A Pilot Study On Classroom Observation Education Essay

Chapter 4This chapter describes a pilot survey conducted after the preliminary survey and before the chief survey. It begins by a brief debut given in subdivision 4.1, followed by treatments on the sample choice, observation agenda and pre and station session interviews in subdivision 4.2. Section 4.3 covers the schoolroom observations. Gesture cryptography, including the written text, coding jobs and policy, and consequences of the cryptography are included in subdivision 4.4. Discussion and decision concentrating on schoolroom observation and metaphoric gestures are covered in subdivision 4.5. The chapter ends with the deductions for the chief survey explored in subdivision 4.6.4.1 About the Pilot StudyThis pilot survey built on a old little graduated table preliminary survey ( chapter 3 ) . The purposes were: ( a ) to see existent clip schoolroom observation ; ( B ) to prove out and better the observation agenda and interview inquiries ; ( degree Celsius ) to research whether Chin ese music instructors used metaphoric gestures and if so, what these metaphors were and where they were used ; and ( vitamin D ) to prove out and develop metaphoric gesture designation processs. The focal point was limited to music Sessionss in junior high schools because in the preliminary survey, more metaphors were found from the junior degree than from the simple degree. The information of this pilot survey were transcribed from three general music Sessionss taken by Wang, a music instructor in a junior high school in Taiwan.4.2 Before the Observation4.2.1 Sample SelectionSituated in a in-between to upper-middle category suburb of a major northern metropolis, Wang ‘s school was founded in 1988, with 4,268 pupils and 113 categories in 2006. It is considered to be a large school, comparative to the official norm of 1,299 pupils per junior high school in Taiwan for the school twelvemonth 2005-2006 ( Department of Statistics, Ministry of Education of Taiwan ) . The informations were collected in general music categories with pupils aged between 12 and 14. Each category contained around 35 pupils, and talk was the lone type of interaction observed. The consequences of t he preliminary survey showed that metaphor denseness may differ because of learning content. Therefore the Sessionss observed for this pilot were limited to music theory, music history, and music grasp. Wang ( a anonym ) had received her MA in musicology four old ages antecedently and since so had been learning music in the same junior high school. Bing really open-minded about taking portion in research and being observed, Wang was one of the really first music instructors I contacted for the preliminary survey. Since so she had been helpful in replying my inquiries and supplying me background information about the state of affairs of music instruction in junior high school degree in Taiwan. After the preliminary survey, I emailed her to inquire her permission for me to come in her schoolroom and video-record a twosome of Sessionss, and she agreed to take part. Music lessons form portion of the Humanistic disciplines and Humanities class class in junior high schools in Taiwan ( see subdivision 2.4.1 ) , and hence music, humanistic disciplines, and executing humanistic disciplines portion one text edition. â€Å" The humanistic disciplines subdivision negotiations about utilizing different colorss to stand for the four seasons, and the music subdivision negotiations about Vivaldi. So it occurred to me that it ‘s a good chance to give a talk on the Baroque epoch and present Vivaldi ‘s The Four Seasons to them, † ( Wang, pilot interview 2 ) . At the clip when this study was written, MOE of Taiwan did non supply one â€Å" standard † version of the text edition, and schools were free to take the version they preferred. Wang therefore on a regular basis designed the content of her lessons. â€Å" The text edition references nil about the Baroque epoch so I make my ain PowerPoint slides to assist pupils set up the background cognition † ( Wang, the same interview ) . Teachers are allowed to re-arrange the order of the instruction contents and set related things together. In some schools, music instructors have to learn executing humanistic disciplines, but this was non the instance in Wang ‘s school, where there were three single instructors for the three bomber classs: music, humanistic disciplines, and executing humanistic disciplines.4.2.2 Observation Schedule and InterviewsAfter Wang agreed to take part in the survey, I explained to her about the research through electronic mail. She understood that the research was about schoolroom discourse and hence suggested me to put the observation clip at a hebdomad after the mid-term test, when she was approximately to present the Baroque epoch to her pupils. One month before the schoolroom observation, Wang and I met to discourse which classes to detect, including when I should get, where I should sit and how best to put up the recording installation. In add-on, Wang approximately explained what sort of schoolroom activities would be involved and what she intended to learn. Wang was told that the s urvey was about schoolroom talk and the thought was to detect a session with every bit much talk involved as possible. She hence suggested Sessionss chiefly covering music history and music grasp. This meeting is classed as pilot interview 1 ( for more inside informations, see Appendix B ) . A real-time observation agenda was designed, with a intent of associating the schoolroom activities and metaphor usage. As can be seen from the agenda ( see Appendix C ) , both start and terminal times of the activities needed to be specified and during each activity, runs of metaphors and gestures needed to be made, so that I could acquire a basic sense of where bunchs of metaphors and gestures most frequently occurred ( though in the event it proved about impossible for me to number them during categories, something which will be discussed subsequently in 4.6.1 ) . In add-on, the observation agenda covered: administration of the category, stuffs, and musical instruments used, and the linguistic communication used by the instructor and pupils. A general feeling of schoolroom ambiance would be noted as H ( high ) , F ( carnival ) , or L ( low ) to see if schoolroom atmosphere is related to metaphor usage. A follow-up interview ( pilot interview 2 ) with Wang was conducted after detecting the three Sessionss. The face-to-face semistructured interview took topographic point in Wang ‘s music schoolroom during her interruption, enduring 42 proceedingss. Again, I was permitted to enter it, and at the same clip made notes while Wang was speaking. A list of information or inquiries I planned to seek or inquire, translated from Chinese ( the linguistic communication used during the interview ) into English is appended ( Appendix D ) . In the interviews, information was sought about Wang ‘s educational background and working experience, and inquiries covered how Wang prepared for the category and aimed to explicate new constructs, how Wang thought about metaphors and gestures, and if she used them to assist her Teach. Mandarin Chinese was used throughout the interview. Notice that the Numberss are for the convenience of composing up the study ; the inquiries were asked without any specific order. During the interview with Wang, the above subjects were covered. To Wang, metaphor helped the pupils to link music and their day-to-day life experiences. She gave an illustration of the birds, Canis familiariss, spring air current, and summer boom in Vivaldi ‘s The Four Seasons. However, she did non normally interpret music in her ain manner when introducing or depicting it- † I merely interpreted the music in the manner which the composer marked on the music manuscript † ( Wang, pilot interview 2 ) . Although overall the interviews went swimmingly, it was realised that some inquiries were excessively general and more inquiries about metaphor and gestures were needed. Detailss are discussed in 4.6.1.4.3 During the ObservationFor the first session, I entered the music schoolroom with Wang around 15 proceedingss before the session began. Wang told me that because of the limited Numberss of music schoolrooms, music instructors in her school had to take bends utilizing them. It was Wang ‘s bend to hold one of the music classrooms that semester and hence she was allowed to remain in the room waiting for the pupils to get. The excess clip proved utile from the point of position of puting up the picture equipment. The chief equipment in the music schoolroom included a piano, an electronic piano, a chalkboard with clean musical staff, an LCD projector, a DVD participant, and a few classical instrumentalists ‘ portrayals and illustrations of musical instruments on the walls, etc. Wang had to supply her ain laptop. Figure 4.1 illustrates the layout of the schoolroom where the three observed Sessionss took topographic point. The two black circles on the top exposure indicate where the picture recording equipment was placed and where I sat. The picture recording equipment started to enter when the pupils started to walk into the schoolroom. It was non turned off until the category was dismissed and the schoolroom was empty. Neither the instructor ‘s nor the pupils ‘ seats were moved. As a nonparticipant research worker, I tried to maintain the schoolroom the manner it was without me. I sat at the dorsum of the schoolroom next to the picture recording equipment, to take field notes which might be helpful during the readying of the transcripts. Photographs were besides taken earlier or/and after Sessionss. The picture recording equipment started to enter when the pupils started to walk into the schoolroom. It was non turned off until the category was dismissed and the schoolroom was empty.Figure 4.1. Pilot survey: Music schoolroom scene.For most of the clip the pupils could non see me during the categories. However, there was one clip, while Wang corrected a pupil ‘s thumbing while playing the recording equipment, another pupil kept turning and gesticulating â€Å" YA † ( the V mark, with his index and in-between fingers of his right manus raised and the staying fingers clenched, palm facing outwards ; a really popular gesture in Taiwan when being photographed ) toward the picture recording equipment. Wang noticed it. She asked the pupil to stand up and present himself to the picture recording equipment, and encouraged him to give a solo public presentation for two bars, and so the session continued. This was the lone break caused by the research worker ‘s presence during the Sessionss I observed. The talk construction of the three Sessionss I observed was rather similar. It was because Wang designed and followed her ain instruction course of study for each twelvemonth of the pupils, and besides because the three Sessionss I observed were all in the same twelvemonth ( twelvemonth seven ) . The session started with playing the recording equipment. Wang reviewed the piece she had taught in the old session with the whole category and so selected a few pupils to stand up and play separately, in order to detect how much pupils had learned ( Wang, pilot interview 2 ) . Then she taught one new piece by showing and playing with the whole category. After the recording equipment playing, the talk portion â€Å" episode † ( Lemke, 1990 ) started. Wang began by presenting the recording equipment ensembles: bass, tenor, alto, soprano and sopranino recording equipments. Then she introduced some of import epochs in musical history, with a focal point on the Baroque. To this terminal, Wang gave pupils some background cognition about the features of the music, musical instruments, and some celebrated instrumentalists, before presenting Vivaldi and his concerto, The Four Seasons. By and large talking, the observation agenda proved easy to tag. Keeping records based on schoolroom activities made it easy to remember what happened in the Sessionss, and there was adequate clip to maintain records for most of the classs, except for the Numberss of lingual metaphor and gesture used. Second it became clear that some classs needed to be farther specified-this will be discussed subsequently in 4.6.1.4.4 Gesture CodingMcNeill ‘s strategy ( see subdivisions 6.3.2 for a reappraisal of the literature and 6.3.3 for a treatment, on gesture categorization systems ) applied in this survey required inquiring what significances and maps a gesture possessed. In other words, the classs were non based on merely one aspect of a gesture. For illustration, iconics and metaphorics were more semantically oriented, while deictics were more pragmatically oriented. Because of this, each class was non treated as discrete or reciprocally sole, but as holding characteristics that may b e present in changing grades, and perchance in combination. Therefore, the ultimate end of gesture cryptography is to place the extent to which each characteristic is present, instead than sort the gestures ( Eisenstein & A ; Davis, 2004 ; McNeill, 1992 ) . In this pilot so it is really of import to put up a cryptography policy to bespeak when to categorize a gesture by its significance and when by map. More inside informations are discussed in 4.4.3. Two programmers were involved in gesture cryptography in order to prove out McNeill ‘s process and increase the dependability of the survey. The other programmer, a alumnus pupil in the Department of Educational Studies at the University of York, was a native talker of Chinese with some cognition of metaphor holding conducted her MA research on the subject. McNeill ‘s three chief gesture categories-deictics, iconics, and metaphorics-were introduced before I asked her to categorize the gestures which Wang used. Due to clip restriction, merely a portion of the hearing to The Four Seasons from Wang ‘s first session was selected. The portion was chosen for its heavy distribution of gestures. It lasted for five proceedingss and ten seconds, with 35 gestures identified by me antecedently. More inside informations about gesture cryptography are discussed in 4.4.4.4.4.1 Data ChoiceDue to the limited clip available, merely one session was chosen for gesture cryptography. The ground for taking the first session was that although the construction of the three Sessionss was similar, the first session was more complete and covered all the activities from recording equipment playing, a talk on the Baroque epoch, to music hearing, with a more even allotment of clip, than the other two Sessionss. Types of activities affair here because if Numberss of gestures differ in different types of activities ( and it seems so from the consequences ) , affecting more activities in the informations can cut down the hazard of any possible gesture loss.4.4.2 Transcribing the DataBoth gestures and address were transcribed. Speech was transcribed to the full from the videotape in Chinese. The written text of gestures included three stairss: ( a ) place the motions that were gestures ( here gesticulations ) ; ( B ) place the shot of the each gesture ; and ( degree Celsius ) locate the boundaries of the gesture phases in the relevant portion of the phonological written text.4. 4.3 Coding Problems and PolicyThe consequences of the gesture classification from the two programmers were compared. Unlike deictics, which were all agreed by both programmers, iconics and metaphorics seemed to represent the more debatable classs. One of the illustrations was where Wang lifted her left manus at shoulder tallness with her thenar confronting up and wiggled her center, ring, and small fingers fast in bend when stating the word zhuangshiyin ( â€Å" shake † ; actual interlingual rendition: â€Å" ornament notes † ) . Although both programmers agreed that Wang was keeping an unseeable fiddle and playing the shakes, we however coded it otherwise. The other programmer coded it as metaphoric, because the referent of the gesture, zhuangshiyin, was interpreted as a lingual metaphor itself. I coded it as iconic because the gesture in fact was stand foring what was explicit in the attach toing address and therefore had a close relation to the gesture. This helped develop one of the coding policies later-gestures attach toing metaphors in address were non decidedly considered to be metaphorics. Another job related to the programmers ‘ differential focal points and readings of the same gesture. Wang said, â€Å" The boom came fast and went fast. Then it became quiet once more. † In the first sentence she began by traveling her left arm from left to compensate with the thenar confronting up and fingers curving and so moved the arm back to the left without altering the form of the thenar. For the 2nd sentence, she turned over her left thenar to confront the land with consecutive fingers and pressed down the thenar a small spot in the air. The different cryptography concerned the first sign phrase. When I coded them, I focused on the motions of the arm, which was moved from left to compensate, and so back to the left, which seemed to bespeak â€Å" came † and â€Å" went † in address. Therefore the gestures were coded as iconic ( instead than metaphorics, which was clarified subsequently ) . On the other manus, the other programmer focused on the form of the thenar, which changed from a thenar with curled to consecutive fingers. She interpreted the curling fingers as stand foring the â€Å" fast † in address, while the consecutive fingers represented the â€Å" quiet, † and so she coded them as metaphoric. What was stupefying was that none of us thought about construing the same gesture each other ‘s manner before holding the treatment. Our in agreement place was to category the gestures as iconics, because both of us agreed that it was more common to see such gestures looking along with â€Å" came † and â€Å" went † than â€Å" fast † and â€Å" quiet. † In add-on, what the other programmer received before coding might hold affected her. She used my written text of gestures while categorizing the gestures. Although the gestures were described in a descriptive linguistic communication, it was found subsequently that some of the written text was in fact subjective. For illustration, descriptions such as â€Å" the right manus drew a form of flash visible radiation † or â€Å" the left manus indicated composure † were already readings and they could be misdirecting to the other programmer. These jobs non merely predicted what may go on during the cryptography procedure for the chief survey, but besides helped develop the cryptography policy to be used, which is discussed below. Identifying Gestures In this survey, â€Å" gesture † specifically refers to gesticulation. Any thumbing the instructor used to show how to play the recording equipment, or the conducting gestures frequently used while the category was playing the recording equipment were beyond the range of this survey and excluded. The reading of Wang ‘s gestures was made from the research worker ‘s position, and it is deserving observing that this might differ from the reading from the talker ‘s or the addressee ‘s positions ( A. Cienki, personal communicating, June 3, 2008 ) . Metaphorics Metaphorical gestures were defined as gesticulations which present a more abstract referent in footings of a more concrete image and prosecute a cognitive procedure of understanding one thing in footings of something else. This definition dovetails moderately good with Lakoff and Johnson ‘s conceptual metaphor theory, the theoretical model on which this nowadays survey was built, and at the same clip does non belie the Pragglejaz definition of metaphorically used lexical points applied in the survey ( discussed in subdivision 3.3.2 and subsequently in 6.4.2 ) . One illustration is when Wang said gangqin de yinse yue lai yue xizhi ( â€Å" the timber of the piano becomes more and more delicate, † and gestured utilizing a unit of ammunition and half-open thenar confronting up attach toing the word â€Å" delicate. † Here, the gesture carries the double construction required by a metaphoric, in which the representation of the daintiness of the timber ( a more abstract referent ) by the gesture is presented as what appears to be an image of a bud waiting to open ( a more concrete base ) . Deictics versus Metaphorics Both McNeill ‘s deictics and iconics were re-defined for the present survey. Harmonizing to McNeill, abstract indicating gestures which imply a metaphorical image are besides included in the class of deictics. For illustration, gestures were used in my informations to indicate at an bing physical topographic point, but they referred to as an abstract construct of where the talker had been earlier. When Wang said â€Å" Did we merely say that ornament is popular in Baroque epoch, † she raised her left index finger to indicate to the â€Å" thought † which she merely mentioned in the same session. Pragmatically speech production, these gestures were indicating gestures ( deictics ) , but semantically speech production, the topographic point which the gestures pointed to was interpreted as someplace else based on the address context. In other words, such gestures engaged a cognitive procedure of understanding something ( the physical topographic point which the gestu re pointed at ) in footings of something else ( the existent infinite or thought which the middleman talked about antecedently ) and hence were classified as metaphoric. Iconics versus Metaphorics Gestures in a context where the Vehicle of a metaphor is explicitly flagged both by the custodies and by linguistic communication were classified as iconic. That is, if a instructor says â€Å" music is a container † and gestures a container, the gesture will be categorised as iconic instead than metaphoric because the gesture may attach to metaphor, but itself represents the actual signifier of the word â€Å" container † ; nevertheless, if the same gesture accompanies the sentence â€Å" we can experience the unhappiness in his music † , it will be classified as metaphoric. An effort was therefore made to separate between sign illustrations of verbal metaphors and gestures that were themselves metaphoric. This besides explains why the gesture â€Å" came † and â€Å" went † attach toing Wang ‘s vocalization of journey metaphor, â€Å" the boom came fast and went fast, † which was discussed before in this subdivision was coded as iconi cs instead than metaphorics.4.4.4 MethodAfter transcribing the address of the whole session, the picture infusion was watched by the two programmers individually, concentrating on merely the gestures. Every gesture Wang used was categorised into one of the three types of gesture: deictic, iconic, and metaphoric. It was decided to group the gestures into merely three classs instead than five ( including beats and cohesives ) because these three classs are more related to the focal point of the survey. Reasons for categorizing the gestures into three instead than two ( metaphorics and nonmetaphorics ) were that these were the three most popular gestures and that distinguishing deictic from iconic gestures would assist supply a better apprehension of what other types of gestures the instructor used along with metaphor in address besides metaphoric gestures. The 13.5 % dissension of the coding consequences between the two programmers was compared and discussed, until each gesture was classified into one of the three classs. The gestures were so highlighted on the transcript by utilizing three different colorss, to ease denseness and distribution analysis. Finally, maps of the gestures were noted.4.4.5 ConsequencesThe continuance of Wang ‘s direction in the recordings was 46 proceedingss, numbering 8,964 characters transcribed. In the session, 89 gestures were identified ; 43 % were iconics, 30 % metaphorics, and 27 % deictics. Every gesture was categorised. The distribution was such that over 75 % of them fell in the subdivisions on Listening to The Four Seasons ( 42 % ) and the talk on the Baroque epoch ( 35 % ) . Merely 1 % of the gestures occurred in the gap and the recording equipment drama subdivisions. Deictics Wang used deictics to indicate at objects. Her superciliums rose when she started the inquiry â€Å" Can you see the word, Baroque, in the text edition † and looked at the pupils. Her left index finger pointed forwards. Then when Wang said the focal point of the inquiry zhege zi ( â€Å" the word † ) , she raised her right manus and pointed at the screen behind her with her index finger. When she pronounced the word, â€Å" Baroque, † she turned her upper organic structure, half confronting the screen and looked for one second at the Chinese characters for â€Å" Baroque † written on the screen. Extract 11 [ a? †° c?†¹a? ° e ¬ ] a [ †° a? « eˆâ„ ¢aˆâ€ ¹ a ­- cs„ aZY?-†¡ ] i?YBaroquei†°Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬ °i?Y [ Ni you kandao keben ] shibushi [ you xie zhege zi de yuanwen ] ? Baroque, youmeiyou? [ you have see casebook ] ( Q ) [ have write this word ( DE ) etymology ] Baroque ( Q ) Can you see if the English word, Baroque, is in the text edition? However, deictics were non ever used to indicate to something concrete. For illustration, when listening to the first motion of The Four Seasons, Wang compared the fiddles ‘ shake to birds tweet in the spring. When she asked the category to pay attending to a certain portion of the tune, she repeatedly put her index finger of her right manus following to her right ear and pointed to the air. Wang kept reiterating this gesture whenever she tried to pull the category ‘s attending to the music. Therefore, it appeared to be the music she was indicating at, although it was non concrete, or even seeable at all. The undermentioned infusion is another illustration of indicating to the unseeable. Wang asked the category if they still remembered what instruments she had mentioned earlier in the same session. The first reply â€Å" cembalo † came from a pupil and every bit shortly as Wang heard it, she raised her right index finger, indicating. Wang so repeated the reply and gave her response, â€Å" really good. † It is arguable whether Wang ‘s finger was indicating to the word, â€Å" cembalo, † or the pupil who gave the reply, but in either instance the gesture was categorised as deictic. Extract 12 Thymine: ‘aˆ‘ a†°Ã¢â‚¬ º?†°? e ? µ?e cs„ ‚aâ„ ¢? †° aâ€Å"?a?†ºi?Y adult females gangcai shuo liuxing de yueqi you naxie we merely say popular ( DE ) instrument have ( Q ) What are the popular instruments we merely mentioned? Second: a ¤Ã‚ §e? µc dajianqin cembalo Harpsichord. Thymine: [ ] a ¤Ã‚ §e? µciaaie‚„†° a‘?i?Y [ ] daijianqin henhao haiyou Ne [ ] cembalo really good still have Q [ ] Harpsichord. Very good! What else? Second: a? ¦ ‚aâ„ ¢? xian yueqi threading instrument Stringing instrument. Thymine: [ ] a? ¦ ‚aâ„ ¢?ie?za ai [ ] xian yueqi feichang hao [ ] twine instrument really good [ ] String instrument. Very nice! Iconics Iconics were the most common type of gesture in Wang ‘s category, and most of them appeared in the talk on the Baroque epoch and The Four Seasons subdivision. Gestures bespeaking Numberss and for presentation frequently fall in this class. For illustration, Wang held both weaponries set in forepart of her thorax, with both thenars confronting the land and put her lingua out, when depicting a puppy sitting lazily in forepart of a house in summer, while listening to the 2nd motion of The Four Seasons: â€Å" Because it ‘s excessively hot, the doges put their linguas out, right? † In the undermentioned illustration, Wang compared the difference between the flute and recording equipment while she was explicating why the recording equipment was translated as zhidi ( â€Å" perpendicular flute † ) . A flute, nevertheless, is held horizontally by the participant which is why it is besides named hengdi ( â€Å" horizontal flute † ) in Mandarin Chinese. When she asked the undermentioned inquiry, she used both custodies to copy gestures of both flute and recording equipment participants, to underscore the different waies in which two musical instruments were played. Extract 13 e†¢Ã‚ ·c ¬Ã¢â‚¬ º a ®? [ c†º?e‘- a ] e‚„ [ ? ©Ã‚ «e‘- a ] i?Y changdi Ta shi [ zhizhe chui ] hai [ hengzhe chui ] flute ( 3SG ) is [ perpendicular blow ] or [ horizontal blow ] Make you play the flute vertically or horizontally? The referent of the gestures did non ever appear at the same clip when the referent was uttered in address. In Extract 14, Wang used her right manus to indicate to the pillars in the schoolroom on her right and so left side, when she was speaking about the architecture of the edifices in the school. After she pointed to the pillar on her left side, she used both her pollex and index fingers of the right manus and moved the arm heterosexual and vertically, up down and back up. These gestures were iconics, stand foring â€Å" consecutive lines † in address. Next, when she talked about the lines in Baroque edifices, she used her right thenar to do a simple â€Å" U † curve in the air. Here in gesture, the soft â€Å" U † curve motion was contrasting with the old gesture of traveling the right pollex and index finger vertically, but in address, the adjectival â€Å" curved † contrasting with the adjectival â€Å" consecutive † in the first line did non follow straight until the 3rd line. The gesture preceded the word that related to it semantically. It seemed to back up the hypothesis that although gestures and address were different ocular and verbal elements, someway they were in fact conceptually integrated in an thought unit ( Cienki & A ; Muller, 2008 ; McNeill, 2005 ) . Extract 14 [ ?Y ±a ­? a ] [ e c†º? c ·s cs„ ] i?Ya °?aa °?i?Yc ·s a c °?a- ® [ zhuzi shibushi ] [ dou shi zhi xiantiao de ] duibudui xiantiao biddy kiandan pillar ( Q ) all are consecutive line ( DE ) ( Q ) line really simple [ The pillars are ] [ in consecutive lines ] , are n't they? Very simple lines. a a ·Ã¢â‚¬ ºa†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¹ ?â„ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Y cs„ ?â„ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡aˆâ„ ¢ [ ?ˆZei?Y†e ce ¤Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ia °?aa °?i?Y ] keshi baluoke shiqi de shihou [ zenmeWang bijiao fanfu duibudui ] but Baroque epoch ( DE ) clip ( Q ) more complicated ( Q ) But how approximately in the Baroque epoch? More complicated, is n't it? [ c ·s †e ? ¬? ] †° e? ±a ¤s cs„ ?†ºS? a °?aa °?i?Y [ xiantiao bijiao Army Intelligence ] you xuduo de quzhe duibudui [ line more good ] have many ( DE ) curved ( Q ) [ Lines are, good, ] more curving, are n't they? Metaphorics In entire, 30 % of the gestures were metaphorics and it was interesting that metaphorics occurred in about all the eight different schoolroom activities. The lone two exclusions were the gap and stoping comments which Wang made ; Wang used no gestures at all in her gap comments. SPACE AS TIME TIME IS AN ENITITY MOVING TOWARD THE SPEAKER is one of the conceptual metaphors shared by both English and Mandarin Chinese. For illustration, in Mandarin Chinese people say shengdanjiei kuailai lupus erythematosus, which means â€Å" Christmas is nearing, † and xingqitian guo lupus erythematosus means â€Å" Sunday passed. † Time is so thereby conceptualised as something traveling in infinite, and this can be seen even more clearly with gestures. Extract 15 was from Wang ‘s session when she introduced the different periods in musical history. She explained the order of the Renaissance and the Baroque. Firstly she raised her left arm, straightened out her five fingers, with the thenar confronting down, at about eyebrow tallness, and so moved her manus down to the tallness of her thorax. The two points in the infinite indicated the two different clip ranges in musical history and TIME is therefore represented as SPACE by the gesture. However, it is interesting in t his illustration that clip travelled in different waies in address and gesture ; in address, clip moved toward the talkers, but in the gesture it moved from up to down. In fact, the metaphor the gesture expressed here exists entirely in footings of gesture, non in address ( c.f. , subdivision 7.4.8 ) . That is, one would non state in Mandarin Chinese â€Å" the Baroque is at the underside of the Renaissance † to intend the same thing. Extract 15 -†¡e-?a? ©e [ e?Za?†  ?†°? a ·Ã¢â‚¬ ºa†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¹ ] wenyifuxing [ guolai cai shi baluoke ] Renaissance [ come yet is Baroque ] The Baroque comes after the Renaissance. SPACE IS IMPORTANCE Another conceptual metaphor suggested by the gestures is SPACE ( UP ) AS IMPORTANCE. This has a really close relation with the common conceptual metaphor in address: SIZE ( BIG ) AS IMPORTANCE. In Mandarin Chinese, district attorney ( â€Å" large † ) can be used as an adjectival to depict something of import. In Extract 16, Wang told the category that there were some of import periods in musical history. When she said that â€Å" there are some of import and large periods, † she lifted up her left arm with her unfastened thenar confronting down, so traveling increasingly downwards, stopped at different highs. Alternatively of ranking the periods from large to little by gestures, she ranked them from up to down. It was another illustration of different metaphors being used in address and co-speech gestures. Extract 16 eY‚ ? ­Ã‚ ·a a?S cs„ a?† Y a-† †° aaˆâ€ ¹ [ e†¡?e ¦?cs„ a ¤Ã‚ §cs„ ?â„ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Y ] yinyue lishi Shang de fenqi o you jige [ zhongyaode dade shiqi ] music history up ( DE ) period ( PRT ) have several [ of import large period ] About the periods in musical history, some are of import and large. Detached SPACES AS DIFFERENT PARTS OF AN EXPOSITION Metaphoric gestures which separate different parts of an expounding appeared more than one time, and although in address Wang ever said â€Å" FirstaˆÂ ¦moreoveraˆÂ ¦and thenaˆÂ ¦ , † she did non ever use the same gestures for them. Sometimes she gestured the Numberss â€Å" one, † â€Å" two, † and â€Å" three † even though she did non verbally say any Numberss. At other times, she merely turned over the other thenar from confronting the land to confronting upwards, when traveling to a new construct or thought in address. Such metaphoric gestures distinguish different parts of an expounding being made as separate ( downwards and upwards, or right and left ) infinites. For illustration, when Wang reviewed the chief points she had mentioned in category about Vivaldi, and asked the category to compose the chief points down in their ain text edition, she said â€Å" firstaˆÂ ¦moreoveraˆÂ ¦and thenaˆÂ ¦ , † and gestured wi th her right index finger indicating to different fingers of her left manus, to bespeak alterations of subject.4.5 Discussion and Conclusion4.5.1 Classroom ObservationLesson construction and activities involved Figure 4.2 shows the comparative sum of clip Wang spent on different activities across the three Sessionss. The two chief activities were recorder playing and a talk on the Baroque epoch, which between them accounted for about 2/3 of the entire clip. Besides Wang spent 15 % of clip listening to The Four Seasons with the category. The two parts where metaphors and gestures were used most frequently were the talk on the Baroque and listening to music, which took more than 2/5 of a session.Figure 4.2. Pilot survey: Relative clip spent on activities across Wang ‘s 3 Sessionss.Gesture usage and schoolroom ambiance For schoolroom ambiance on the agenda, three degrees were defined: high ( H ) was recorded when the category showed enthusiasm and the dB degree in schoolroom was high. Fair ( F ) was noted when merely a portion of the category responded to the instructor and the remainder remained soundless. Low ( L ) indicated that the category was quiet and seemed non to pay attending to the instructor, or when silence occurred after inquiries. It is of import to observe that the three degrees were comparative instead than absolute.Figure 4.3. Pilot survey: Gesture frequence and schoolroom atmosphere.It was assumed that there would be a positive correlativity between the figure of gestures and schoolroom atmosphere. However, the three boxes in Figure 4.3 show the topographic points where the two factors suggest a negative correlativity. It seemed that in the parts of talk where Wang used a certain figure of gestures did non needfully do the category more enthusiastic about their acquisition. One o f the possible accounts was that more gestures were made due to the low schoolroom ambiance. Interviews Both the interviews I had with Wang before and after the category Sessionss were face to face and semistructured. Most inquiries I had were unfastened inquiries. Making the interview semistructured allowed me to make a more natural talk ambiance without jumping the inquiries to which I wanted replies. The instructor would so be free to speak whatever their feelings and/or ideas were toward certain inquiries. At the same clip, nevertheless, I needed to maintain an oculus on both clip control and interview way to do certain I got the replies to the planned inquiries. Normally I did non disrupt Wang but tried to direct her dorsum to the subjects when she began to speak something unrelated. By and large talking, Wang ‘s replies were consistent because she echoed her ain point of positions when giving replies to different inquiries. For illustration, when asked how she prepared to explicate new constructs ( inquiry six ) , she indicated that music did non be entirely and a instructor had to assist pupils construct up the whole context in footings of clip, topographic point, and how people lived and thought at that peculiar clip, in order to understand a piece of music. She emphasised that music and other artistic signifiers such as architecture and humanistic disciplines were closely related, which she kept adverting when replying how she decided if the stuffs were suited for the category ( inquiry five ) and why music instruction was of import to her ( inquiry two ) .4.5.2 Metaphorical GesturesFunctions of Metaphoric Gestures In Wang ‘s Sessionss, different maps of co-speech gestures were examined and the followers were the three chief 1s found: ( a ) to underscore, ( B ) to visualize, and ( degree Celsius ) to put up. First, gestures helped underscore what Wang wanted to state. Normally underscoring gestures accompanied a verbal look incorporating Numberss, which highlighted different facets of a subject. These gestures could be metaphorics or iconics. They were used when the instructor helped the pupils to either prevue the chief points or reexamine the chief thoughts which were traveling to be introduced. These gestures seemed intended non merely to assist indicate out the of import chief points, but besides to do it easier for the category to follow the instructor ‘s expounding. Deictics which pointed out the subject being talked about in address besides seemed to underscore points and promote hearers to pay more attending to the subject. Second, gestures were used to visualize the abstract. Wang made a large horizontal â€Å" S † form with her left arm when stating the category that the tune they were listening to was depicting the spring zephyr. The metaphoric gesture all of a sudden made the line of the tune seeable. Besides, in Extract 14, Wang drew consecutive lines in the air while she was explicating the simpleness of the school ‘s edifice compared with Baroque ‘s complication. These iconics therefore helped visualize the abstract thought of simpleness. Finally, gestures were used by Wang to show ( positive ) feedback. As shown in Extract 12, alternatively of indicating to any pupil after Wang asked the inquiry to put up a specific pupil to reply, she pointed after hearing the response from the pupils. Almost every bit shortly as she completed the gesture, she repeated the reply from the pupil. It seemed that Wang ‘s finger was activated by the voice which produced the reply, and the index finger stopped in the air and headed in the way of where precisely the reply had come from. By making so, the attending of the category was drawn to the reply, followed by the positive response, â€Å" really nice, † made by Wang to the pupil concerned. Relationss of Metaphoric Gestures and Speech As the focal point is on metaphor and metaphoric gestures in this survey, Table 4.1 shows the dealingss between vocalizations and co-occurring metaphoric gestures. The consequences support the findings from other surveies in English ( Cienki, 1998 ; Cienki & A ; Muller, 2008 ) .Table 4.1Relationss Between Utterance and Co-occurring Metaphoric GesturesRelationss Example Notes 1 The same metaphor expressed in address and gesture â€Å" The timber of the piano becomes more and more delicate. † The gesture depicts a beginning sphere ( â€Å" delicate † ) in address by a unit of ammunition and half-open thenar confronting up. 2 A metaphor expressed in gestures but non in the co-occurring address â€Å" FirstaˆÂ ¦moreoveraˆÂ ¦and thenaˆÂ ¦ † The index finger of one manus points to the fingers of the other manus. The metaphoric gesture distinguishes different parts of an expounding being made by stand foring them as separate infinites. 3 Different metaphors expressed in address and gesture â€Å" About the periods in musical history, some are of import and large. † ( Extract 16 ) Address and gesture portion the same mark sphere of the metaphor ( of import ) , but the beginning sphere is characterised otherwise in address ( large ) and the gesture ( high ) . 4 Metaphors expressed by gestures ne'er appear in lingual signifier in Mandarin Chinese â€Å" The Baroque comes after the Renaissance. † ( Extract 15 ) What the gesture expresses here is that â€Å" Baroque is at the underside of the Renaissance. † Such an look is non usually used in address to intend that the Baroque comes after the Renaissance.34.6 Deductions for the Main Study4.6.1 Classroom ObservationResearcher ‘s function as a non participant Although my purpose was to maintain the schoolroom as it was before my entry, this was about impossible to make. As shortly as a pupil noticed that there was a alien in the room, things became different. Some pupils reacted to Wang ‘s inquiries more actively ; some tried to acquire Wang ‘s attending more enthusiastically than of all time, which I did non gain until Wang indicated the fact in category. Some pupils besides kept turning about during the Sessionss to see what I was making while others were funny about my reaction when a gag was told. Wang seemed to be natural in forepart of the video-recorder. She rarely looked at the video-recorder and in the three Sessionss I observed for two yearss, no particular reactions because of the presence of the video-recorder were found. Young mentioned that she had been observed for several times by the other instructors ( pilot interview 2 ) , and it might explicate why she looked rather natural in forepart of it. From the research worker ‘s point of position, come ining schoolrooms is a necessity for this survey because it allows one to acquire a better thought of the schoolroom ambiance and the context, which can non be wholly caught by watching a videotape, allow entirely an audio tape. However, it can be hard to judge if the information collected are affected due to any camera consequence ( Mackey & A ; Gass, 2005 ) . Classroom observation will stay the chief method of roll uping informations for the chief survey, and farther treatment on its job and how to undertake it in the chief survey is given in subdivision 5.10. Observation agenda The observation agenda helped me to track the procedure of each session during and after Sessionss. With the agenda, it was easy to turn up where I was in the session whether I sat in the schoolroom or watched the recorded picture at place. Overall the prepared observation agenda proved easy to tag. The classs ( activity, start and terminal clip, Numberss of lingual metaphor and gesture, participant administration, stuffs, instruments, linguistic communication used, and schoolroom atmosphere ) of the observation agenda were clear, although some needed to be clarified or deleted. It proved impossible to maintain accurate runs of lingual metaphors and gestures during the three Sessionss, even though I forced myself to seek to make it for a short period of clip during one of the Sessionss. Therefore this was non used for the chief survey. Some classs need to be redefined. There was a categorization named â€Å" Individual † in the participant administration subdivision ( see Appendix C ) and when I designed the agenda, I was believing about points where the instructor spent her clip on merely one peculiar pupil. That is, the instructor might travel following to the pupil or inquire the pupil to come to her, doing it clear that a certain period of the instructor ‘s clip was being devoted to one individual pupil. However, during the three Sessionss, this sort of single administration ne'er happened. Alternatively, another sort of single administration kept looking. Wang would speak to one peculiar pupil in forepart of the whole category. Although the conversation was non limited to the two ( Wang and the pupil ) , it was decided to code it as â€Å" single † participant administration. It was decided for the chief survey to include both the above types of participant administration as â€Å" single. † Classs of images and audio tape confused me at first during the observation. The chief stuff Wang used in her categories was PowerPoint slides, and the slides included non merely text, but images and sounds. It was decided that the categorization â€Å" images † should be extended non merely to palisade charts or postings, but besides to images provided electronically. The categorization â€Å" audio tape † was modified to â€Å" audio sound, † which included sounds whether provided by PowerPoint or by the piano played by Wang in category. In add-on, the categorization â€Å" PowerPoint † was added. Hence, when Wang showed a image of a Baroque palace via PowerPoint, both classs of â€Å" image † and â€Å" PowerPoint † were ticked. The class of â€Å" schoolroom ambiance † was deleted for the chief survey because focal points of the survey were modified and schoolroom ambiance was no longer an issue in the chief survey. A modified observation agenda based on the pilot survey for the chief survey is appended ( see Appendix E ) . Interview inquiries After the pilot interviews, it was discovered that inquiries six and eight were excessively general for the interviewee to reply. Furthermore, none of the inquiries was about gestures and hence this needed to be added. Besides, for inquiries four, five, and six, alternatively of inquiring the general state of affairs, inquiries were modified to promote the interviewee to reply based on the Sessionss being observed, instead than give general statements which the interviewee thought s/he â€Å" was supposed to make. † Finally, the order of the inquiries was rearranged to make a better flow of the conversation, although it was ne'er fixed. A list of modified inquiries for the chief survey is appended in Appendix F.4.6.2 Gesture CodingGesture Coding In this pilot, the other programmer was provided a transcript with both address and gestures. For the chief survey, the other programmer will be provided video cartridge holders and a written text of the instructors ‘ address merely. S/he needed to transcribe gestures get downing from placing stages of them to avoid the subjective reading of my description of the gestures. It can be really hard to code gestures without video-recording the Sessionss, and even with the picture, it can still take a batch of clip to reiterate playing one cartridge holder until gestures are decently transcribed. Both ocular and audio information are important, for the former records the motion inside informations without being interpreted into words, while the latter provides the address context. Overall, gesture classs are defined non merely by the manus gesture but besides by the function of gesture within the lingual context. Therefore it is about impossible to code gestures by kinetic motion informations entirely, and it is one of the grounds why gesture cryptography can be both clip and attempt consuming.

Mexican American Cultures Essay

Even though the American culture and Mexican culture have similarities, they are more different than alike. Me being Mexican-American and living so close to the Mexican-American border, I’m very familiar with these two cultures. Some differences are sports, form of speaking, and even dinner time. These might be shocking, but very true. One of the major differences is sports. In the Mexican culture, one grows up playing, and watching soccer. One probably cheers for the â€Å"Tijuana Xolos,† or â€Å"Cruz Azul,† and or maybe even â€Å"La America. † There are many teams but one’s family is a die-heart fan of one in specific. As a baby one’s first word is most likely â€Å"goal† or â€Å"penal. † In the Mexican culture one eat, sleeps, and breathes soccer. On contraire of soccer, in the American culture, football is a must. Every Sunday you’ll be dressed up in your team’s jersey and spend 4 hours screaming at the t. v. Sundays are holly for a football family, you grill, invite friends over and watch men tackle all day. In addition you’ll probably even throw in some curse words while you’re watching your favorite teams whether it’s the â€Å"San Diego Chargers† or â€Å"New England Patriots,† or many other professional football teams. One very important difference is the form of speaking and language. In the Mexican culture one will most likely learn and speak Spanish first before any other language. In Spanish, for elders or someone superior to you, you speak in what is called â€Å"forma de usted. † It’s very disrespectful to speak informally to an elder or any of your superiors and take offence of it. One is taught since a very young age la forma de usted because one’s parents expect one to speak appropriate to their superiors and not embarrass them while out. Typically one exception for la forma de usted is with one’s parents, but in my case, it wasn’t. In the American culture, you generally speak one language, English. In English there really isn’t a formal way to address your elders or superiors. One speaks informally to everybody, whether it’s one’s boss, mother, or friend. There is no respectful or specific way to speak to them. Different from the Mexican culture, everybody is on an equal level, so it doesn’t require speaking formally to anybody. Another difference is in a typical Mexican household the kids come home from school and do their homework at the table while their mom prepares dinner. Dinner is served at four p. m. but will not be eaten until everybody from the family is seated at the table, and ready to give thanks to the â€Å"Virgin Maria† for their food. Generally dinner is a dish that involves eating a tortilla with, and or beans. Different from the Mexican culture, in the American culture, one eats at around six p. m. It is typically around the time the parents get out of work, which is later on in the day. Usually they serve themselves and some eat in the living room while others eat in their rooms, very rarely to all eat seated together at the dinner table. Due to the busy routine that one has in America, that sense of family unity has lost its meaning, which reflects on something as simple as dinner time. As one can see the Mexican culture and the American culture are different in many ways. Each culture has their own unique characteristics which makes each of them special in their own way. Sports, form of speaking, and dinner time are little differences but make a huge difference in each culture.

Arming Police Officers

‘Arming’ Police Officers After the recent murders of two unarmed police officers in Greater Manchester, the question has been raised that ‘should police officers be armed’? Fiona Bone and her colleague Nicola Hughes died after going out on a routine patrol to check a reported burglary. It appeared that they were lured to the address for a deliberate attack. The question of ‘would they have survived if they had been armed’ remains unknown but many people have their opinion which I will be discussing throughout.There can be a lot of benefits and disadvantages of ‘arming’ police officers in this country which I will be discussing along with the main issues raised in the article. One of the key issues raised in the article is that the two officers of this attack may have been victims of an ‘image boosting’ crime. This is where criminals specifically target police officers to be known as ‘folk heroes’ among the criminals. SIR PETER, F. 2012. ‘This case tells us something about the nature of organised crime, the level of intimidation that it creates and the fact people sometimes see others as folk heroes for being involved in this sort of activity. The Telegraph. 18 October. This suggests that officers in this country need to have more protection for themselves when facing criminals because they just don’t know what they are going to come up against. The two police officers who died weren’t expecting any trouble and thought they could easily handle it. There has been a number of incidents where police officers have been attacked and they had no protection for themselves such as when Raoul Moat threatened to kill police officers, including shooting one in the face and leaving him blind for the rest of his life.DARREN, R. 2012. ‘How many officers need to die before the powers realise that it is the 21st century and you cannot fight crime with an outdated piece of pla stic and a bit of spray. ’ The Telegraph. 18 October. Another key issue raised in the article is that a lot of other countries are armed to fight crime whereas here in the UK, there are only specific armed response units that go to specific incidents. In the article, the two police officers were going to a regular burglary allegation, unarmed and had no protection for themselves.The arguments over whether the police should be routinely armed go back to the creation of the capital’s first force by Robert Peel in 1829. Officers in the 19th century would very often carry a gun but British policing took a different direction from Europe and America by declining to issue weapons on a routine basis. This is because he wanted the police to be members of the public, in uniform who could be easily approached by the public without them being intimidated. PHILIP, J. 2012.The reason for this was set out in Peel’s principles of policing: he regarded the police as the public in uniform. Not for us the military-style continental carabinieri of whom the general populace walk in fear and distrust. Our police, said Peel, are civilians, members of the public â€Å"who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent upon every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence†. The Telegraph. 19 September.Without the use of guns, it has made our country a less violent place than those where the police are armed. On the other hand, it leaves our police more vulnerable to the hardened criminals who are prepared to use weapons such as guns and knives on civilians and our police officers as we have seen over the recent years. There is also another main issue that comes up in the article which is many people; including police officers are passionate about the British style of policing which is remaining unarmed despite the increasing numbers of attacks on innocent police officers.A 2006 survey showed that officers were very much against the idea of being armed. JON, K. 2012. A 2006 survey of 47,328 Police Federation members found 82% did not want officers to be routinely armed on duty, despite almost half saying their lives had been â€Å"in serious jeopardy† during the previous three years. BBC news magazine. 19 September. We have to remember that incidents such as the one that happened in Greater Manchester are extremely rare as gun crime remains low.As you can see from the diagram below, there has been a rise in firearm offences in England and Wales over the years but since 2008 it has been gradually decreasing from 10,000 offences in 2008, down to 7,000 in 2010. (BBC NEWS MAGAZINE) There are many advantages and disadvantages of regularly arming police officers in this country. It allows the officers to feel protected at all times, even when they’re not expecting anything to happen. There have been many incidents where police officers have been attacked and had nothing to protect them.Givi ng them the right to carry firearms would not only protect them but to let criminals know that they’re not afraid to use them. Fewer officers may die on duty if they were better protected. However, arming the police can lead to a spiral of violence. In places where the police are not routinely armed, a portion of criminals will not arm themselves. For example, armed robbery carries a higher sentence than robbery. Once the police are armed, criminals who do not match their capability have a disadvantage, therefore, when the police become routinely armed, the criminal world fully arms itself in response.This would potentially lead into an increase in weapon possession and use. Giving police officers the right to carry firearms could also make communities feel safer. The sight of armed police officers patrolling the streets will not only scare ‘gangs’ from harassing the public but will restore communities with confidence that they are being properly protected. This could also backfire because the public may feel intimidated by the firearms and feel that they couldn’t approach a police officer.Guns could potentially place a distance between the community and the police and have a negative effect. Day to day police checks such as spot checks on cars could seem a threat to the public. Also if police officers carry a firearm, they face the likely risk of having that weapon turned on them by a criminal. This could put police officers in greater risk. In conclusion to the question of ‘arming police officers’ there are a lot of benefits which would greatly help our police officers and our community but also a lot of threats which it may cause.As we can see, there are a lot of big issues that rise from the article such as the increase of ‘image boosting’ crime which unarmed police officers are being targeted and why there are only a handful of countries including the UK whose police forces are not routinely armed. The question that still remains is should our police officers be armed? My opinion is that there are too many high risks that arming our officers may cause. I think that gun crime in England and Wales is extremely low comparing to other countries where the police are routinely armed, gun crime is higher.

Computer games' the development of children learning Research Paper

Computer games' the development of children learning - Research Paper Example The focus is children between the age of six and ten years old. Video games has a lot of advantages on the development of a child between the age of six and ten. In essence, practically all video games are challenging. This means that playing a computer games involves the brain in a lot of exercises. The child has to learn each and every trick of the game in order to win. Therefore, computer games helps the child develop necessary skills that equips him or her to face more challenging situations in future. Playing computer games enable the child to learn how to follow commands or directives (Blumberg and Fisch, 2013). There is no other way to win a computer game other than through following instructions. It is important to elucidate the fact that there are many ways of playing a particular game. According to Blumberg and Fisch (2013), a child can follow different paths or involve different techniques to win. This calls for creativity. Therefore, computer games inspires children to acquire ingenious skills in the course of development. When playing a computer game, the child has to involve practically every part of the body. Most games requires the player to synchronize and harmonize the thinking part of the game and the physical activities that involve moving the hands, legs, and other parts of the body. Therefore, computer games helps a child to learn how to coordinate various parts of the body to achieve positive results. For instance, a child aspiring to become a surgeon in future can learn effective skills through computer games especially coordinating the mind, the eyes, and the hands. Subsequently, a child is able to acquire better planning and time management skills. Blumberg and Fisch (2013) asserts that some games have specific timeframes and in fact have a timer. This means that the player has to mange his or her time well in order to win. These

Directly and completely answer the following questions. Include Essay

Directly and completely answer the following questions. Include specific examples from the story in your answer, and if you use secondary sources, be sure to include the correct documentation - Essay Example It forces him to value and prize personal closeness of life at home and the willingness of enduring hardship because of his beliefs. Even though he is afraid, the narrator makes a decision of going back home so that he can reclaim his identity, an identity he lost at the time he left his home. In his attitude towards civilization, it is apparent that the narrator is rejecting the white dominated civilization. It is entirely because of the personal, unhurried, aesthetic, and the passive values of his home, in combination with the profound sense of identification with the home environment as a physical place. It is clear that the narrator feels he does not fit the white society since he is a Native American. It is through this discontent with the present environment combined with his present place in society that creates the conflict of his attitudes. In the story, the major antagonist is the set of values created by the white culture, while another antagonist may include a cold weather and the sadistic threat of Denver Bob. The statement means that the narrator is alone, but not so lonely as compared to when he was back at school. Even though he might still be lonely, he is not as lonely as compared to the time he was at school. The quote comes at a time when the narrator was nearing the end of his journey (Tarver et al. 57). As he is walking along the train tracks that are leading him back home, he recognizes how lonely he was. The loneliness bases on the sense of being separated from the beliefs, the people, and the attitudes of his Indian upbringing while he was at school. Now that he is walking by himself, alone, but he is no longer lonely. In this essence, the author has no physical companion, but the world of animals and plants help keep him company as he is finishing his return home. Blue winds refer to the society

Preparation for the exam - Strategic Management Research Paper

Preparation for the exam - Strategic Management - Research Paper Example These grants were used for computer systems development, electronic textiles, and competitive enhancement initiatives. The government somewhat supports activities that can make its sportswear industry competitive in the global arena. New Balance, furthermore, is specifically affected by tariff policies. The â€Å"yarn forward rule† ensures that imported products pay proper duties: The rule, which has been included in most U.S. free trade agreements, denies duty-free treatment for apparel unless it is almost entirely manufactured in the FTA country. In fact, if any component of the item—thread, elastic strips, or fabric—is sourced elsewhere, duties are applied on the entire garment. (Kennedy and Appell, 2012) This rule benefits New Balance that has local manufacturing plants. Looser tariffs, however, will be bad news for it. Aeppel (2013) reports: Shoe tariffs add about $3 to $5 to the cost of a pair of midprice imported running shoes. While that might not seem li ke much, New Balance says the loss of that buffer would make the economics of its American-made strategy that much harder. If the tariffs go away, â€Å"it puts our competitors in a position to realize an even greater margin than we are,† says Matthew LeBretton, a New Balance spokesman, â€Å"and they can then reinvest that in their business.† As long as New Balance has U.S. plants, it benefits from the competitive advantage of import duties. Import flooding of cheap apparel from other countries, however, affects it too. Price-sensitive consumers prefer inexpensive products, even if they have lower quality. Economic The economic situation of the U.S. is improving, although at a very slow rate. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (2013): Real gross domestic product -- the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States -- increased at an annual rate of 2.5 percent in the first quarter of 2013 (that is, from the four th quarter to the first quarter), according to the "advance" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the fourth quarter, real GDP increased 0.4 percent. Slow economic growth affects employment and income rates of consumers, which affect demand for sportswear products. The monthly data for disposable income increase is not so buoyant either: â€Å"In March 2013, real disposable personal income increased 0.3 percent† (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2013). Despite the laggard economy, since sportswear products depreciate in time, people still buy them, although not in the same rates as better economic conditions. Sivy (2013) notes the depreciation of the U.S. dollar, which has not been the same value as in 2009. With low dollar value, imports become cheaper, and this can affect the sales of New Balance. Social America is becoming more diverse with low fertility rate, and so it is becoming a mature market too. El Nasser and Overberg (2011) summarise the 2010 C ensus: The USA is bigger, older, more Hispanic and Asian and less wedded to marriage and traditional families than it was in 1990. It also is less enamored of kids, more embracing of several generations living under one roof, more inclusive of same-sex couples, more cognizant of multiracial identities, more suburban, less rural and leaning more to the South and West.

School Violence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

School Violence - Essay Example Furthermore, there are many factors which can lead to integration within a gang, making it difficult to predict or prevent (Winfree Jr., Fuller, Vigil & Mays, 1992). For many people, time within a gang constitutes an important part of their life, however, a large number also successfully leave a gang (Pyrooz & Decker, 2011). It is important to understand the culture of gangs to help find ways of preventing youths from entering gangs, or helping them to successfully exit. One important study that has focused on delinquency in adolescents is the Rochester Youth Development Study. This research is critically important, because it considers the behavior of youth, as well as the causes and consequences of this behavior over a long period of time. The research first started in 1986, and followed a sample of 1,000 adolescent juveniles from the 7th and 8th grades in public schools within Rochester New York, through to their early adulthood. In this study, gang membership was present in a third of the sample group, yet it was responsible for 86% of serious acts of delinquency as well as 70% of sales of drugs that occurred within the group. Those who were gang members committed violent offensives more often when they were actively part of the gang than either before joining or after leaving. The authors examined violent behavior taking into account all other potentially confounding factors, including prior violence, and poverty, and still found a significant association between being active in a gang and violence. The authors argued that this result suggested that the norms of behavior within the gang, as well as group dynamics, strongly contributed to the prevalence of violence and delinquency (Thornberry, Krohn, Lizotte & Smith, 1998). This article focused on examining the behavior of adolescents across time without any selection for gang activity. Because of this, the sample size and the duration of the study, it

Personal Experiences Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Personal Experiences - Essay Example Applying Lewin’s change management model, the organization should have ensured that it changes the mindset of its employees before initiating the changing. During the transitional change, the change should have been introduced gradually while putting into account the values and attitudes of the employees. The final stage, freezing, should have involved ownership of the change as part of the organization’s operations. One of my peers wrote on an organizational change involving manufacturing processes. This change can be related with the above-discussed change in that both involve laying off workers and change of duties at work. The two changes illustrate the need to involve employees when making organizational changes. Additionally, the top-level management should integrate the new change within the values, mission and vision of the organization. In order to sustain these changes, leadership, structure, strategy, culture and systems should be

The Great American Dream Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Great American Dream - Essay Example The dream has limits and has its own laws which is something Jay Gatsby learns to his unfortunate detriment at the end of the story. America is known as the new world, a land of immigrants. So many people came to America, leaving their poor old lives behind. They came from countries with few economic opportunities, with little freedom. Some came with only five dollars in their pocket. In America, because of capitalism, they could become almost anything if they worked hard and had a good idea. In one generation a family could change from peasants or paupers to a rich and well-heeled family. There was enough money for almost everyone. This was all part of the good side of the American dream: that if you worked hard you could achieve anything for yourself and your family. However, there is also a sadder, darker side to the dream. Some people fall in love with the dream itself rather than the self-improvement and hard work that are the foundation of the dream. Gatsby is one of these people. He is very charming and suave but he holds a big secret. He is living a life only on the surface. Gatsby may be rich, but in a way he is living a dream. He thinks he can go back in the past and make the wrong things right again, he thinks he can make Daisy love him again. One of the most famous scenes in the novel unfolds like this: In a way Gatsby is delusional. He has bought into a dream that financially rewarded him, but the substance of the dream is gone—all that is left is the material husk, shiny and rich, but with nothing real inside it. He has bought the shape of the dream, but not the American dream itself. This is especially brought home at the end of the novel when Nick tries to piece together Gatsby’s life from what he has learned. Gatsby is now dead, and Nick is sympathetic. He imagines the young Gatsby for whom the world once

‘Cousin Kate’ by Christina Rossetti Essay Example for Free

‘Cousin Kate’ by Christina Rossetti Essay This Victorian poem is about the narrator (a fallen woman), the Lord and Kate. It is a ballad which tells the story from the narrator’s perspective about being shunned by society after her ‘experiences’ with the lord. The poem’s female speaker recalls her contentment in her humble surroundings until the local ‘Lord of the Manor’ took her to be his lover. He discarded her when she became pregnant and his affections turned to another village girl, Kate, whom he then married. Although the speaker’s community condemned the speaker as a ‘fallen’ woman, she reflects that her love for the lord was more faithful than Kate’s. She is proud of the son she bore him and is sure that the man is unhappy that he and Kate remain childless. Some readers think that she feels more betrayed by her cousin than the lord. This poem is a dramatic monologue written in the Victorian era. Structure The poem is written in first person narrative. It has 6 stanzas of 8 lines: One stanza each on the narrator, the Lord and Kate; stanza 4 contrasts the position of the narrator and Kate; stanza 5 criticises Kate and stanza 6 focuses on the narrator’s triumph at having a child. Each stanza is the same length and each line has a similar rhythm, giving it a ballad-like feel. It could also be conveying the strength and perseverance of the narrator who has to face life in conflict with the expectations of Victorian society. Note that the tone changes as the poem progresses regret, accusation, bitterness, triumph. The rhyme scheme always connects the B (2nd line) of each couplet. E. g Stanza one – AB/CB/DB/DB. Sometimes the first line of the couplet is rhymed. The rhyme emphasises the last world to aid meaning. The regular rhyme could also suggest that narrator has not only been dominated by the Lord (because men and in particular men of a higher social standing) but is also trapped with Victorian social conventions (she is now a fallen woman in conflict with the values of her society). Sometimes the first line is rhymed as in Stanza 3 – AB/AB/CB/AB. In this case the words ‘Kate’, ‘gate’ and ‘estate’ are stressed in order to convey the way Kate has been elevated from her position in society. However in stanza 5 this rhyme of ‘true’ and ‘you’ contrasts the narrator’s strength of feeling with Kate’s. ‘Cousin Kate’ is written with an iambic rhythm. Generally, one line of the poem has three feet, and the next has four. The poem, therefore, generally follows the following pattern: da dum da dum da dum da dum da dum da dum da dum Iambic rhythms often follow the natural rhythm of speech, a little like a heartbeat. If we apply this to one of Rossetti’s lines, it reads as follows: â€Å"Because you were so good and pure†. Therefore the meaning of the words is captured in the line as specific words are stressed. The repetition of: ‘Why did a great lord find me out’, conveys the anger and bewilderment of the speaker at her change of circumstances, whilst the phrase: ‘good and pure’ has a hollow ring by its second occurrence. Thereafter, repeated phrases are altered to highlight the contrasting situations of Kate and the speaker: The community ‘call’ Kate ‘good and pure’, but ‘call’ the speaker ‘an outcast thing’. Kate ‘sit[s] in gold’, the speaker ‘sit[s] †¦ in dust’. The image of dust connects to a life of poverty and also suggests how she has been soiled by society. Whereas ‘gold’ suggests that her cousin has riches. Kate’s fate is to ‘sit †¦ and sing’, the speaker’s to ‘sit and howl’. This suggests the mental anguish that the narrator is experiencing at being abandoned whereas to ‘sing’ indicates that Kate is content. However, the speaker believes her ‘love was true’, while Kate’s ‘love was writ in sand’ suggesting that her love is stronger than Kate’s. The echoed structure in the final stanza – that Kate has ‘not got’ and is ‘not like to get’ the gift of a child – emphasises the speaker’s sense of triumph. Language The speaker’s questions in the first stanza express her anger and confusion at the experiences she has had to endure: ‘Why did a great lord find me out†¦ Why did a great lord find me out? ’ She suggests that before the arrival of the ‘great lord’, she was happy and ‘contented’ (line 3). She was not looking for a new situation in life. It came unexpectedly. The idea that the lord filled her heart with care suggests that she had less to worry about previously. She is angry that he made her anxious instead of happy and took her away from her friends, her ‘cottage mates’ (line 3). She questions her cousin Kate in stanza 4 suggesting that she loved the lord whereas her cousin did not marry for love. The speaker addresses her questions, laments and moans to Kate. She begins the third verse, ‘O Lady Kate, my cousin Kate’ and the fifth, ‘O cousin Kate’. Throughout, she employs a tone of accusation, repeatedly using the word ‘you’ as she compares Kate to herself. In the last four lines, the speaker draws her attention away from her bitterness at Kate and addresses her son. She calls him ‘my shame, my pride’ (line 45). The oxymoron highlights the conflict that she experiences at loving the Lord and her son but also knowing that she has defied moral convention. Through active and passive verbs Rossetti emphasises the powerlessness of women in Victorian society by associating the lord with a series of actions which take the initiative. He ‘f[ound]’ the speaker ‘out’ / ‘praise[d]’ her / ‘lured’ her / ‘wore’ her / ‘changed’ her / ‘cast’ her ‘by’ / ‘fooled’ her. These are harsh actions, which become more ominous with regard to Kate. Like a stalker, the lord: ‘saw’ her / ‘chose’ her’ / ‘watched’ her / ‘lifted’ her ‘To sit with him’ / ‘bound’ her/ ‘won’ her / ‘bought’ her. Like a hunter, the lord ‘f[ound]’ the speaker ‘out’, ‘lured’ her, then ‘chose’ his next victim in Kate, whom he ‘watched’, then picked up (‘lifted’) and ‘bound’. Both women are referred to as birds, with Kate seeming to be trussed and bound by her fine clothes and wedding ring. In ‘Cousin Kate’, the dove image draws on these ideas of hope and fulfilment and is a symbol of purity that stands in direct contrast to the contaminated state the speaker finds herself as she describes herself as ‘an unclean thing’ (line 15). However, she acknowledges that the tenderness associated with the dove is no match for Kate’s ‘stronger wing’. Even though the speaker claims that she ‘would  have spit’ and ‘[would] not have taken’ the lord, the fact that this is in the future conditional tense indicates that the reality of the situation is in fact very different – she will always be powerless. Alliteration is used throughout the poem: The soft innocence of the speaker before her life changed is conveyed by the soft M of ‘maiden’, ‘mates’ and ‘mindful’ in stanza 1 When the speaker claims that she was led to the lord’s house to lead a ‘shameless shameful life’, the sibilance in this line reinforces the joining together of oxymorons that these words perform. It also reflects the hushed manner in which the speaker was ensnared by the lord, taken in, then later cast aside The speaker’s anger shines through the harsh consonants of ‘Lady Kate, my cousin Kate’ In the final stanza, the speaker emphasises the close bond she shares with her son when she asks that he ‘Cling closer, closer yet’ (line 46). The emphasis here highlights her fear and together with the repetition of the word ‘closer’, suggests that it is for her own comfort, as well as her son’s, that they remain together. Strong images are used to convey the predicament of the narrator. She claims that the lord considered her as a ‘plaything’ (line 12) whom he could treat how he liked without any regard for her feelings. Much like the ‘silken knot’ (line 12) he wore around his neck (a cravat or tie), he treated her as a fashion accessory he could use and then cast away, rather than as an individual with her own needs. The speaker recognises that the lord ‘changed me like a glove’ (line 13). He used her and moulded her into a shape that suited him and then, like a glove that no longer pleases, dispensed with her completely. A glove is an intimate and personal object that fits itself around its user. By describing herself as a glove, the speaker acknowledges that she lost sight of her own needs and desires in an attempt to please and suit the lord. Essay title: Explain how Rossetti creates sympathy for the narrator in ‘Cousin Kate’. Use examples from the poem to support your answers.

Situation And Macro Environment: The Efteling

Situation And Macro Environment: The Efteling The Efteling stands for a world full of miracles: this is the service they are offering. The Efteling is well known as a theme park that knows how to fulfill its customers needs. The Efteling emphasizes the experience that its customers obtain from a visit. In the previous years there were no new theme parks entering the market. This does not mean that the competition also stagnates. The main theme park competitors are Walibi World (in The Netherlands and Belgium), Warner Bros Movieworld, Bobbejaanland and Disneyland Resort Paris. With this marketing plan we focused on attracting students. As a consequence the perception of The Efteling will approach those of day trips like festivals these are very popular with our main target group. The Efteling has several target groups: summarized they are groups, families and companies. The Efteling has its own fairytale series, a radio station where kids can listen to interviews with The Efteling inhabitants, music and fairytales. These are examples of The Eftelings market communication. The Efteling is also present in the business-to-business market: they offer businesses to organize an event at The Efteling. The main strategy for targeting students is giving students a à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 4.00 discount on top of the Albert Heijns discount of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬8.00. The advised ticket price will then be à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬17.00. Consequently, students will go more often to The Efteling, will take other students with them, and experience The Efteling together. This will increase the customer base and potential customers. Our goal is to increase offerings to students: achieve that 5% of all students visit The Efteling once a year on a non-weekend day. This has to be achieved before the academic year 2012-2013. The applied strategy is based on the differentiation strategy. The sales promotion should increase with the emphasis on the fact that it is better to visit The Efteling on a non-weekend day. In this way the admissions are evenly spread throughout the week. Situation Analysis: Macro Environment Political/Legal Marketing decisions are strongly affected by developments in the political/legal environment. Especially when customers demand faster and more thrilling attractions, the legal obligations for the park are rising. Security standards for rollercoaster and similar attractions are very strict and will be inspected by independent officers. If the park would be caught, not keeping the security standards on the mandatory level, it can have some major consequences including sanctions from the government. But not only the governmental restrictions, also environmentalists are making life harsh for The Efteling. They are afraid that The Efteling will affect the forest Entenwoud and will refuse to accept this. Furthermore we have to add that our target group, students, is able to travel using public transport for free of with 40% discount throughout the academic year. This is favorable because students are able to come from a greater distance for less money. Economical Economical issues rise from the fact, that the daily routine in theme parks in general is very capital and labor intensive. This is an interesting fact, because in most industries, either the labor or the capital intensiveà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¡. One the one hand, investing in new attractions, setting up new shows and keeping the already existing carousels and coaster in good conditions, is really expensive, and especially the latter one is an ongoing expense. On the other hand, many people have to be employed, to keep the visitors pleased and deliver good experiences throughout the park. As most of the labor intensive work is done behind the scenes, it may not seem to be obvious that a theme park is very labor intensive, but when you think of the security standards, which have to be met, the garbage of thousands of visitors, which have to be cleaned and so forth, it quickly becomes clear that many people have to work hard each day to ensure a smooth running of the park. On the other hand, many people have to be employed, to keep the visitors pleased and deliver good experiences throughout the park. As most of the labor intensive work is done behind the scenes, it may not seem to be obvious that a theme park is very labor intensive, but when you think of the security standards, which have to be met, the garbage of thousands of visitors, which have to be cleaned and so forth, it quickly becomes clear that many people have to work hard each day to ensure a smooth running of the park. Next to this, The Efteling had to face the recession. People saved on day-trips, which are very expensive compared to what you could have bought for the same amount of money. We could say that students do not feel that much of the recession because they do not have a fulltime job, but they do not have the financial sources to go for an expensive day out. Ecological Opening a theme park brings along some big matters of dispute. A previously untouched landsite in the middle of a forest, as it was the case for Efteling, can be severely damaged if constructing of the park is done without any precautions. The soil is being compressed, many square meters or even kilometers are bituminized, and once the park is finished the daily visitors have to get there in the first place, which is unseperately combined with increasing noise and air pollution. In addition to that, it has to be mentioned that the running of big attractions consume a lot of electricity on an ongoing basis. Technological Because of the increasing complexity of new and planned attractions in the park, building- and maintaining costs are raising proportionately. Furthermore, sophisticated new computer-controlled fun rides call for better trained personal to take care of. On the other side of the coin, in case of failure or breakdowns, the error can be detected more easily due to computer analysis of the construction. On top of that computer controlled maintenance schedules leave less rooms for unintentional human failures. The Internet is the most important marketing tool, this because the fact that the possibilities for The Efteling are very high when you look at the area of the computers. Almost everyone has a pc at home. You can order your ticket online, and just scan it at the entrance. Thats it, and you also get a discount of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬1,00. Another example: by e-mail or by the website, The Efteling alerts people when there are new attractions or when there are new shows. Also for kids the website is very attractiveà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ . Socio-Cultural Major cultural and social topics for The Efteling are the small, but nevertheless existing differences of its visitors from different countries. As the case of Disney-Land Paris taught us, ignoring cultural habitats and taken-for-granted attributes of a society can quickly lead to a financial disaster. Secondly the theme park faces the challenge to be attractive to every single age segment. Concentrating on just children from age 6-10 for example may seem like a distinctive strategy for a theme park, but after all, around 80% of the rest of the population and therewith potential customers are left out the focus point. Thereby customers demand more quality from its money; more for less. Customers want to experience the feeling The Efteling givesà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã†â€™. Situation Analysis: Micro Environment This section of the situation analysis will deal with different steps of discussing the market features in which The Efteling theme park is enacting, this means we will analyze the microenvironment. Size of the market The market in which The Efteling is positioned can be characterized as an international end-consumer market in the service category. Because of its close location to the borders of Germany and Belgium it gains the advantage of attracting visitors of these countries as well. However, there is also the risk of losing domestic customers to foreign theme parks which are at a reasonable travelling distance. Harsh competition is obvious in this triangle of countries. The Eftelings competitors Country Park name Germany Movie Park Germany, Phantasialand, Legoland Discovery Center; Panorama Park and Fort Fun Belgium Bobbejaanland and Walibi Belgium The Netherlands Drievliet, Duinrell and Koningin Juliana Toren * When researching for these competitors we took into account that our target group students are geographically seen relatively mobile. Because Dutch students have a special public transport card they can easily go to any theme park in The Netherlands. Eftelingà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚  Walibi Worldà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ Bobbejaanlandà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Warner Bros Movieworldà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬   Disneyland Resort Parisà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ Strengths (compared to The Efteling) Large park Own theatre Own hotel Part of int. Walibi organization Close to The Netherlands Part of Walibi organization Close to The Netherlands Strong brand image Entering new businesses easy Weaknesses long queues Especially attractive for teenagers Small park Germany-oriented possibilities for miscommunication (too) High expectations One-day Price (adult) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬29,00 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬28,50 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 31,00 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬32,00 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬52,00 Opportunity to sleep Yes, own hotel Yes No Yes Yes, own accommodations When we speak of competitors, we use the following definition from our Marketing Management text book, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ competitors are the firms that satisfy the same customer need, (Kotler et al, 2009) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‹â€  Because of the large quantity of possible competitors, the market is extensive in size. Of course there are also other competitors. For a day out, consumers can also go to a festival like Lowlands, or Breda Barst. For students these festivals and days out are also very attractive. It is the task of The Efteling to keep this potential target group going to the park. This is possible by giving special discounts for students. Another possibility is that The Efteling creates its own festival with famous artists. We only focused on the main other parks because these are in the same market segment. Marketing channels The growth of the market for theme parks can be described as stagnating. In the last few years there were no new theme parks entering the market. This doesnt mean that competition also stagnated. On the contrary: Every park tries to extend their customer base by offering new attractions, more ways to reach the park and other methods to increase customer value. This is also an approach to overcome the exposure to market myopia. The Efteling has to configure its competitive market in terms of customer needs and not just competitors which deliver the same service. One of the first advertisements of The Efteling (shortly after 1952)Efteling for example has launched its own radio station, it is broadcasting television series with characters that can be seen in the theme park and has recently opened its new overnight camp Bosrijk. In this way, The Efteling tries to convince more people to visit the park, who have to travel longer distances but now have the possibility to stay for more than one day. So this is more convenient for these families and positively influences The Efteling park experience. On January 6th, Efteling announced to invest à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬40,000,000 for a new restaurant, a new conference centre and a new event/performance arena. In general, the trend in the market for theme parks is moving away from just competing in the bare numbers of attractions. Customers demand to enter a world in which attractions and offerings are integrated with each other. The whole park should convey a holistic atmosphere rather than just different obstacles placed inside the boundaries of the parks. Situation Analysis: SWOT analysis In this section we will make an analysis on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and the threats concerning The Efteling. We have combined this analysis; its the SWOT analysis on The Efteling in general and in addition the SWOT analysis focused on our innovation: students segment. The strengths -The Efteling has a strong brand name. It is to a great extent known, because of great advertising expenses and the attractiveness of the park. This creates a strong, magical vision/perception in the minds of people that (may) visit the park. -The Efteling is associated with more than only being a park including creating musicals, games for on the computer, having its own radio station and television-programmes. -An additional strength is the fact that The Efteling is attractive to every visitor. For the kids there is Het Sprookjesbos, the parents are entertained by memories from their own childhood when they visited The Efteling, many things have changed but the main concept and appearance remained the same. Also, for the grandparents there are tranquil attractions and enough entertainment when the small ones are in a more turbulent ride. For the adolescents there are the big, fiery attractions like the Python, a rollercoaster with multiple looping and the Piraà ±a. -The Efteling has multiple relationships with differentiated companies, for example the Albert Heijn supermarket, sometimes they create a promotion; when you spend a certain amount of money at the Albert Heijn supermarket, you get a discount ticket for The Eftelingà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬ °. -Except for going to the park for amusement, you can also arrange meetings, parties and events there. -A lot of students are living in the neighbourhood of The Efteling, as you can see in the table belowà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â€š ¬. So the demographic position of The Efteling is perfect for students, its close to their home, the connections by train and bus are also well regulated and during the week, this public transport may be for free. The weaknesses -Compared to other amusement parks, there are only a few shops and stalls settled in The Efteling. Customers do not get tempted to buy merchandise from The Efteling because they just dont see it and dont get the opportunity to buy it. There are not too many distribution points of these products. However, when customers do want to buy something in the few shops that are available, the shop is totally stuffed with other customers. -The queue to get in the rides is relatively long. Visitors will have to wait a very long time before they can actually get in one. Because most people are visiting The Efteling for just one day, it is very infuriating because they cannot visit many rides in this way. -When The Efteling builds new attractions, there is in almost every case a delay. Visitors will come especially for that new attraction, but it is not finished yet. And there are also a lot of attractions that break down more often than others do. When this is a popular ride, this is bad for the reputation of the park. -There is more traffic than ever coming from and going to The Efteling. Although the parking area is very big, it is not working well enough to handle all the cars coming out of their places when the park closes down. Everyone wants to leave at the same time; the exits of the parking lot cannot handle this, which results in very long traffic jams. -The Efteling gets more expensive every year. Of course it is reasonable that The Efteling has to maintain their earnings to finance new projects, but in these times when we are also dealing with the recession, it may be a weakness to use such a price strategy. Visitors, who have been there once, will come back probably because they know that its worth it, but visitors who havent been there will be shocked by the high entrance price. -The prices are too high for students, for the same price; they can get a lot of beers in the city centre of Tilburg or another city in the neighbourhood or do something else, like shopping or spent that money on their room. The opportunities -Get flexible entrance prices; The Efteling has experienced with the amount of visitors so they can estimate this for future periods. When there is a quiet day, lower the prices of the tickets so that the park will be cosy but not packed, when it is usually quiet. When it is going to be a busy day, raise your entrance price so that people will get spread over the weekend and weekdays. This solves the problem of long queues and a bit of the large traffic jams. Also people who want to go to The Efteling for a lower price get that opportunity now. -Get more attractive shops and stalls in the park, so that people will buy more during their stay. Although there is a recession, people always want to have a souvenir. These extra sales may be a stimulus, i.e. way of financing lower entrance prices. -The disposable income of seniors has risen the past few years and the number of elderly people has risen tooà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â€š ¬. An opportunity for The Efteling is to focus their attention on this group by for example organizing special days for them to fresh up their memory. -Students are also a very large group at this moment. But The Efteling focuses most of the attention to kids and grandparents because they want to attract whole families. But this does not include the students who maybe want to go with a group of friends. It could be wise to get special student discounts because the average student doesnt have enough money to pay the entrance price. Also a lot of students dont have lectures during some weekdays. When you can attract them to come at these days, the park will be filled more and the cost of the discount will be incalculable. Also there are just a few attractive attractions for youngsters. They need to have some more rough roller coasters to remain positive. There are a lot of students in the neighbourhood of Tilburg, so The Efteling has a lot new potential visitors which it can attract by lowering the prices and build more new thrill rides. The threats -Most young kids prefer rough roller coasters to Dancing Shoes in het Sprookjesbos. Only very young kids will be attracted to this kind of attractions. -Besides, more and more people are getting older and there are not enough kids to fill this gap. -The recession is a big threat because parents watch their money more carefully than they did before. -Students also have other opportunities to go to, like other parks or for example a festival or museum. The Efteling really has to improve and change some attractions and its brand image for students, otherwise; students will prefer to go to something closer to their home village or students house. When students live in the north of the Netherlands, they will rather go to (for example) Walibi World because it is closer and there are more thrill rides. Strategic Options and Choices: Mission On the companys homepage the statement is put forward: The Efteling theme park is a custodian of the fairy tale (www.efteling.com). This statement is crucial for every staff member of the amusement park, as it should be communicated to every single visitor of the park. It contains more than it seems like on the first sight. Against the modern process of making everything faster and less lasting, the Efteling is trying to do the opposite. Reminding itself of traditional values it invites the visitor to enter a complete distinct world which he will have never seen before. Preserving cultural heritage could be the most important role for the theme park. Next to this, the protection of the environment is a second crucial mission of the Efteling. As an international leader in the tourism and recreation sector, the theme park acknowledged that following this statement provides the most secure formula for its success since its founding in 1952. Building a widespread reputation of a highly-professional, creative and efficient organization, the Efteling continues to concentrate on being innovative and reacting as quickly as possible to customer needs. In this way the parks pursues its basic goal of entertainment on a very familiar and customer friendly level. Goals and Strategy Product strategy The Efteling is clearly a product leader, there is no other theme park that can compete with the position of The Efteling. The Efteling is a world full of miracles, but it has to watch out that they have to continue to think of new attractions. Although The Efteling has a high position the amusement park has to be still innovative. In the minds of many customers the attraction Villa Volta and Droomvlucht are still the most exciting attractions, despite the fact these two attractions are running for a while now. The Efteling should innovate a lot more and should come up in a higher frequency with new attractions. These new attraction have to fit in the world of miracles that The Efteling represent. The new attractions have to challenge the customer. This will give the customer a higher incentive to visit The Efteling more frequent or to attract new customers. In product strategy creativity and inventiveness is necessary, this are the two concepts where The Efteling stands for. Also to stay traditional is a core concept, but with the right strategy the three concepts are good to combine. Every attraction has a legendary and traditional meaning. It is like the attractions came from the test of time. That is the experience that The Efteling wants to give to its customers and that those experiences stress the differences between The Efteling and other amusement parks. The Efteling is not just a theme park, its an experience. Price strategy The Efteling has different prices because Efteling has a different program in the evening than in daylight and The Efteling is also different in the summer than in the winter. The Efteling has this year the Summer Seven League from 19 July through 5 September when the park is open from 10.00 hours until 21.00 hours. On the Summer Evenings, every Saturday during the Seven League Summer, the park is open until midnight. This difference is shown by the price. The price of a normal ticket for an adult is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 29.00 and during the Summer Seven League the price of the entree ticket is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 31.00. For a senior citizen the price is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 27.00 during a normal period. During the Seven League Summer the price is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 29.00. On the other hand the two-day ticket has for both periods the same price namely à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 49.00. The Efteling has also tickets with reduction. For Groups of 20 or more people the ticket price will be à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 24.00 for each person. There is one major exception and that is the price for schools. If schools book before 1 April the school will pay à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 12.00 per person. If schools book on or later than 1 April than they have to pay à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 17.00 for each person. The incentive to lower the prices for groups and schools is to give the pupils and the groups an experience and a service that they want to come back. Even, if they have to pay a higher price. Efteling collaborates several times in a year with the supermarket chain Albert Heijn to give the customers of Albert Heijn a discount on tickets for The Efteling. The customer of Albert Heijn gets a savings card to collect points. The customer collects points through buying an X amount of product. If the card is full the customer gets à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 8.00 discount of an Efteling ticket. The Efteling should give a higher discount to students. For example: the current price of a Efteling ticket is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬29.00. With the discount of Albert Heijn it will be à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 21.00. The Efteling should give the students a à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 4.00 discount on top of the à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 8.00 Albert Heijn. You could ask the question Is Albert Heijn the supermarket where students go for their groceries? Firstly, we acknowledge that Albert Heijn is not one of the cheapest supermarkets, but The Efteling has a high reputation that automatically will be linked to the supermarket. If The Efteli ng collaborates with a cheap supermarket the status of The Efteling could be damaged. The Albert Heijn has also a high status with respect to other supermarkets. So the combination of these two companies works perfectly. Secondly, it is proven through several questionnaires that a lot of students do their groceries at the Albert Heijn because it is the nearest one or because of the bonus-products that the Albert Heijn each week offers. Bonus-products are daily products that Albert Heijn offers with a discount. Market communication The Efteling has several target groups: Groups, families and companies. To communicate with these target groups The Efteling has to know their preferences to give them the service that they need. To communicate with families The Efteling has its own fairytale series. The Efteling has also a radio station where kids can listen to interviews with The Efteling inhabitants, music and fairytales. Efteling also reaches out to other companies; it offers them the opportunity to organize a certain event at The Efteling. For example: a party for all employees of a company. Efteling has a large chamber where they can realize certain events for companies. As mentioned we want to attract students as a new target group. There is a simple explanation for the reason why student do not go to The Efteling: the ticket price. If The Efteling will let the students know that they are getting a certain discount, a lot of students are then willing to go to The Efteling. The Efteling can make this possible through advertisement on universities or through cooperating with the students if the students, like our group, chose The Efteling as the company where they have to do an assignment about. If students go to The Efteling with other students and experience the event, the chance that they will go again with other students will then be higher. Then The Efteling gets a much better kind of advertisement and that is word to mouthà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ . Segmentation Market segments  ´Segmentation offers key benefits over mass marketing; it is useful to differentiate positively over our competition because it increases understanding of our customer groups ´ (Kotler et al, 2009)à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‹â€ . In this and the next section we define the targets groups mainly by age. The Efteling offers some more adventurous rides, which are aimed at a segment group of visitors aged between 12 and 25. For example the wild water rafting Piraà ±a the steel rollercoaster Python and the high speed Bobbaan, the main focus of the theme park is actually concentrated on young children and people of age over 25. Thus the majority of the rides are designed for these two targets groups, so they satisfy the perceived needs of two age segments. The whole park is built on the basic belief to construct a world, equal to a fairytale. And so are many of the rides of the park. To give some examples: The Fata Morgana in a slow river boats ride through a city taken from the fairytale 1001 nights, there is Magic forest , a haunted castle and a steam locomotive. They are all meant for one of the different age groups we defined. Demographics and Needs of the customers The Efteling is approaching to a wide base of customers. Mainly families of the middle and upper social class are targeted by the marketing efforts of the theme park. In the following, the different segments are mentioned and their needs are discussed. Children of age between 6-12: The needs of this segment is rather simple, children are confronted with advertising, mostly on TV, in which the same characters as in the series of Efteling appear. By presenting the park as a fairy-tale wonderland, the children are urged to experience it themselves. Teenagers, age between 13-19: Although not the main target group at the moment, still are important for the park, because this group represents a strong decision making unit inside the family, when it comes to vacation planning. Most of the members of this cohort are not yet able to effort to go on holidays without their parents. Their need is to have an adventurous stay at the park. They want to experience something extraordinary they can tell their friends about. Young adults 20-25: This segment is not of big interest for the park because it does not represent any major point of attraction for this group. Young parents 26-32: Couples, who have become parents not that long ago, are, in contrast to the preceding segment, of great importance for the park. This segment is typically looking for a good deal to book a short vacation or daytrip. With the relative low price for the park and its services, compared to a conventional holiday (special subscription offerings are provided), the family is buying a whole bunch of activities. In the park all needs, like entertainment for the kids, relaxation for the parents and eating out together, can be easily fulfilled, there are restaurants various attractions that are appropriate, even for small children. Adults 33-40: also strongly affected by the pull factors of the theme park, with very similar attributes of the previous group. Even though they might have older children the offerings of the park still covers those needs. Elderly 60+: In order to meet the needs of this segment, The Efteling park has thought of several convenience factors. The park is equipped with many toilets and resting areas, which allow the elderly to enjoy the park without being stressed. Many authentic, vintage rides appeal to this segment and constitute a nice contrast to faster rides. On top of that, restaurant, which offers high quality food and a relaxed atmosphere complete the offerings for this group. As The Efteling has special subscription discounts for people of age 60+ another pull factor is placed. Targeting  ´An important aspect of targeting is trying to find what target can be reached a competitive manner ´ (Kotler et al, 2009)à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‹â€ . We will focus on the target group students only. ANP (Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau) predicts the number of University students and high school students in 2012-2013 on 242.000 respectively 399.000à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ . Nowadays, students have a lot of leisure time and that is where the Efteling will respond to. This is to achieve a more equal distribution of visitors during a normal week. The weekends are very demanding in the Efteling and by offering discounts to students they can increase their turnover on the other days of the week. Positioning  ´One of the crucial pillars of the marketing strategy is positioning, it means creating awareness in the target market so that the consumer recognizes the distinctive offering and image ´ (Kotler et al, 2009)à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‹â€ . The goal of positioning is to establish the brand in the minds of consumers in order to maximize the potential benefit to the firm. The Efteling has a strong brand positioning, they try to achieve that consumers recognize the name  ´Efteling ´ and make a link with a high quality park. To achieve these consumer experiences is very important because of worth-of-mouth marketing as concluded in previous sections. When their response is positive, in this way The Efteling knows that they provide the right market offering at an acceptable price. Point-of-difference are attributes or benefits consumers strong associate with a brand, positively evaluate, and believe t