Language Acquistion Essays - Language Acquisition, Linguistics

Language Acquistion Language acquisition is the process of learning a native or a second language. Although how children learn to speak is not perfectly understood, most explanations involve both the observation that children copy what they hear and the inference that human beings have a natural aptitude for understanding grammar. Children usually learn the sounds and vocabulary of their native language through imitation, and grammar is seldom taught to them; that they rapidly acquire the ability to speak grammatically. This supports the theory of Noam Chomsky (1959). that children are able to learn the grammar of a particular language because all intelligible languages are founded on a deep structure of universal grammatical rules that corresponds to an innate capacity of the human brain. Adults learning a second language pass through some of the same stages, as do children learning their native language. In the first part of this paper I will describe the process of language acquisition. The second part will review how infants respond to speech. Language Acquisition Language is multifaceted. It contains both verbal and non-verbal aspects that children seem to acquire quickly. Before birth virtually all the neurons (nerve cells) are formed, and they migrate into their proper locations in the brain in the infant. When a baby is born, it can see and hear and smell and respond to touch, but only dimly. The brain stem, a primitive region that controls vital functions like heartbeat and breathing, has completed its wiring. Elsewhere the connections between neurons are wispy and weak. But over the first few months of life, the brain's higher centers explode with new synapses. This helps an infant to be biologically prepared to face the stages of language acquisition. According to the textbook Child Development: A Thematic Approach, 3rd Edition (D. Bukatko & M.W. Daehler, 1996, p. 252) there are four main components to language acquisition. These components are phonology, semantics, syntax and pragmatics. Phonology is the study of how speech sounds are organized and how they function. It is the main linguistic accomplishment during the first year of life. The phonology of language refers to fundamental sounds units and the rules for combining them. Each language has a certain number of sounds called phonemes. Phonemes are the smallest unit of sound that affects the meaning of a word. Infants are able to identify hundreds of variations of sounds. For example, an infant who is six months old can detect the difference between ma and pa. An infant's first year is mainly receiving messages but also working on being able to produce messages. As they physically develop infants form the ability to make sounds. Some of these initial sounds are cooing, vowel like utterances occasionally accompanied by consonants and babbling which are consonant-vowel combinations. During the first 6 months of life, physiological changes, such as the shape of oral cavity, tongue development, motor control of lips, and tooth eruption, also take place that contribute to speech development. One of the infants task is to identify phonemes. According to the textbook (D.Bukatko the fluctuations of the voice. For example, raising your voice to ask a question or lowering it to let the infant know you are serious. This helps infants to learn the phonology of their language and prepares them for the next stage of learning which is semantics. Semantics is the meaning of words or combination of words. Shortly before babies have their first birthday, they begin to understand words, and around that birthday, they start to produce them (Clark, 1993). Words are usually produced in isolation. This one-word stage can last from two months to a year. Children's first words are similar all over the planet. About half the words are for objects: food (juice, cookie), body parts (eye, nose), clothing (diaper, sock), vehicles (car, boat), toys (doll, block), and household items (bottle, light, animals (dog, kitty), and people (dada, baby). At this time children usually start to use gestures to call attention to an object or event defined as protodeclarative communication. Protoimperative communication is the use of a gesture to issue a

Free Essays on Discussion Guide

Discussion Guide on Researching a Low-Carb Beer I. Warm-up Explanation of Focus Group (10-12 minutes) A. Explanation of focus group. B. There are no wrong or right answers. C. It is necessary everyone contributes. D. There will be people watching. E. Audiotapes and Video recorders will be on so I can interact with the group. F. Only one person can talk at once. G. Do not feel bad if you do not know something, we are looking to hear your opinions and how you feel about it. H. I will move the discussion on throughout the focus group in order to cover all topics. I. Any Questions? J. Ice breaker to get going. II. Beer Consumption (15 minutes) I am interested in seeing if you drink beer, the types you like, and why. A. How many of you have drink/drank beer? What type did you consume? Where did you consume/buy it? B. Why did you get that specific beer? C. Which do you drink most often? Why do you drink that most often? Was there a reason for your consumption of that beer? D. What amount did you purchase it in? Is price an issue? Do you see a difference in light beers compared to a non-light beer? E. How do you feel about light beers? Do you drink light beers because you do not want all the calories and carbohydrate that are in the other beers? III. Diet Fads (15 minutes) I will now talk about the concept of a low-carb beer that can be beneficial to your health and add in the diet process. This beer will have fewer calories and fewer carbohydrates. A. Is anyone currently on a diet or know someone on a diet? What kind of diet? Is it hard to consume alcoholic beverages when on this diet due to calories/carbs? What do you think of these diets? B. Would you purchase a product with less carbs/calories? Do you think there is a need for a product like this? C. Does anyone currently purchase dietary products? How much money to you think you spend a week/month on them? ... Free Essays on Discussion Guide Free Essays on Discussion Guide Discussion Guide on Researching a Low-Carb Beer I. Warm-up Explanation of Focus Group (10-12 minutes) A. Explanation of focus group. B. There are no wrong or right answers. C. It is necessary everyone contributes. D. There will be people watching. E. Audiotapes and Video recorders will be on so I can interact with the group. F. Only one person can talk at once. G. Do not feel bad if you do not know something, we are looking to hear your opinions and how you feel about it. H. I will move the discussion on throughout the focus group in order to cover all topics. I. Any Questions? J. Ice breaker to get going. II. Beer Consumption (15 minutes) I am interested in seeing if you drink beer, the types you like, and why. A. How many of you have drink/drank beer? What type did you consume? Where did you consume/buy it? B. Why did you get that specific beer? C. Which do you drink most often? Why do you drink that most often? Was there a reason for your consumption of that beer? D. What amount did you purchase it in? Is price an issue? Do you see a difference in light beers compared to a non-light beer? E. How do you feel about light beers? Do you drink light beers because you do not want all the calories and carbohydrate that are in the other beers? III. Diet Fads (15 minutes) I will now talk about the concept of a low-carb beer that can be beneficial to your health and add in the diet process. This beer will have fewer calories and fewer carbohydrates. A. Is anyone currently on a diet or know someone on a diet? What kind of diet? Is it hard to consume alcoholic beverages when on this diet due to calories/carbs? What do you think of these diets? B. Would you purchase a product with less carbs/calories? Do you think there is a need for a product like this? C. Does anyone currently purchase dietary products? How much money to you think you spend a week/month on them? ...

Brubaker

Treveon Albert Dec 1, 2011 Brubaker’’ Reaction paper ‘’Brubaker, movie of the 1980’s is an earnest, right minded, consistently unsurprising movie about a penologist named brubaker (Robert Redford), who sets out to reform a single corrupt prison and finds himself bucking the system, including the state administration that appointed him to his job. When the new warden comes in disguised as an inmate, he sees first hand all the corruption and scams the guards and prison officials are running. When he reveals himself, and starts to implement reforms to stop the corruption, the local community business, which had been benefiting from the scams, fights back, and the corrupt southern prison system, starts making political trouble for the new warden. As soon as brubaker identifies himself and takes command of Wakefield to begin his reform program, the film loses all pensions and becomes, instead, a predictable inventory of the problems faced by all reformers who, like brubaker, refuse to compromise. Based on the rebound of the movie, personally I think Robert Redford is a very courageous man and will overcome every obstacle in his way to be successful. Perhaps the personal view that brubaker has on starting the reform program is kind of a false approach because no one is on his side, and the people that are on his side can’t do anything to help him. Motivationally Lillian, the lady that is in the system believes in Mr. Brubaker can’t betray the state administration. To make a change brubaker would of been mostly successful by getting in the system. I was also influenced that this is kind of a life lesson. While trying to make a change always have resources that back you up and get people on your side with power and people that have a voice in the society Mr. Brubaker was living in. It is very noticeable that brubaker was out numbered. Without sustaining a change brubaker may have made a change but it wasn’t a process in the making, it was an

Road to Civil War Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Road to Civil War - Term Paper Example The weighty constitutional compromises were the Missouri Compromise of 1820, Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 and repeal of the Missouri Compromise. The Missouri compromise of 1820 was as a result of an application for statehood made by Missouri in 1817. It was the first territory to apply for statehood within the area of Louisiana Purchase. This provoked the anger among northern states politicians because the main agenda of Southern leaders were to have a state with no restriction on slavery. Missouri application resulted to a fiery debate between the north and south over the issue of slavery in the new territories admitted as states to the union. Slavery was the most divisive issue between northern and southern States in early 1800s,and it threatened to break the union because of their differences regarding the slaves. Northern states were against slavery, and they wanted to have it outlawed. The Missouri application also led to controversy in congress over the s lave states with Congressman James Talmadge of New York seeking for additional provision in the Missouri statehood bill specifically restricting further buying of slaves into Missouri. His amendment also sought to have children of slave’s already in Missouri be set free at age of 25. Although the house of representative had approved the amendment, the senate rejected them and voted in favor of southern thus allowing slavery in Missouri. Southern senators were also blocking the statehood of Maine though a compromise was worked out for it during the congress meeting of late 1819. The compromise resolved that Maine would enter the union as Free State, while the Missouri would enter as a slave state (Alexander and Rucker 340). Alabama joined the union as a slave a state, making the number of slave states and Free states equal. The Missouri Compromise agreement helped is regulating the spread of slavery into the other parts Louisiana Purchase. This was achieved because the agreeme nt had stated clearly that no any new territory was to be admitted in the union from Missouri’s southern border. The congressional compromise over slavery also helped in setting a precedent that congress could control slavery in new territories and states (Schultz 480). The Missouri Compromise was exceedingly fruitful as it managed to contain the issue of slavery for three decades thus preventing eruption of war between northern and southern states. The Compromise of 1850 was second, and it was as a result of the end, of the Mexican –American war in 1848. It consisted of a series of bills which were passed by congress in their attempt to determine whether the western territories surrendered by America after the end of the war will enter the union as free or slave states. The legislation was highly controversial, and it passed after a lot of struggles as it was destined to be unpopular. The legislation consisted of five laws, which managed to balance the interest of Fre e states and slave states. The compromise resulted to admission of California to the union as a free state; Texas was paid $10 million as financial compensation for abandoning claims to lands west of the Rio Grande, organisation of new territory of Mexico without prohibition of slavery, elimination of slavery in Washington, D.C., and passing of the fugitive Slave

Is Globalization Presently Being Governed To the extent that it is, Essay

Is Globalization Presently Being Governed To the extent that it is, how is it been done - Essay Example It is argued, that although pluralism is not a conventional method of understanding governance, it is a new and effective method for responding to the exigencies of the multi-layered nature of globalization. This research study is therefore divided into two parts. The first part of this paper defines globalization as a means of presenting the multi-layered nature of globalization. The second part of this paper describes and analyses the global legal pluralism in terms of the governing of globalization. Globalization: Definition and Concepts Globalization is typically attributed to changes occurring in the international political and economic arena in the second half of the 20th century.5 The domestic economies have become progressively integrated via trans-national trade, finance and investment activities. Advances in technology have also eliminated a number of obstacles related to time, space and distance which in turn have accelerated and facilitated market integration of domestic economies. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the world stage has been dominated by a single â€Å"political ideology†, namely; capitalism.6 Snyder conceptualizes globalization as: ...an aggregate of multifaceted, uneven, often contradictory economic, political, social and cultural processes which are characteristic of our time.7 Governance of globalization necessarily means methods by which these aggregate and often conflicting forces are reconciled to respond to the challenges of globalization and to ensure that the political and economic benefits of globalization are realized. Another conceptualization of globalization identifies changes in the world political economy. In this regard, it is recognized that the world is no longer specifically organized around the idea of state sovereignty as the primary determinant in inter-state relations. Moreover, we â€Å"no longer live in a world of stable and predominantly self-contained national polit ical economic systems.†8 This reality arises out of the nature of globalization. Globalization essentially connects people in diverse ways across spaces so that borders become less significant. In this regard a generic definition of globalization is entirely useful in that it consists of four essential elements: interdependence, organization, culture and diffusion.9 Scholarly definitions of globalization also capture the interdependence of states within the international community. For instance and Harvard Professors Nye and Keohane refer to globalization as â€Å"globalism† which in turn is: A state of the world involving networks of interdependence at multi-continental distances. These networks can be linked through flows and influences of capital and goods, information and ideas, people and force, as well as environmentally and biologically relevant substances (such as acid rain or pathogens).10 ` Nye and Keohane also argue that while the term globalization became po pularized during

Tell Tale Heart and the Lotter Essay Example for Free

Tell Tale Heart and the Lotter Essay American writer Henry James believed characters are only as interesting as their responses to particular situations. The statement he made can be supported by many pieces of literature that we have encountered. The way a character reacts to the situation they are placed in can tell a lot about their true character. Two characters were placed in different situations in â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† written Edgar Allan Poe and The Lottery written by Shirley Jackson reactions will be discussed in this essay. In â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† the tenant thought he would get away with the murder he had, but committed cracked under the pressure. Initially when the police offers entered the home he was he was able to keep his composure, but he slowly started to break. My head ached, and I fancied a ringing in my ears: but still they sat and still chatted. The ringing became more distinct:—it continued and became more distinct: I talked more freely to get rid of the feeling: but it continued and gained definitiveness—until, at length, I found that the noise was not within my ears. (Poe 390) At this point the man started to hear things in his mind. He was imagining the beating of the old man’s heart. Prior to his delusion the reader probably believed he would get away with the murder. Finally the man can no longer take the sound of the old man’s heart beating beneath the floor boards. â€Å"Villains!† I shrieked, â€Å"dissemble no more! I admit the deed!—tear up the planks!—here, here!—it is the beating of his hideous heart!† (Poe 391) I believe he told the officers about the old man’s body because his conscience got to him. If he was like most cold, blooded killers his conscience would not have told him he had done something wrong. In â€Å"The Lottery† when the Hutchinson family initially draws the piece of paper from the old black box, Tessie continually pleads to do the redo the drawing of the names. She says, You didnt give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasnt fair!(Jackson 267). Even though the drawing of her family’s name was done completely fair she tries to come up with some excuse. Even though her whole family, including her children, initially had the potential to be stoned she was the only one who wanted a redrawing done. When Tessie’s realized she had the paper she did not even try to say goodbye to her family. Most people, even criminals today, would rather spend their last moments saying goodbye to their loved ones. Tessie on the other hand continually said, It isnt fair, it isnt right(Jackson 269). With her continually saying this isn’t fair or right this shows she does not believe in the system her town used. When she first got to the lottery she made a joke about leaving the dishes, as if she was okay with what was about to take place. When her family’s name was drawn her true feeling were shown. She obviously did not agree with having a human sacrifice in order to better her town’s chances of having a good harvest. Both the man from and Tessie were placed in some an extremely tense situation, and both reacted in a similar manner. The man cracked under the pressure of killing the old man and Tessie Hutchinson lost her composure when she found out she was the one who would be stoned. Henry James quote of â€Å"characters are only as interesting as their responses to particular situations† was confirmed from the above reading because both of the characters show a different, more interesting, side of themselves when they faced with a predicament.

Alcohol and its Effects Essay -- Alcoholism Drinking Essays

Alcohol and its Effects Does the brain control all forms of behavior? Is everything we do, say, think and feel a direct output from nothing but the brain? Is it justifiable to think of the brain as interconnected box within box with inputs and outputs? The focus of this paper is on the input alcohol and how the processes generate a certain type of behavior output. This focus of alcohol input and behavior output will demonstrate that indeed brain is and does equal all forms of behavior. When alcohol is inputted into our brain, it induces many forms of typical behavior outputs such as impaired judgement, extreme emotion, and slowed behavior. Long-term effects include damage in cognitive behavior especially associated with the frontal lobes of the brain such as "slowed processing of information, difficulty in learning new material, deficits in abstraction and problem solving, and reduced visuospatial abilities." (1). The reason for this kind of damage in cognitive behavior can be explained the alcohols effect on the brain structure itself. Researchers have found that brains of alcoholics are smaller and have an increased number of brain tissue loss then the comparable nonalcoholic. Known as the premature aging hypothesis, alcohol is stated to "accelerate normal aging" and make the young alcoholics older then they really are. This kind of aging due to alcohol allows the younger non-alcoholics of the same age, faster and quicker in cognitive abilities. (1) So what is the underlying mechanisms of this kind of output behavior? What goes on inside the boxes within boxes that cause actions such as slow cognitive output? These behavioral outputs can be explained from alcohol's effects on the humans' smallest box, the neuron. Wi... ...me reactions going on in our brains. And what are those 'reactions' exactly? I don't know." (5). There are many 'reactions' that occurs in our brain which produce behavior. Alcohol is one example of them. Internet Sources: 1) Alcohol-Related Cognitive Impairments. An Overview of How Alcoholism May Affect the Workings of the Brain http://wilsontxt.hwwilson.com/pdfhtml/04716/N5AQW/ES6.htm" 2)Serotonin's Role in Alcohol's Effects on the Brain http://wilsontxt.hwwilson.com/pdfhtml/04716/N7AQW/6S8.htm" 3) Neurochemical Mechanisms Underlying Alcohol Withdrawal http://wilsontxt.hwwilson.com/pdfhtml/04716/N8AQQ/5SD.htm 4)Media Awareness Project, maintains an extensive Drugnews Index of drug-related news clippings http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n910/a02.html 5)Neurobiology and Behavior http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neur/neuro00/topic1.html

Professional Roles and Values Essay

Regulatory agencies, such as a state board of nursing, are government agencies that regulate nursing practice. They act to ensure nurses are competent in their practice and that standards of practice are met. These agencies examine nursing education programs, and are the ones who approve and accredit them. The agencies are responsible for granting licensure for nursing professionals and oversee the licensure exams. Their role also includes interpreting the state nurse practice acts and developing rules, regulations, and policies. When nurses do not follow those rules, regulations, and polices, or demonstrate unsafe behavior, the agencies are responsible for determining appropriate disciplinary actions against the nurse. Professional nursing organizations are non-regulatory groups that help nurses further their development through education and networking. These groups are great for sharing ideas, technological advances, and trends. Often, there are fees to join the organization. Once a member, nurses usually are given a discount on literature and other educational courses. These organizations act as nursing advocates, and are often involved in advocating for new legislation to improve the nursing practice. There are a wide range of associations. One example would be the Ohio Council for Home Care and Hospice (OCHCH). The OCHCH is a major source of support to home care agencies in Ohio by advocating for improvements in laws affecting home health, helping to interpret those laws for it’s members, and offering a large array of educational classes. In my professional practice, I deal with the state board of nursing to keep up with licensure of our home health staff. I deal with the OCHCH on a daily basis to stay informed of new regulation, and current educational opportunities for myself and our staff. The Code of Ethics for nursing is put out by the regulatory organizations, such as the state boards, and are also usually found on the  website of various professional organizations, such as the ANA. In the Code of Ethics, Provision 4 states â€Å"The nurse is responsible and accountable for individual nursing practice and determines the appropriate delegation of tasks consistent with the nurses obligation to provide optimum patient care† (American Nurses Association, 2001). This statement from the code of ethics greatly influences my individual nursing practice, as well as my original decision to become a nurse. My father was diagnosed with multiple myeloma when I was 19. At that time I was in college studying mechanical engineering. Dad had many hospital visits over the next few years. I was amazed at the differences in the nurses, and their effect on his hospital experience. Some were excellent. They took care of his needs, both physically and emotionally. Others, did not. During one hospital stay, he was suffering a great deal from pain. Despite multiple requests for pain medication, one nurse chose to sit at the nurses station and talk with co-workers about their upcoming Christmas party instead of bringing him his pain medication. It was at that moment that I decided to go into nursing as a profession. I had seen first hand what a difference a good nurse can make in a patient’s life, as well as a not-so-good one. I wanted to be one of the good ones. If I could make a difference in even one patient’s life, it would be well worth it. Many years later, I still hold myself accountable for my own nursing practice, and delegate appropriately when needed, in order to take optimal care of my patient’s needs. I treat my patients the way I would want my dad to be treated if he was still alive. Provision 2 states â€Å"The nurse’s primary commitment is to the patient, whether an individual, family, group, or commun ity† (American Nurses Association, 2001). This is important in any area of nursing. I work in home health, and I feel this is especially true with my patients. As a home health nurse, I am one of many nurses who are the eyes and ears of physicians in the home setting. I feel it’s important to see a patient in their home environment in order to assess family and cultural influences that might have an impact on the patient’s outcome. We can then develop and individualized care plan and work with the physician to help meet their needs. At times, I have found issues in the home and met resistance when talking with the doctor to get new orders. It’s important to advocate for the patient in those situations and clearly communicate the patient’s needs  to the physician. There are 4 traits, or characteristics, within the Code of Ethics that I am going to discuss. The first is collaboration. I work in home health, and collaborate on a daily basis with other members of the interdisciplinary team. As a case manager, I am constantly in contact with the nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, social workers, and physicians to make sure all of the patient’s needs are being met. Often, at the time of initial patient assessment, only nursing is ordered for the patient. If I see that the patient is a fall risk, is having trouble bathing and dressing, has trouble with swallowing or cognition, is depressed, or needs financial assistance, it is my responsibility to call the doctor and get orders to get other disciplines involved. Once they are involved, we work together, along with the patient and family, to come up with a care plan that is individualized for that patient. Throughout the patient’s course of care, we work together to make sure goals are being met. If not, we look at how we need to adjust the care plan in order to meet those goals. Confidentiality is another trait found in the code of ethics. When working with an interdisciplinary team, it’s important to work on a need to know basis. For example, the speech therapist doesn’t need to know about the patient’s financial issues unless it would relate to the patient’s need to buy thickener for their food. The social worker, on the other hand, would need to know about the patient’s financial situation, in detail, in order to help the patient get set up with financial assistance in the community. Privacy is another trait that our multidisciplinary team deals with. In home care, it’s hard for the patients and families to allow others into their home, without feeling like their privacy is being invaded. It’s important to, as a team, build up trust with the patients. The various disciplines work together to coordinate our schedules to best fit the patient/family in order to help maintain that privacy. For example, rather than all scheduling a visit on the same day, we stagger our vis its throughout the week in order to minimize our time in the home each day. This actually helps with patient outcomes as well, because there is a skilled clinician in the home on most days that can keep their eyes and ears on the patient. Integrity is the last trait I will talk about. It’s important for me in home care to maintain moral integrity. It would be easy to falsify records, such as my time in and time out of a  patient’s home. I feel moral integrity is important, whether practicing nursing, or in my every day life. I strive every day to uphold it. There have been many wonderful nursing theories over the years. One that I practice every day is Dorthea Orem’s self-care deficit model. Typically, a patient needs home care when they have suffered a debilitating accident or illness. As a nurse, it’s my job to find out what their self care deficits are, whether they be functional, cognitive, etc. I then work to individualize a care plan that includes therapy, disease process education, etc., that will help them get back to their previous level of functioning if possible. If they aren’t able to return to their previous level of functioning, it’s my job to help them adapt to their current level of functioning in order to care for themselves, and prevent further decline. I feel that Jean Watson, who developed the theory of human caring, has had a big impact on my nursing practice. I think everyone, sick or not, wants to feel cared for. I try, as a nurse, to create an environment of caring for each patient I see. I feel it’s important to do this to provide an atmosphere for optimal healing. It can be difficult at times, especially in the home environment when there are other family members involved. Most families are very supportive, but at times there are difficult family members who cause undue stress for the patient. This is when it’s my job to act as a patient advocate, and help those family members cope in a way that is healthy for the patient and caregivers. It is important as a nurse to abide by certain principles. Two of those principles are nonmaleficence and respect for autonomy. I opened a patient’s case for home care recently and found Coumadin, Aspirin, and Plavix listed on his discharge medication list from the hospital. I was concerned with this, but especially when I found him to be a high fall risk. I called the physician and confirmed that there had been a mistake on his discharge instructions. He was new to Coumadin, and the Aspirin and Plavix were supposed to have been discontinued. This is an example of nonmaleficence. My goal was to protect the patient from harm. The same patient was released from the hospital with an acute COPD exacerbation. Once home, he continued to smoke a pack of cigarettes a day while on oxygen. I explained the disease process of COPD in a way he could understand, including why he should stop smoking. I also explained to him the risks of smoking while on oxygen. He chose to keep smoking. This is an  example of respect for autonomy. It is our job as nurses to explain risks to them in a way they can understand. We have to respect their decisions at that point, whether we agree with them or not. References American Nurses Association (2011). Code of Ethics for Nurses With Interpretive Statements. Retrieved from http://nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/EthicsStandards/CodeofEthicsforNurses/Code-of-Ethics.pdf Cherry, Jacob. (2011). Contemporary Nursing: Issues, Trends, and Management [VitalSouce bookshelf version]. Retrieved from http://online.vitalsource.com/books/978-0-323-06953-3/id/B9780323069533100054_f0015

Co-ordinate implementation of customer service strategie Essay

Brief Background McDonalds is a well admired, large organization of approximately 5,500 locally owned and operated businesses all around the world. Food quality is the key at McDonald’s as is has implemented rigorous food safety standards for almost 50 years, and the fast food restaurant has been recognized for its popular and well known meals, ranging from delicious burgers, well known French fries, healthy salads, rolls, fruits, deserts, and also breakfast foods such as bacon and eggs, cereals and pancakes. The restaurant also has Ronald McDonald House Charities and its global network of independent local Chapters, which help find, create, and support programs that directly improve the health and well-being of children. There are many employees in each McDonald’s restaurant which are well trained to help serve the more than 47 million customers, in 119 countries from more than 30,000 different restaurant locations. The specific department on which is being focused on this report revolves around working on the front counter; this includes customer service, preparation of the meals, dealing with cash, cleaning and stocking. Organisation’s internal and external customers Working on the front counter at McDonalds deals with the external customers, these are the people who pay for the product/food that the business has to offer. The employees, who work on the front counter, act as internal customers towards the employees at McDonalds who work in the back. People working on the front counter next-handle the jobs that have been completed from out the back where the food is made. When an external customer walks into a McDonald restaurant, straight away their main needs and expectations is to firstly walk into an attractive well maintained and clean environment, to have a fresh tasting meal delivered to them politely from a well organized employee, who should prepare the meal quickly but carefully, making sure no mistakes are made. Each and every employee has the resources they need to serve the customers so they can be prepared as each customer approaches. Restaurants are adequately staffed to allow for a good customer experience as well as to provide schedule flexibility, work-life balance and time for training. When serving the customers, employees should act in ways which make the customers feel as though they are happy with the service and would continue to do business with the organisation. Therefore the employees are trained to use appropriate communication techniques to make the customer feel comfortable, welcome and satisfied with the service. This means that every customer should receive respect, patience, friendliness, and good quality products. On behave of McDonalds (2004), claims that â€Å"At McDonald’s, we know that people are our most valuable resource. We aim to be the best employer in each community around the world where we do business.† Read more:  Customer Service Essay How the organisation recognizes its customer’s requirement McDonalds is well known as a fast food restaurant, therefore the meals are expected to be delivered to each customer in a fast, efficient way, but in the same time, the meals need to be prepared cautiously to make sure no mistakes are made and to also make sure that the meal is fresh and of great quality. Another issue concerned with the service is the ‘customer rush’ this is when many customers all approach at once. This usually occurs during lunch time, straight after school hours, and around dinner time. When there is a ‘customer rush’, the store should be adequately staffed to allow employees to be prepared and deal with the large group of people as quick as they can. The organisation becomes aware of the requirements from previous circumstances when customers complain that their food is not fresh, or if they have been waiting a long time for their meal to be prepared. All McDonald’s restaurants have possession of a particular McDonalds owned clock which works as a timer and helps in the process to distinguish how long the burgers have been sitting for. This process prevents the burgers from going past the stage where they are not fresh anymore. The fry station in which the fries are made also has a separate timer which goes of when the fries are no longer fresh. From time to time, accidents may happen and the timers may not be used efficiently. This is when the food gets cold, and customers begin to complain. When a customer complains of their food being cold or not fresh, they should be treated with extra consideration, get an apology and then have their meal replaced. The only way this problem can be resolved is for workers to make sure they keep an eye on the timers, and if there are no fresh burgers when a customer is served, they should be seated and have they’re meal taken to them within a few minutes. If a customer feels that they repeatedly receive food which is not fresh enough, and they do not mind waiting a few extra minutes, they can ask for a fresh burger. Then, they will be asked to be seated while their meal is being made. Another circumstance may be if a customer is allergic to something in a meal, or don’t want a particular ingredient in their food such as pickles in their burgers or salt on their fries. All they need to do is make the person who is serving them aware of this. This is called a grill, and their meal will be freshly made as of above. All the staff of McDonalds are trained to deal with the customers in a pleasant manner. Any suggestions from customers on how the service, environment, etc. can be improved would be taken positively and the matter would be discussed with the management because McDonalds wants all customers to be happy. Some McDonalds restaurants have suggestion boxes where customers can give their thoughts of any improvement which can be made for customer service delivery. The suggestions from customers are a great help to the management, as the customers are the ones who the store is trying to impress. Within time, business technology can assist with the service at McDonalds by creating higher technology cash register, which may help with interpreting the order and assistance with the cash. The quicker the meal is ordered the quicker the meal can be delivered. Business technology could also assist with serving the customers on drive through. â€Å"Our People Promise is more than words. McDonald’s and its independent owner/operators have made a commitment to our employees that we strive to achieve with our actions every day† McDonalds.com (2004). To deliver the People Promise, there are in place, five people principles which promote customer service strategies. They include Respect and recognition, Values and Leadership Behaviors, Competitive Pay and Benefits, Learning Developing and Personal Growth and Resourced to get the job done. The delivery of a quality service is essential to a successful business. â€Å"For McDonald’s to achieve our goal of being the world’s best quick service restaurant experience, we must have the best experience for all McDonald’s employees.† This quotes that the quality of the McDonalds business revolves around the employees actions. Another main issue is that there is always a clean surrounding of each restaurant, to make everyone feel comfortable to dine in. The main customer objective is when food is not fresh. To fulfill this objective, budget recourses which may help with the solution could include a buzzer or alarm to indicate that the food is off. Stronger heat may help so that the burgers, and fries stay hot, but this brings danger to the employees with the high risks of burns. The company can look further towards these issues to come to a resolution to the complaints. Conclusion The company of McDonalds is a largely known and popular business. The reoccurrence of so many customers indicates that it is successful. But there can never be enough of pleasing customers, because the more pleased customers become, the more business the store will get, this is from word of mouth. Therefore if a customer has a bad experience, the company’s earnings may slightly drop. McDonalds is cautious of the way they handle customers, the environment, and the quality of their food. They are also aware of customer complaints or suggestions of improving the service, food, etc. This helps a lot to improve the business which is becoming more and more popular everyday. Bibliography * http//:www.Mcdonalds.com.au * Burbury E, 2003, Deliver and Monitor a Service to Customers, Software publication Pty. Ltd., Sydney. * McDonalds Pty Ltd, 2001, Crew Member Handbook. * http//:www.Mcdonalds.com (world wide)   

Chemicals That Should Never Be Mixed

Chemicals That Should Never Be Mixed Some chemicals shouldnt be mixed together. In fact, these chemicals shouldnt even be stored near each other on the chance that an accident could occur and the chemicals could react. Be sure to keep incompatibilities in mind when reusing containers to store other chemicals. Here are some examples of mixtures to avoid: Acids with cyanide salts or cyanide solution. Generates highly toxic hydrogen cyanide gas.Acids with sulfide salts or sulfide solutions. Generates highly toxic hydrogen sulfide gas.Acids with bleach. Generates highly toxic chlorine gas. An example of this would be mixing bleach and vinegar.Ammonia with bleach. Releases toxic chloramine vapors.Oxidizing acids (e.g., nitric acid, perchloric acid) with combustible materials (e.g., paper, alcohols, other common solvents). May result in a fire.​Solid oxidizers (e.g., permanganates, iodates, nitrates) with combustible materials (e.g., paper, alcohols, other common solvents). May result in a fire.Hydrides (e.g., sodium hydride) with water. May form flammable hydrogen gas.Phosphides (e.g., sodium phosphide) with water. May form highly toxic phosphine gas.Silver salts with ammonia in the presence of a strong base. May generate an explosively unstable solid.Alkali metals (e.g., sodium, potassium) with water. May form flammable hydrogen gas.Oxidizing agents (e.g., nitric acid) with reducing agents (e.g., hydrazine). May cause fires or explosions. Unsaturated compounds (e.g., substances containing carbonyls or double bonds) in the presence of acids or bases. May polymerize violently.Hydrogen peroxide/acetone mixtures when heated in the presence of an acid. May cause explosions.Hydrogen peroxide/acetic acid mixtures. May explode upon heating.Hydrogen peroxide/sulfuric acid mixtures. May spontaneously detonate. General Advice About Mixing Chemicals While it may seem like chemistry is a good science to learn through experimentation, its never a good idea to randomly mix together chemicals to see what youll get. Household chemicals arent any safer than lab chemicals. In particular, you should use care when dealing with cleaners and disinfectants, since these are common products that react with each other to yield nasty results. Its a good rule of thumb to avoid mixing bleach or peroxide with any other chemical, unless youre following a documented procedure, are wearing protective gear, and are working under a fume hood or outdoors. Note that many chemical mixtures produce toxic or flammable gases. Even in the home, its important to have a fire extinguisher handy and work with ventilation. Use caution performing any chemical reaction near an open flame or heat source. In the lab, avoid mixing chemicals near burners. At home, avoid mixing chemicals near burners, heaters, and open flames. This includes pilot lights for ovens, fireplaces, and water heaters. While its common to label chemicals and store them separately in a lab, its also good practice to do this in a home. For example, dont store muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid) with peroxide. Avoid storing household bleach together with peroxide and acetone.

Strategic Choise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Strategic Choise - Essay Example Porter's Generic Strategies model (Porter, 1985) illustrated that competitive scope is to be either, focused on the whole market, or a narrow segment of the available market. In addition, the model emphasised that only two effective marketing strategies existed: lowest product costs or high-perceived value by the customer (differentiation) (Macmillan & Tampoe, 2000). The model depicts three generic strategies: 1) cost leadership; 2) differentiation; and 3) focus on a target market. The least attractive strategy is one that takes the middle ground between two options. For example, British Airways (BA) uses a differentiation strategy (Johnson & Scholes, 1999). "The "BA Way" business strategy actively engages with employees, shareholders, customers and the community (Johnson & Scholes, 1999). During 2004-2005 BA experienced an increase of 3.3% in revenue. In contrast, Adria Airlines' Customer Relationship Management strategy focuses on quality and the personal touch, according to Porter 's model would be focusing on a target market (Adria Airways, 2004). In contrast to Porter's model Adria experienced an increase in production and administrative costs of 12% during 2003-2004 (Adria Airways, 2004). Both airlines are concerned with only a narrow segment of the airline market, yet neither benefited substantially from their strategic choice. Bowman's Strategy Clock model (Macmillan & Tampoe, 2000) is comparable to Porter's model in that he also categorised competitive strategy into cost leadership or degree of differentiation (Johnson & Scholes, 1999, Macmillan & Tampoe, 2000). However, Bowman's model extended Porter's by incorporating a "hybrid" strategy that represented an optimal balance between perceived customer value and price. This provides an organisation with three broad strategies that exist on a continuum: 1) low cost and low value as perceived by the customer (i.e., generic brands); 2) "good value" products that find balance between price and value; and 3) high cost and high perceived value items (i.e., luxury goods) (Macmillan & Tampoe, 2000). Bowman's model is much more reflective of the 21st century marketing environment, in that many organisations specialise in providing products and services that blend low cost and high differentiation (Macmillan & Tampoe, 2000). For example, British Airways could be co nsidered to be using the hybrid strategy of Bowman's, as its business strategy seeks to lower costs yet differentiate itself by way of increasing its engagement with stakeholders (British Airways, 2005). According to Porter's model, this would be a weak strategy as it combines two generic strategies (i.e., cost leadership and differentiation). Adria Airlines Customer Relationship Management strategy (Adria Airways, 2004), could be considered to be in Bowman's category of focused differentiation, due to its provision of seasonal charter services, and personal high quality services. So that the higher price of their product also has perceived added value for a select target market. This category reflects Porter's generic category of differentiated focus for a narrow competitive strat

Audit Quality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Audit Quality - Essay Example The auditors are looked upon by the readers of the financial statements to give assurance that the data presented are free from MATERIAL errors or irregularities. The readers of the financial statements need the financial statements in order to help them in their decision making. At present, auditors are held liable for fault due to negligence or incompetence doing audit work. Also together with regulation and reputation liability acts as a discipline on audit quality in a context where shareholders and other third parties rely on financial information that is audited and paid for by the company audit( Dipiazza, 2000) client. A good example is the Enron case. The audit staff of Arthur Andersen was charged for being negligent in performance of the audit function. Arthur Andersen has now been relegated to the side walk while the remaining big four have remained walking in the major highways handling the major and juice clients of the entire United States and overseas. ISA 240 Fraud and Error. This auditing standard explains the procedures in the audit of Fraud (Zea, 2002) and Error. This audit standard also tells the penalties, especially criminal offenses like being jailed, for gross negligence in auditing the clients' financial statements. Fraud is defined as intentional misstatement either by the company employee (who steals money or property and conceals the errors) or the management itself. The management sometimes does this fraud in order to present a better picture of what the company is in reality. This is what we call, in the accounting parlance, as window dressing. ISA 250 Consideration of Laws and Regulations in an Audit of Financial Statements This auditing standard specifically instructs the auditors to determine if any laws have been violated by the false information presented in the financial statements. One such law of the land is the Income Tax Law, The Property Law, and the Contract law. ISA 220 Quality Control for Audit Engagements. Quality control of engagements means that each engagement must be done with real professionalism. Professionalism means that all auditing standards and auditing procedures must be followed whenever practical or possible. There must be a constant evaluation of audit performance ob all audit team member so that recommendations and corrections can be implemented so that the next engagement will be better and faster than the prior one. Quality audit means that all audit procedures are made to ensure gathering all relevant and material data as soon as possible. IAPS 1010 The Consideation of Environmental Matters in the Audit of FinancialStatements. One audit procedure in environmental audit is to see to it that no environmental laws have been vi