ways. When the Europeans came over, Oona and her relatives were forced to pack up and move their things twice. The land that belonged to them their whole lives were being taken over by settlers that thought they â€Å"found† the land. After they had moved, they were forced to start living the way that the new settlers were. While the children were learning the new ways, the adults were as well. Oona’s father had gone to a lumber camp to work. He went to try and earn enough money to build the kinds of houses that the new settlers had already built for themselves. The Native woman began to learn the household needs, and the English language as well. They made clothes similar to the new settlers, and even friended many of them. The way of life that they were once used to was becoming just a speck in their memories. As the generation passes, Oona always remembered to tell the children of how life used to be, and the traditions that were practiced. She recognized that the children would bring the culture with them in the generations to come, but it would never be as traditional as it once was. Oona’s family coped with the changes by having meetings with the elders, and getting their point of view on the new settlers. There was not much that could be done to save their land and go on living in the manner that they were used to. It seemed as though they all had each other even though their lives were changing drastically. Oona’s grandfather once said â€Å"the forests have never failed us†. I don’t think that they ever did, but the new settlers and their new ways definitely did. It wasn’t a choice for Oona’s family to adhere to the new way of life, but the decision was already made for them by the new settlers. I think that as hard as it sounded, the family coped with the changes very well. In the book, it was before federal and state policy was made. Although, tribal reservations were in the making, and the segments of land that were being saved for the Indian people was laid out. When a white man shows up with a paper that must be obeyed, it was required the people to move to the White Earth reservation. It was government policy at that time, in the 1840s, to move all northern Midwest U. S. Indians there in a kind of concentration camp. They were able to resume their traditional life until the boarding school era began. This was when the United States was becoming more unified, and the land was being distributed among the new settlers and the Ojibwe people. When the reservations were made, this was the only place where the Native Americans could hunt, fish, rice, sugar, plant, and pick berries. They could no longer set up summer and spring villages off the reservation to go about their traditional ways. Ms. Broker made reference to the bad eating habits that many Native Americans have today due to the change in traditional food gathering. If the Native Americans were able to collect food like they did before the new settlers, there wouldn’t be such a high degree of obesity and diabetes on the reservations today. In the book, Oona’s family always found a way to get off their designated land and gather more food, but I’m sure the generations to come found this more difficult. Appropriate skills that a social worker could use to strengthen and support the families would first off to be aware of the history of Native Americans. To be aware of the changes that they had to make to be an existing culture today. A social worker could work with family members one on one, but also in a group setting to see how they react in the different ways. A social worker could become aware of what the hardships this particular family would be facing, and also the historical trauma that they might be going through. Activities that a social worker could have would be sessions on learning more about the historic culture. Many Native American people today aren’t aware of the things that our ancestors had to go through when the new settlers came over. Our ancestors were assimilated into the modern culture, and it would be beneficial for our culture today to know the changes that were made. If there were a high school or middle school social worker helping these families, they could help shape Native American activities after school. Activities like pottery and beading, or even a language extra-curricular. There could be many options available to help Native people become in touch with their culture more. At the end of the book, Ms. Broker made it relevant that the younger generation does thrive to know the culture, and the stories of the past. It was like a revolving door of knowledge in her family in regards to the stories being passed down through the generations. I think that if everyone knew these hardships that the Native American people faced, they would have more respect for the culture, and the people of the culture. It is interesting to see how many people aren’t aware of the changes the Native American people went through in order for the European settlers to settle here and call it their home. The Chippewa or Ojibwe tribe is one of the largest American Indian tribes in North America. Every time a Native person marries out of their culture, the blood quantum of their children goes down, and in turn the amount of Native American people diminishes. I believe that it is the responsibility of our generation to help with the restoration of our Anishinabe culture. With the help of literacy works like Ms. Broker’s Night Flying Woman, we will be able to make the heritage of our culture known and the descendants of the tribes more aware of the unique history our people went through.

Hong Kong Hotel Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Hong Kong Hotel Industry - Essay Example If we are to compare this with China, Most of the hotels there are operating on an approach that is friendly to the environment. Most of the hotels there prefer to operate on traditional basis in which they are somewhat using primitive gadgets and the likes which lessens the use of energy while delivering the same output they want to see. This paper aims to find out if environment friendly practices can affect the economic performance in Hotel industries in Hong Kong. This paper also want to establish that if in Mainland China and some places in Asia, the practice of environment-friendly Hotel industries is possible, then it is not impossible that Hong Kong can adopt that certain method. Also this will also tackle on why Hong Kong needs to adopt environment friendly practices to uplift the revenues of the aforementioned industries and why is it important to adopt these schemes. This paper will focus on the importance of adopting the environment-friendly practices of the company to ensure the economic performance of the Hotel industries in Hong Kong. ... The use of these literatures will help us solve puzzle on How Hong Kong Hotel Industries can adapt to environment friendly schemes and at the same time, helps them in achieving competitiveness. For example, this paper will derive articles on flight Magazines of different Airline companies such as the Mabuhay of Philippine Airlines. In one of its issue, an environment friendly practice was featured when people from the province of Pampanga in the Philippines managed to use the ashes and sulfuric dusts of Mt Pinatubo as a source of thermal massage in which the said practice is now known to the world. In most of the Hotels in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, the waste management are executed well thus earned them the distinction as the cleanest spot in South East Asia and these practices earned them so much. Different business and nature magazines gave this citation to them. In this case, the study is not limited to Hong Kong but is focused on the aforementioned area in order to use di fferent schemes that help save the environment. These environmental practices in the aforementioned areas really helped them in achieving their distinction as provider of Hospitality services that is beneficial to both the industry and in nature. These environmental practices will serve as basis as to whether it is applicable to Hotel Industries in Hong Kong and how the said industry in Hong Kong will gain competitive advantage if such industries would embrace the practice. Medical journals, business journals and the likes would be a big help in achieving the goal of this paper. These references will also determine the potential of Hong Kong through comparison with other places. Interview method and survey s will also be conducted in Hong Kong if the

Prepare a brief project about Art Exhibition Essay

Prepare a brief project about Art Exhibition - Essay Example The exhibition includes iconography and distinctive style, and the breadth of its impact on the a thousand years in which the first cities in the world have turned into the first states and kingdoms of the world (Cookson 2007).The unity of mankind is impressive by the fact that similar features recur over the world is evident by religion, thought forms, tools and social forms. The simplicity of the man is great despite its diversity (Bliss 2008). Or just by observing the common component, however, is divergent clear. In the story, which is invaluable and irreplaceable comes to light in unique creations; breakthroughs and achievements. These creative steps are as revelations of a country other than the simple course of event source. They laid the foundation of humanity to come next. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote in the sixth century BC was amazed fertility of Babylon, the richest granary of the country in the world, and huge crops of wheat, millet and sesame, the size. Grown This incredible landscape in the third millennium BC Sumer and Accad, and after the city of Babylon name is later known, covering the southern part of a diverse landscape, which is mentioned later in the Greek sources Mesopotamia, or "land between the rivers", the Euphrates and Tigris (Bliss 2008). It comprises the eastern end of the Fertile Crescent of popular literature. However, the fertility of Mesopotamia is not the natural state of the alluvial plain south, where the first towns founded. On the contrary, the generosity of Herodotus praised the work of people who irrigation in agriculture, an unfavorable climate with unpredictable rainfall and damaging floods. It is invented to overcome a pattern that is expressed by Sumerian literature. A project organization is a structure that facilitates the coordination and the implementation of Project activities. Its main task is the creation promotes an environment those interactions between team members with minimal