NIBCOs Team

Name and describe the leadership approach taken This leadership was unique in that the three top leaders operated as one, even though each one of them contributed differently from the other as they specialized in different fields of business operation. This brought significant success to the implementation of the ERP system.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on NIBCO’s Team-playing Environment specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More NIBCO did not designate an individual project leader, a scenario that made many consultants skeptical of the viability of the project, arguing that the decisions would be unsatisfactory. Moreover, the IBM change management strategy was general and sub standard, which did not exhibit any ERP characteristics as opposed to the other forms of leadership. NIBCO’s leadership was designed as a triad management which comprised of three top managers. The managers who assumed these top l evel of management included Wilson (who was the director in charge of Information), Davis (previously the director quality management), and Beutler (formerly the Operations VP). This trio reported to the senior chair, president, and CEO known as Rex Martin. The leaders were appointed and approved in July, 1996.Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More There were however, other directors under the core trio giving an aggregate sum of twenty-eight directors, with the co-leads included who stayed in the company until the full realization of the set goals. The NIBCO leadership was successful in establishing a unit enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, SAP R/3 instead of the 3 to 5 year phased approach after its approval by the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and Board of Directors. This would considerably reduce the inventory expenses and subsequently increase the revenue estim ated at 6%. Though the implementation of the big bang would result in increased consultation expenses, it was viewed as to last only in the short run, while the long-run effect would be a reduction in the overall cost of the projected budget. Name and describe one communication approach taken The communication strategy was enacted in an effort to acquire change management. It was launched to open up various channels of communication to facilitate better communication between the project team and other NIBCO associates, as well as other business people. Additionally, NIBCO intended to build a team-working environment through participating in TIGER talks that focused on various aspects of entrepreneurship. Don Hoffman was in charge of the meetings, which comprised of Davis and other chosen TIGER team players, who made presentations and answered questions.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on NIBCO’s Team-playing Environment specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The initial stages of its implementation stared with holding of person-to-person discussions, wherebythe the final report was published and released to the other team members of the organization within 48 hours. This was normally an open forum headed by Don Hoffman and anyone could participate though it was expected that a Focus Group member would be among those present. This strategy was adopted in January 1996 and mid-way towards completion of the project; the weekly newsletter was relayed via e-mail to the hose who could access the R/3 system. Moreover, the members of the Focus Group were also issued with summarized documents and recorded materials of the key issues discussed at the end of every month. The approach was however completed in May 1997 and therefore lasted for five months. This technique helped the company in getting up-to-date with the company’s developments, eased the means of communication within and outsid e of the company, as well as gave solutions to any impending questions or challenges facing the organization. Name and describe one training approach taken. NIBCO initiated user training in September 1997 at both the NIBCO’s headquarters as well as the marginalized locations.Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Wilson was in charge of the technical team training of Information System. Specialists ensured the success of customer care infrastructure while Steve Hall ensured the team being trained got the required training Prior to this, the company was required to consent and sign an agreement with IBM towards the end of August 1996. This technique was implemented with the main aim of imparting knowledge from the consulting firm to NIBCO’s team players. In the view of this, ABAP development and training development personnel together with business consultants formed an additional ingredient to the party. The training was conducted in three different NIBCO locations over a span of four months prior to the date when the company anticipated going live i.e. December 1997. There was s preliminary training mainly for orientation and R/3 modules training which was targeted to be fully on course by the Go-Live date. In addition, the training was geared towards teaching the new processes, and hence each user was allocated between 8 and 68 hours of training depending on the job description of the staff. The whole training process took almost 800 days to implement the project After the training, the trainees were given user passwords to allow access to the ‘sandbox’, which was meant for testing different entities. There was preliminary training mainly for orientation and R/3 modules training which was targeted to be fully on course by the Go-Live date This technique was significantly important as it linked more than 60 servers and 1200 desktop personal computers to a WAN. With this in place, the organization was in a better position to serve its clients as well as effect a warehouse management change at NIBCO. Overall, which one of the above Change Management Techniques/Approaches that you detailed above was the most important and detail why it was most important While all the mechanisms employed brought on board positive results in the organization’s g rowth and development, subjectively, the leadership approach was of greater significance to the success of NIBCO’s big bang approach. This is because were it not for the three top directors standing strong for what they believed, the whole project would not have succeeded. This can be attested to the fact that they received great criticism both from within and without. For instance, in the launching of the Big Bang system, not all the IBM team members were sure of the viability of the system even though they spearheaded its implementation. Other consultation enterprises dismissed the approach as unworkable due to its triad design. They argued that the project had to be directed by a single person as the leader and pioneer of the project. Instead, the trio fully embraced and owned the project, and together as one, forged forward to implement the project. As the saying goes,’ United we stand, divided we fall’ the leaders acted as role models of working as a team a nd championed various team playing projects like the TIGER Den. They sought the guidance of consultants with the main aim of tapping the knowledge, acquiring technological knowledge, as well as exchanging ideas and views. The NIBCO team leaders sought to know how things work so that, in effect, they would be able to develop their expertise. This was the antagonist of other companies who hired consultants to work for them instead of developing their manpower. Moreover, this unique leadership model was responsible for the innovation of all the other projects implemented in the company. Name and describe any course theories and approaches that were apparent in the NIBCO case It is clear that the business environment exhibited by NIBCO had strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats just like any other business arena. It is apparent that NIBCO exploited the available opportunities and built on its strengths to overcome the threats and limitations experienced. Some of the approache s they took to effect this included the following. Customer-focus approach NIBCO worked tirelessly to develop a quality customer-oriented service. This is in line with the theory that a customer is key to any business enterprise. The directors ensured that their customer service staffs were highly skilled and well equipped with new technological skills. Also, NIBCO ensured that the services needed by its customers were availed in the right manner and time. This was facilitated by improving order accuracy, installing Personal computers for customer service officers, expanding, and developing a multichannel infrastructure that enabled efficient flow of information to its clientele. Team playing NIBCO played a major role in creating a team-playing environment despite criticism from their counterparts. This can be seen initially from the co-leads Davis, Wilson, and Beutler. The trio worked as a team and later on preached teamwork to the other staff. For instance, they initiated TIGER ta lks geared towards providing a solution to various issues of the projects. Additionally, they held open discussion forums as well as face-to-face discussions, which made the team members open up and give their views and suggestions. This ensured that each member had at least face-to-face session every month, which further helped them improve their communication skills and innovation skills. These unique and diversified ideas are coming from different areas of expertise brought on board significant improvement of the organization. This assessment on NIBCO’s Team-playing Environment was written and submitted by user TheRenegades to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Free Essays on Abraham Lincoln And Equal Rights

Abraham Lincoln and Equal Rights With America struggling in a state of Civil War, the nation's very core was being shaken. Abraham Lincoln, who was president during this period, realized this, and delivered one of his most historically renowned speeches, "The Gettysburg Address". This speech addresses many concerns for the nation as a whole. Through "The Gettysburg Address", Lincoln clearly states his views on what the country once was, how it was during the time he was in, and what his hopes and dreams for the future were. When the United States was founded, it was founded on a very famous principle, that â€Å"all men are created equal.† Lincoln realized this and stated that this nation was â€Å"dedicated to the proposition that all men were created equal.† Our nation founded itself on this simple thought because its people were tired of the tyranny and oppression caused by rule under Great Britain. The early Americans wanted many things, from their own laws to religious freedoms, but most of all they wanted to be considered equals in the eyes of man. These are only a few of the reasons the Revolutionary War was fought with Great Britain. After the war was over the American people knew what it felt like to finally be free. While they still remained free, Americans began to treat other races and cultures as the British had treated them. The irony found here in American history is that the country gained their freedom and equality from Britain, and was now fighting the same war against them. They let the same issues divide the country into two separate nations with a bitter hatred for one another. Perhaps the greatest irony is the fact that the southern states now wanted to be free, and separate from the northern states. Now the nation was found in a brutal state of war, which would eventually determine the course of American history (Neely,56). Abraham Lincoln, striving only for the people’s equal rights, described ... Free Essays on Abraham Lincoln And Equal Rights Free Essays on Abraham Lincoln And Equal Rights Abraham Lincoln and Equal Rights With America struggling in a state of Civil War, the nation's very core was being shaken. Abraham Lincoln, who was president during this period, realized this, and delivered one of his most historically renowned speeches, "The Gettysburg Address". This speech addresses many concerns for the nation as a whole. Through "The Gettysburg Address", Lincoln clearly states his views on what the country once was, how it was during the time he was in, and what his hopes and dreams for the future were. When the United States was founded, it was founded on a very famous principle, that â€Å"all men are created equal.† Lincoln realized this and stated that this nation was â€Å"dedicated to the proposition that all men were created equal.† Our nation founded itself on this simple thought because its people were tired of the tyranny and oppression caused by rule under Great Britain. The early Americans wanted many things, from their own laws to religious freedoms, but most of all they wanted to be considered equals in the eyes of man. These are only a few of the reasons the Revolutionary War was fought with Great Britain. After the war was over the American people knew what it felt like to finally be free. While they still remained free, Americans began to treat other races and cultures as the British had treated them. The irony found here in American history is that the country gained their freedom and equality from Britain, and was now fighting the same war against them. They let the same issues divide the country into two separate nations with a bitter hatred for one another. Perhaps the greatest irony is the fact that the southern states now wanted to be free, and separate from the northern states. Now the nation was found in a brutal state of war, which would eventually determine the course of American history (Neely,56). Abraham Lincoln, striving only for the people’s equal rights, described ...

UCTA Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

UCTA - Case Study Example The delivered car was found to be seriously defective and it evidently required repairs that would cost around a 1000. The practice prevailing in Thomas Co was that it always offered its customers the opportunity to purchase a two years service contract covering parts and labour on cars purchased from them. Smith Co had always declined such offers from Thomas Co. The remedies available to the Smith Co, under the statute, are discussed hereunder. A contract is an agreement giving rise to obligations which are enforced or recognised by law. The factor which distinguishes contractual from other legal rights is that they are based on the agreement of the contracting parties. It is important to bear in mind that every breach of a contract allows the plaintiff a remedy at law. The Sale of Goods Act states that consumers have been defined as people purchasing for purposes unrelated to their trade, business or profession. Section 12(1) of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, defines a consumer and this has three elements, the party dealing as a consumer must neither make the contract in the course of business nor hold himself out as doing so; the other party must make the contract in the course of business and finally, if the contract involves the transfer of goods, then they must be of a type ordinarily supplied for private use or consumption. The burden of proving that a ... Several similar purchases had been made before. The contract excluded liability for breach of certain statutory implied terms and the exclusion clause was subject to section 6 of the UCTA. The Court of Appeal held that the purchase of the car was only incidental to the company's business activity, which meant that the purchase was not made in the course of business and so the plaintiff company was dealing as a consumer. Thus the defendant could not exclude liability for the breach of implied terms1. Similarly, in our case the car was purchased for both private and business use. Hence, the status of the claimant can be considered as that of a consumer according to this act and the judgment in the above case. In Stevenson v Rogers the Court of Appeal held that a sale to a person who had no business connection to the seller would be considered a consumer2. Hence, in our case Smith Co can be considered as a consumer, since they had purchased the car for the private and business purposes of its director, this is in conformity with the broader view taken by the Appellate Court in respect of the term consumer in the case Stevenson v Rogers. Section 3 of the UCTA covers a number of different types of exclusions or restrictions in respect of liability and makes them all subject to the test of reasonableness. These tests are of four types and apply to the different types of exclusions. These are, first, in relation to a contract term the clause should have been fair and reasonable to have been included, having regard to the circumstances, and which could reasonably be expected to have been known to the parties. Second, contracts in relation to goods (section 6 and 7 UCTA) and section 11(2) and schedule 2 of the UCTA have specified five matters

Working in teams and creating successful team dynamics Essay

Working in teams and creating successful team dynamics - Essay Example The aim of the paper is to examine the role of team dynamics in organizational effectiveness and analyze the factors which help the companies to create food working environment for their teams. Today, managers recognize the importance of teams dynamic in influencing behaviour at work. The concept of the organisation as a socio-technical system is concerned with the interactions between the psychological and social factors, as well as structural and technical requirements. Again, it may be remembered that technological change in the coal-mining industry had brought about changes in the social teamings of the miners (Campbell, 1997). Another important aspect if successful team dynamics is that team members in an organization will have one or more goals in common, such as to produce or market a product. Communication is essential within each team and members of a team have roles to play in order to achieve the team task. Expected behaviour patterns are developed within each team and these are referred to as norms. Any deviation from norms will bring team pressure to force a return to the 'norm'. Too low or too high an output as compared with the 'norm' may mean admonishment by team members. For instance, Apple Computer Corporation is a goof example of successful team dynamics: "Apple's management style was relatively in1ormal for a Fortune 100 company. As one employee in Finance said, "Things are done by committees, meetings, consensus. We have very few policies, systems, or controls. What we do is get a team of experts together and make a decision." (Gibbs, Beer, 1991) Distinctions have been made between formal and informal teamings. A teams team consists of carefully selected members who have skills and attributes that can assist the reaching of a desired goal. It will have a leader, subordinates, a location and a task to accomplish - for example, a planning committee. New methods of working disrupted the integration of small self-selecting teams of assembly line worker in Ford Motor Company who worked together as independent teams. The change had undesirable social effects and as a result the new method did not prove as economically beneficial as it should have done with the new technology. The result was a 'composite' method of working with more responsibility taken by the team as a whole. The composite method proved to be not only more rewarding socially to the workers but also more efficient economically than the previous new method of working (Sterman, 2000). To be able to create a good working environment, managers must be aware of certain aspects of team dynamics. Norms can be very influential in encouraging high or low productivity of members of the team. One method of increasing the dynamic in a team is to give members more say in the selection of persons they will be working with. Interview questions for employees: 1. Do like teamwork or prefer to work independently 2. Can you quickly see advantages and new opportunities 3. Is it easy for you to work in a diverse team 4. Is it important for you to be a leader of a team 5. Do you often influencing people without pressuring them 6. Can you work under pressure 7. What is your role in a team (now, previously) 8. What is you characteristic approach to teamwork 9. What is the best method of conflict resolution for you Explain. 10. When do you gain work satisfaction Explain. 11.

Introduction to Organisations and Management Assignment

Introduction to Organisations and Management - Assignment Example The team building effort and work of both the organisations have been cited by mentioning the important features that played a significant part in those aspects. The management and leadership approach of these companies are explained in detail. The paper also contains the details of organisational culture of both the organisations. 2.0 External Environment and Organisational Structure Critical Comment Organisational structure and organisational design assist an organisation to organize the people and task in order to meet the goals and objectives of an organisation. Theories The hierarchical structure is pyramid in its form. In the hierarchical structure, president is placed at the top followed by ‘vice president’ or ‘senior managers’ and below this level there are a number of management layers and maximum employees are placed at the bottom level of the pyramid. Each of these people has several people reporting to them. The number of people increases at each level down the structure. The jobs in the hierarchical structure are categorised by function into various departments in the organisation (Reference for Business, 2011). Source: (Tutor 2u, n.d.). Network structure refers to â€Å"the arrangement of the differentiated elements that can be recognised as the patterned flows of information in a communication network†. The virtual organisation utilises electronic mail in order to share information as well as coordinate their work. The use of email permits the workers to maintain their identity without a shared physical setting and facilitates existence of a group without evident participants (Ahuja & Carley, 2001). Contrast The organisational structure of Watsons Engine Components is out of fashion and possesses hierarchical structure. Though hierarchical structure provides advantages in an organisation, Watsons Engine Components faced problem in their organisational structure due to various reasons. The communication which took place in each department was not effective and rivalry arose in the organisation as each department took decision based on their own interest rather than the interest of the whole organisation. The increased bureaucracy created an obstruction towards their endeavour of organisational change; and while responding to the clients, maximum time was required. Since there were a numbers of layers in the hierarchy, it entailed the company to increase its cost (Know How, n.d.). H & M Consulting is an organisation with network based organisational structure since a group of people interact by means of interdependent task for the attainment of common goals. The virtual organisation is geographically distributed as the members in the organisation work for common interests and goals. As it is a virtual organisation, it involves high level of informal communication. Due to deficient formal rules, procedures, clear reporting relationships and norms, there is a requirement of more extensive inform al communication (Ahuja & Carley, 2001). External Environment PESTEL Analysis Comment Critically Various factors are present in the external environment that influences managers to take decision. The analysis of various factors can be done by using the PESTEL model. Theory The model of PESTEL analysis involves political, economic, social, technological, environment and legal. Political factors denote the

Language Learning Styles And Strategies English Language Essay

Language Learning Styles And Strategies English Language Essay Dr Georgi Lazanov, a Bulgarian proponent of the accelerated learning affirmed that human learning is the basic and natual function-easier than breathing and walking (as cited in Prashnig, 2004). This seems to be right to learning a language as a mother tongue because we were born with the same ability of learning our first language so most of us acquire and learn our first language easily and naturally. However, the expectation is not the same to acquiring and learning a second or foreign language. In my career of English language teaching, I have witnessed a number of students who make very little progress in their language learning whereas the others get improved quickly and conspicuously. Althought most students have received generally equivalent language education at schools or universities, they show differences in proficency and competence in using the target language. So, why are some successful and the others fail to get good achievement in their learning? Why do those studen ts can speak well in the target language but the others can not communicate fluenctly and confidently? Is it because some are smarter than the others? what makes the differences among these students? A number of researches on these matters have indicated that each student prefers different learning styles and their learning styles impact on the trategies they apply to their learning. This results in learning styles as well as learning strategies affecting the students learning achievement (Ehrman Oxford, 1988). This discovery confirms Georgi Lazanovs belief that learning is a matter of attidude not apptitude. The importance of learning styles and stategies have been widely recognized in language learning and more and more research has been done on them . Definitions of terms. According to Brown (2000, p. 113). Style is the term used to refer consistent and rather enduring tendencies and preferences an individual has. Styles are characteristics of intellectual functioning that make an individual unique. Styles characterized an individuals typical way of thingking and feeling Strategy is the term used to refer a method of approaching a prolem and an operation used to achieve a particular goal. Different people employed varied strategies to solve their own problems and the strategies they use might not be the same time by time. A good language learner to Joan Rubin ( 1975, pp. 46-48): is a willing and accurate guesser. He employs appropriate ways to perceive and process information. He accepts uncertainty and he is flexible and comfortable in applying his ability of guessing to explore for and get the meaning of the communication from the clues that he is offerd in the setting in combination with using his social and linguistic schemata. has strong motivation to communicate. He is willing to involve himself in communicating by using any means such as circumlocution, gestures, spelling, paraphrasing, creatively forming new words from the original ones.to express his meaning or to get his message across. is not inhibited. He is willing to make mistake because he believes mistakes are part of language learning process. He learns from his own mistakes by trying to understand them and avoid repeating them. is prepared to attend to form. While a normal learner tends to percieve what they are taught in the textbooks or lessons in the classroom, a good language learner seeks for something else beyond them. He is constantly looking for patterns in the language by analyzing, categorizing and synthesizing it. practices what he has learned or acquired. He find the opportunities to use the language as soon as possiple not only in class but also outside the classroom. monitors his own speech and the speech of others. He evaluates his performance by mornitoring his own speech and getting feedback from the listeners. He also mornitors the others to see how they use the language in comparision with the standards he has been taught. attends to meaning. He pays attention to not only the forms of speech or grammar but also the meaning of the language by negotiating the meaning of the message in differenct contexts. Statement about the background of the learners in the research and the research questions The learners are recent graduates or experienced engineers from different parts of Vietnam recruited to work for projects of Petrovietnam. They have received nearly equivalent English language education at school and at university. However, after graduation they are at different English proficiency levels. Like most of the other Vietnamese students, they can hardly speak English. Some of them even can not read aloud an English reading text fluently. This is the most common problem for English language learners in Vietnam. They are sent to PVMTC to take a special course to improve their technical knowledge and English skills, especially speaking skill, to perform their job together with foreign experts in their field at industrial facilities or in offices. They have five classes a week and each class lasts for four hours. They are extremely motivated because after the course, they are expected to achieve at least 650 marks on TOIEC and to be good at communication in all circumstances in order to be appointed to different appropriate positions at their working place. The learning objectives of the course are obvious and CLT approach is chosen to apply in teaching the students so that they can improve their communicative skills in English. Before doing the course, the school give them a placement test to categorize their English proficiency levels and put them in the diffirent appropriate classes accordingly. The students have different attitudes and behaviuor to their language learning and so is their learning effectiveness. The high proficiency students usually appear to make better progress, their learning outcome appears better than the low proficiency students, and especially, their speaking skills get improved obviously. So, my study serves to find out the answers to the following questions: What makes the difference between the students of low and high language proficiency level? What is the difference of language learning strategy use between EFL students of high and low proficiency levels in learning English speaking in Petrovietnam Manpower Training College (PVMTC) in Vietnam? What can a teacher do to help these leaners of diffirent learning styles use and combine different types of strategies in their English speaking learning? Being different from learning styles, language learning strategies can be probably trained to the learners. Hopefully, the finding of the study and its practical implication could help language teachers in their teaching. Liturature Review Language learning styles Learning styles are prefered approaches to learning, the environment of a learner and the ways he or she perceives and processes information, the specific ways that an individual acquires, retains, and retrieves information (Felder Henriques, 1995), inherent and pervasive characteristics of a particular individual or a group of people (Willing, 1988), preferred or habital patterns of mental functioning and dealing with new information (Ehrman and Oxford, 1990), means of acquiring knowdlege and skills, habits, strategies, regular mental behaviours concerning learning an individual displays (Pritchard, 2008). Or according to Keefe (as cited in Griggs, 1991), learning styles are the composite of characteristic cognitive, affective, and physiological factors that serve as relatively stable indicators of how a learner perceives, interacts with, and responds to the learning environment. Different researchers have got different definitions of the learening styles depending on their perception of learning and education psychology. So there are also different dimension of learning styles and more than twenty dimentions of learning styles have been known so far focusing on social, physical, environtmental preference, personality type, cognitive ability. In this paper, I would like mention the two models of learning styles that are relatively related to language learning. VARK- Visual, Aural, Read-Write and Kinethetic Neil Fleming (1987) classified learners according to their preference in the ways of getting, retaining and processing the input as well as performing the output. Visual learners learn through seeing and like using the words that they can visualize their images. In the classroom, they are usually impatient. They tend to interupt the others while they are talking but they are good at talking and persuading. Auditory learners are really good listeners. They like verbal explanation and information in spoken words. They think in a linear way and they speak slowly. Read-write learners enjoy writing and reading. They feel more comfortable with any input or output in form of texts. Kinethetic learners learn through manual operation using senses. They try new things and they learn from the errors they make. They tend to like dealing with real life problems but they are not very risky in making decision. The Index of Learning Styles The famous model of Learning Styles developed by Richard Felder and Linda Silverman 1988 devived the learning styles into four dimensions indicating the ways in which the learners perceive the world. Sensing and intuitive (Perception dimension): Sensing learners prefer learning the facts. They learn best with certain and real information. They tend to solve problems in a common way and they hate complications. Intuitive learners prefer discovering posibilities and relationships. They tend to like finding the meaning. Information of conception, creation and theory attract them most. They do not like repeatition. Active and reflective (Processing dimension) Active learners prefer doing. They understand well and keep in their mind the given information for long if they are allowed to act, learning. They learn best with the others. Reflective learners prefer to think, evaluate, analysis the input. They feel more comfortable with learning quietly and individually. Visual and verbal (Input dimension) Visual learners deal well with graphs, pictures, and diagrams. They prefer visual representations of information. Â   Verbal learners get inforamation most if it is in both spoken and written words. Sequential and Global (Understanding dimension) Sequential learners get the understanding of the information in a linear way and they get the whole input by connecting logically and orderly the segments of it with one another. Global learners look at the input as the big picture to understand them. They usually work with the whole then its details. Language learning strategies Learning strategies are operations, steps, plans, thoughts or behaviors that learners use to help themselves to acquire, retain, regain and use information (Wenden Rubin, 1987; OMalley and Chamot, 1990; Weinstein Mayer, 1986). In other words, learning strategies are characterized as specific actions that learners take to make their languge learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, more effective and more transferable to new situations (Oxford, 1989, 1990). Among the strategy taxonomies developed by varied researchers such as Stern, O Malley and Oxford, as a teacher, I am particularly interested in the Stratey Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) which was developed by Oxford in 1990 for its importance as a effective tool to determine the strategies that a learner uses in learning English. In her system, Oxford separates language learning strategies into two general classes direct strategies and indirect strategies. These two classes are divided into six groups: memory, cognitive, compensation, metacognitive, affective and social strategies. Direct Strategies are employed by learners to deal with the new language. Memory strategies used for information storage and retention included in four sets: creating mental linkages, applying images and sounds, reviweing well and employing actions.These strategies helps learners remember what they have learned better by putting them together in a logical order, retain and retrieve them by associating them with images and sounds and act them out if it is possible. At the early stage of the language learning or for the learners who are young children, memory strategies are applied most frequently to learn vocabulary. Cognitive strategies used for analyzing, classifying and combining new information with the learnerss prior knowledge comprise of four sets: Practising, receiving and sending messages strategies, analizing, reasoning and creating structure for input and output. Learners employ these strategies as tools to achieve the target language by reapeating verbally or in words to get new information, to complete a complex task needing a lot of thinking like reading comprehension which is closely related to the learners prior knowlege, to summarize and restructure the target language in useful forms. Compensation strategies used for reducing the effects of lacking knowledge of the target language included in two sets: guessing intelligently and overcoming limitations in speaking and writing. The learners insufficiency of vocabulary and grammar can be overcome by guessing, using gestures, adjusting the message. Indirect Strategies used for genaral management of learning can be used in combination with Direct Strategies to regulate the learning. Metacognitive strategies used by the learners for the sefl-reflection. They embrace three sets: centering your learning, arranging and planning your learning, evaluating your learning. The strategies aim to drive the learners attention to particular skill areas of the language to improve, set the goals and objectives, organize their learning by dealing well with tasks to get the best achievement, seek opportunities to prastise and self-evaluate by monioring their learning progress to make sure that they get benefit from their effort. Affective strategies used for controling learnersemotions, attitudes and motivations. They fall into four sets: lowering your anxiety, encouraging yourself and taking your emotonal temperature. The learners have both positive and negative feelings that may slow down or speed up their learning process. The strategies help them to control their negative feelings to overcome the psychologic difficulty, self-encourage to have themselves engage fully in learning the language and command themselve by sharing their feelings in different ways. Social strategies used for co-operating with others in learning. These strategies contain three sets: asking questions, co-operating with orthers, empathizing with others. Asking question is the most useful way to get imformation and its meaning. Learning language occurs mostly in communicating with others. So co-operation gives learners the best chance to get involved in the learning environment to learn the language. The trategies help learners enhance cultural understanding and sharing others feelings and learn the language. Overview of research on learning styles and strategies Many researcherss findings have implied the effect of learning strategies and indicate that most language learners unconciously use learning stratergies to enhence their learning and they sometimes may not really realize that they have chosen the most appropriate strategies to utilize and (Chamot Kupper, 1989). It is also stated that the good learners know well the strategies they use and tend to apply varied but appropriate language strategies and are able to explain the reasons why they use them for different tasks, learning needs and different stages of their learning and that the learning strategy use of the high proficiency learners appear more frequent and wide-ranging (OMalley Chamot, 1990). Ming Nuan Yang (2008) finds the same result in her study of language learning strategies used by the students in Chang Gung Institute of Technology in Taiwan. In her study of language learning strategies used by students at different proficiency levels in a university in Taiwan, Ya Ling Wu (2008) confirms that the higher proficency students use more and varied learning strategies, especially cognitive, metacognigive and social strategies than the lower proficiency students do. However, Vann and Abraham (cited in Sawani) found the opposite results in their study of strategy use of ecademic English learners in the USA which showed that the strategy use of the unsuccessful learners are the same as the successful learners As we know, language learning strategies can help learners to be more autonomous. Language learning strategies also assisst learners in making choices, initiating learning activities and taking responsibility for their learning. Each strategy have its own significant effect on different language skills. To deal well with English language speaking learning, the learner , as a good language learner, is required to be a risk-taker, to make good use of paraphrasing and circumlocution, to be aware the importance of self-monitoring, and self-evaluation (Chamot Kupper, 1989). Therefore speaking skills in partcular are usually effected most by compensation, cognitive, metacognitive, social and affective strategies. One of the biggest problems that the L2 learners face to is the deficiency in vocabulary and grammar of the target language. In the English language speaking classroom, the highly proficient students usuall usually apply compensation strategies which to Oxford (1990) can help learners comprehend and produce messages in the new langguage making up their deficiency in vocabulary and grammar. Applying compensation strategies , the learners appear to become a better language learner because they are getting willing to take risk. For example, they are willing to take risk to learn to speak the language at their expense. They are not afraid of being a fool when making mistakes or using gestures as they are speaking. They become good guessers to understand what people say and become very creative in using the target by paraphrasing or using circumlocution to express their intended messages to get themselves understood. In his study in 2009, Chandra Bose found that the compensation strategie s were adopted by engineering students of Tamil Nadu in India while speaking English to make up for the inability to speak fluently and Goh and Foongs study on language learning strategy use of Chinese students shows similar results but Yang (2007) found that both high and low proficiency Chinese students in his uninersity used compensation strategies more than other strategies. Most learners are very cognitive when they deal with learning the second language esspecially aldult learners. They love using their mind, cognitive strategies to solve problems. However, OMalley Chamot (1990) beleive that cognitive and metacognitive strategies are often used together to support each other and that the appropriate combinations of using these strategies often bring more effectiveness. Cognitive strategies help learners analyse, classify and associate the new information with the prior knowledge and mentally restructure them to make the new one for their own. They provide language functions and structures whereas metacognitve stratergies help learners manage their learning by self reflecting. Rubin (1975) states that a good language learner always look for opportunities to involve in communication and highly aware of their learning. So does a language learner with metacognitive strategies. They monitor their own speaking to learn from the mistake they have made, plan their learning to achieve the goal they have established. These learners are usually reflective learners. Metacognitive strategies are claimed to be used more often by Taiwanese university students ( Yang, 2007) and Chinese students (Bedell, cited in Yang, 2007) than by Puerto Rican, Egyptian, Indonesian and Korean students (Yang, as cited in Yang, 2007). The affective filter hypothesis of Krashen (1982) concerns the factor of emotions that effect the learners second language acquisition. It means that the learners with high affective filter will receive less input than the ones with lower affective filter. This is consictent with Oxford (1990) belief that affective strategies can help learners to lower their anxiety, encourage themselves and take their emotional temperature. Affective strategies enable learners to control their emotions and attitude to language learning because the learners can be encourage or decourage in learning a foreign language by being intersed or anxious or bored. Affective strategies are asserted to have sigficient impacts on learners since they assist learners to overcome the anxiety they may have when speaking. That is the reason why the results found in Yangs study of Chinese (Yang, 1993 cited in Yang, 2007) and Taiwanese students use of learning strategies show that affective strategies were used the lea st (Yang, 2007). This is explained that Chinese and Taiwanese students in a traiditional English class have few chances to speak. Learners tend to use social strategies look for oppotunities to engage themseves in communication by asking questions, asking for help, practising the new things they have learn with others and sharing their feelings about learning the target language with others. Learners with social strategies make use of asking questions to achieve understanding, cooperating to increase confidence and to be in competition to expose their better performence than othersand to develop cultural understanding. Social strategies help learners learn the target language through interacting with others. This is extremely significant in learning speaking. However, the choice of social strategies depends a lot on learners characteristics and learning styles. The learners with social strategies are usally active learners who are extroverts who tend to open up with others to learn the language (Ehrman and Oxford, 1990). Conclusion Most of the studies on language learning styles and strategies in recent decades have stated that learning styles effect the seclection of language learning strategies the learners apply to their language learning. In the other hand, research also indicates that the levels of success and proficiency the learners reach and the frequency and variation of learning strategy use of the learners increase accordingly. These findings are vitally important to language teachers who play a very significant role in part of the successes that their students may enjoy or part of the failure that their students learning may end in. Learning about the diference of language learning strategy use between the successful, high proficiency learners and unsuccessful, low proficiency learners is necessary to teachers so that they can adapt their teaching styles to match their students learning styles, train their students the language learning strategies that the successful, high proficiency students utili ze in their learning to help them to enhence their learnings effectiveness in the ways that the good language learner does.

Positive and Negative Effects of Video Games Essay -- Papers Children

Positive and Negative Effects of Video Games The video game technology, like most technologies, has changed drastically in the last few years. Arcades may look much the same on the surface as they did a decade or two ago, but the games have become far more violent, sophisticated and addictive. When one visits the video arcade it is not surprising to see children pointing and shooting something that looks suspiciously like a real weapon. If Pong – or, for that matter, Pac-Man and Super Mario Brothers – is one’s point of reference, one needs to think again. What one assumes about the benign, outdated games of the 1970s and the 1980s, even of the early 1990s, the research regarding them cannot be considered valid as video games put in the market in the last five years. It is a whole new world, and it is evolving at a rate that is hard for parents to keep pace with (Funk. Jeanne 1993). How fast a rate? Consider this: During the last two decades interactive video games have emerged as one of the most popular forms of entertainment, particularly among teens. According to the non-profit organization, Mediascope, â€Å"Globally, annual video games revenues now exceed $18 billion. In the United States alone, video game revenues now exceed $10 billion annually, nearly double the amount Americans spend going to the movies. On average, American children who have home video game systems play with them about ninety minutes a day. The kids are changing with the technology – how could they not be? They are riding technology curve in a way we are not and never can. On many levels, it’s wonderful to have them exposed to this brav... ...tors in Computing Systems CHI '04 Abstracts on Human factors in computing systems. ACM Press New York, NY , USA p. 1375-1378 Provenzo, Eugene. Video Kids. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1991 47-48. Schmitt, B.D. (2004). Disadvantages of Video Games. Clinical Reference Systems. Jan 1, 2004 p 3356. Behavioral Health Advisor 2004.1 McKesson Health Solutions LLC Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction Association for Computing Machinery, ACM Pres, New York, USA The First Fighting Game That Let You Just Be Friends. Take Greatest Games of All Times. Mortal Kombat II. Midway 1993. Accessed 2 Sept 2005 at: http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/all/greatestgames/p-17.html Videogame- mind control? Accessed 2 Sept 2005 at: http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread37141/pg1