Illustrate and discuss with examples the law of diminishing returns Essay

Illustrate and discuss with examples the law of diminishing returns - Essay Example Cannan (1981) says that while the great British economist Malthus has been given a large part of the credit for discovering this law, it was Turgot who actually considered it in its application to the field of agriculture. Turgot writes that: â€Å"Where ordinary good cultivation prevails, the annual advances bring in 250 to the hundred, it is more than probable that if the advances were increased by degrees from this point up to that at which they would bring in nothing, each increment would be less and less fruitful (Cannan, 1981, Pg. 74)†. The law of diminishing returns was likened by Turgot to a spring which is forced to stretch due to the load of weights on it. As more and more weights are added to the spring, the relative extension starts decreasing until there comes a point where no further extension can be made to the spring (Cannan, 1981). The ideas given by Turgot can be simplified by using his own agricultural example but giving it a more modern complexion. For instance, given that we know that x amount of seed in one hectare of land would produce 3y of crop, we could assume that doubling the amount of seed would produce 2(3y) of crop i.e. 6y, if everything else remains the same. However, once the amount of seed is doubled, the output crop may not be exactly double and we could end up with a crop which is equal to 4y or 5y. If the amount of seed was further increased to 3x the returning crop amount could be 4.5 y or even less. In this manner, the marginal return from each additional unit of seed would become lesser and lesser until the marginal result would become close to zero. Even though it was Turgot who suggested the ideas behind this law of economics, Malthus popularized the concept with his Essay on the Principle of Population which was published in 1798 and discussed many different economic concepts (Cannan,

Educational psychology Essay Example for Free

Educational psychology Essay I am a big proponent of social cognition, and I am going to use it in my classroom. I believe that is a student puts their mind to something, and they really try to accomplish that goal it can be done. In order to elicit this response one must often use the operant condition when it comes to learning. People thrive on the words of others and their praise. â€Å"In operant conditioning the organism learns that a particular behavior produces a particular consequence. If the consequence is useful or pleasurable, the organism will tend to repeat the behavior to produce the consequence again. If the consequence is unpleasant, the organism will tend not to repeat the behavior. Pleasant consequences are sometimes called ‘rewards’, and unpleasant consequences are sometimes called ‘punishments’ (Berger p 42. )† This theory came about by the studies of B. F. Skinner. This is where I tend to move towards metacognition and self-efficacy. I believe that when a student does well on something it is quite satisfying, and they would like to see this result again. They noticed that when they studied hard the reward was the good grade. They receive their grade and self-gratification sets in. If they did not study they may fail the test and they are then negatively reinforced because they do not want to see this result again. I want to use this conditioning and encourage my students to do well. I know they can do it; they just have to have the right attitude and behavior about it. An example of this reinforcement is if I tell my student, â€Å"good job, I really enjoyed that†, when referring to a project they did; the student will most likely work harder and come up with and even more impressive project. My student wants the affirmation that he did a good job. The student want the positive reinforcement as it brings about a rewarding stimulus. This not only gets the student to do their work it also gets him thinking metacognitivly, which he will benefit from later on in life. He is looking at what he did to get my praise and analyzing what he did, and looking at how he can do better. This is exactly what I want from my students I want them to take an active role in their education. He does not know it, but my student through operant conditioning has arrived at a deep thought process. It is brilliant. As teachers I believe we use operant conditioning every day. We will prompt our students with cues helping them arrive at the answer. In giving the students positive reinforcement they do get a true yearning to learn. It may start out as just for the reward, but it is my hope that eventually they realize learning is the reward. Classical conditioning is useful, and thanks to Pavlov; we see that it works. I do want to condition somethings so that there is an automatic response. For example, when I ask my students quite down they will automatically respond to my voice, I know optimistic. In general though I prefer operate conditioning as it goes deeper into thinking. I again go with the cognitive approach when it comes to motivation. When someone internally processes something it becomes more real. It means more to them. When a student reflects on his work and looks at how he can improve upon it. This very closely reflects extrinsic motivation. Here someone does something to obtain something else. This could relate to the student who studies to obtain a good grade. I like this theory and will apply it to my classroom, because I really want to get my students gears turning. â€Å"They emphasize the importance of creating learning environments that encourage students to become cognitively engaged and take responsibility for their learning. This goal is to get students to become motivated to expend the effort to persist and mat ideas rather than simply doing good enough work to just get my and make passing grades (Perry, Turner, Meyer, 2006, p 467. )† If my students can come to the point of realization that studying equals doing well in the class I am in a good spot. Many students know this but they do not fully believe it because they have never tried (Wigfield, 2006, p 463.) Even stronger than this is intrinsic motivation. This motivation becomes so real to the student when they realize they can self-determine their outcomes. I love this method so much. The student is growing and understanding how to truly learn, they are learning that what they learn truly effects them. â€Å"In this view, students want to believe that they are doing something because of their own will, not because of external success or rewards (Deci, Koestner, Ryan, 2001, p 464. )† They have learned to stop relying on others; they have learned to push themselves through life. â€Å"Researchers have found that student’s internal motivation an intrinsic interest in school tasks increase when students have some choice and some opportunities to make personal responsibility for their learning (Grolnick, 2002, p 464. )† I want to motivate them by allowing them some freedom in my class. I will give my students choices because they then be more motivated to do the work with all their effort. The thing is, whatever choice they make they are still learning! Also they are processing it all through information processing to make sure that how they are acting now will be duplicated. They know their actions constituted a response from me, which was giving them more freedom. They enjoyed this stimulus and will want it to continue, so they will work really hard. This loops them all the way back to operant conditioning and positive reinforcement! It is all connected. Another big thing with this idea is interest. â€Å"Interest is especially linked to measure of deep learning, such as recall of main ideas and responses to more difficult comprehension questions, than to surface learning, such as responses to simple questions and verbatim recall of text (Wigfield, 2006, p 466. )† This is where I hope my passion for history comes in. I want to get my students excited about history. If I do get my students excited they will show interest and if they show interest they will understand the history at a deeper level than they normally would. My management plan also fits in with these ideas. I am going to run my classroom according to the authoritative perspective. I will be the teacher and the students will follow my rules, but they will be integrated into the classroom. My students will have a say as to what goes on in my classroom, in our classroom (Baumrind, 1971, p 513.I will manage my classroom with effect rules that can be up for change depending if the students do not agree with the rules. â€Å"To function smoothly, classrooms need clearly defined rules and procedures. Students need to know specifically how you want them to behave. Without clearly defined classroom rules and procedures, the inevitable misunderstandings can breed chaos (Evertson Emmer, 2009, p 515. )† I will have my procedures laid out at the beginning of the year so that the kids will have excuse when they do not follow the rules. I will be integrating William Glassers management plan. He suggested that there be a classroom meeting every once and while. This is just a chance for the students to say yes or no regarding structures of the classroom. I will also manage my classroom by listening to what my students have to say. I want them to know that I do care. I want them to trust me. If there is mutual peace between us, there will be far less conflicts that arise. â€Å"When most of us think of your favorite teacher, we think of someone who cared about whether or not we learned. Showing that you genuinely care about student as individuals apart from their academic work helps gain their cooperation (Pianata, 2006. )† Students feel safe and secure when the teacher shows that he cares. The classroom atmosphere if much more relaxed. It is not up tight and tense. If I teach like this a lot of anxiety and stress will be avoided. Target Group I am getting my teacher degree in secondary education. I will be teaching at the high school level. I would like to, at least some point in my career, teach in the Christian school system. I grew up in it, and I love what their mission is. I also would not mind teaching in a public school. It would be good experience for me and help me grow as a teacher. I would like to teach in traditional public schools and in Christian schools. I would like the experience of both. Public schools would allow me to reach out to those who are really in need and to those who thirst for knowledge and cannot get it anywhere except through free public education. This would be especially true if I were in an inner city situations. I would not mind this at all as I volunteer now helping with inner city children. I have a heart for them and would love to serve as a teacher there someday. I want to offer them knowledge and help them meet their full potential. I also would like to teach at a charter school. I observed a classroom at a charter school and I really liked. It is a good system and is run well and I would like to be a part of it, at least for a time. So, I am happy at any school; I will go where God sends me. The ages that I will be teaching will be ranging from the age of thirteen to nineteen. It is my hope that I will be teaching history. There is a scarcity of history teaching jobs right now, and I hope that will be able to find one. I absolutely love history and I really want to teach it. The other subjects I would be teaching would be biology or just a general science class, and depending on where I teach, bible class. I would also like to teach at a smaller high school, about six-hundred to seven-hundred students. A big high school with two thousand people, I believe, is too impersonal. A smaller high school, like my own, is just the right size and encourages kids to get to know one another. Also, in a big school I could not be as relational to the students as I would want to because there would be so many in all my classes. Environment and Routines If things are not explained clearly, or if things are not put in a well thought out manner; a teacher may run into behavior problems. In order to create good student behavior I plan to take the three-step approach that the Wongs developed. I need to teach my students how to follow procedures, or else I will run into problems. I must first explain the classroom procedure as clearly as I possibly can, and if there are questions I will answer them. Also it is a good idea to distribute my procedures at the beginning of the semester or at the beginning of a certain activity so the students know what is expected. After I explain what is going on I should practice or rehearse the procedure until it becomes routine. â€Å"Behaviors must be taught, modeled, practiced, and retaught (Wong p 175. )† In going over the procedures repeatedly the students then understand what is expected of them. Finally I must reinforce this procedure and I also must reinforce what is the wrong procedure. After going about this my students will know exactly how to act and what is expected of them, and there should be very few behavioral problems. A positive classroom environment involves both the teacher and the student. The students must respect the teacher and his authority. They must listen to what the teacher has to say, and they must be disciplined when they do not. The teacher also must respect the students. He must listen to what the students have to say, and he must not make it a dictatorship where the classroom is harsh and rigid in structure. The kids are only human. â€Å"A positive classroom environment encourages participation and risk-taking because students know they will not be harassed or belittled by the teacher. Students do not have to shrink within themselves to survive the forty-five minutes, ninety minutes, or full day with teacher who yells, throws things, or makes hurtful comments. In a positive classroom environment students can make jokes, engage in their learning, banter with the teacher, and feel comfortable with the tasks given. † (Kendrick) In a classroom a teacher should be encouraging to his students. He should let the students know that he believes in them. Students do not do well in class when their teacher does not believe in them. They stop trying, viewing themselves as failures, and it carries on later into life. I want to have a positive classroom environment. In order to achieve this I am going to teach from an authoritative classroom management style. I will encourage my students to think for themselves, if I think for them no real learning is accomplished. I will engage my students and show that I do care about them. I will listen to what they have to say and if things need to be changed I will. I will allow them freedom within their education and learning in my classroom; but I will still clarify the rules and establish the standards with some student input. I am not there to be their friend, but I do want them to understand that I care about them and to have some say in their education. I care whether or not I learn, and if I am doing something wrong I want them to feel comfortable telling me. To achieve a connection with the students I must be a good oral communicator. I must clearly communicate the information I am presenting. I will use words and ideas that meet the level of understanding of my class. I do not want them getting lost in my rhetoric. They will automatically tune me out if they think I am teaching above them; I have even done this myself without realizing it. Also many teachers speak way too fast and the students cannot keep up, or the teacher talks way too slow and the students are lost to boredom. I must teach at an appropriate pace so that my students learn and remain interested. When I teach, especially in history, I must be precise. I am going to avoid being vague. My students will fail or do below their academic level if I am vague. I also will not just teach the facts; facts are what lose classes when it comes to history. History is so much more than just dates and it is still relevant today, even though they are just a bunch of, â€Å"old dead guys. † Also I will have what I am going to do for class planned out. I do not want to be disorganized, and I am not going to wing it through my teaching. I will have my lesson ready for each class so that I am ready to teach. The students will then have confidence in me as their teacher and I will not lose time to senseless things. (Florez, 1999) Each class period I am going to start with a couple of facts of history that happened on that day. This would just be a fun way to start off the class period. It is always to cool to see what happened in the past. I will begin each class with the objectives for the day so that the students know what we will be covering. I will not always give out note sheets for my lesson, but sometimes I will hand out fill in the blank notes so that they can keep up and still learn. I will have them ready before hand each period. Also I do plan to have some group projects. At the beginning of the year I will number them off as to create groups of four; I believe more than this can be counter-productive. As the year goes on I will let them choose their own groups; this being because I now know the dynamics of my classroom much better, and I can switch people if I know work will not be done. Every week I will allow the students to choose from a list of events in history relating to the period we are covering in class. I will have them explain what happened and how it relates to us today, and what we can learn from it. This project will consist of a one to two page paper and a one to two minute presentation. All history is relevant history and I want my students to understand that. As a history teacher, I would like major historical events to be represented on my walls. I am going to be going to be teaching secondary education. I will not have the cute and cuddly decorations, but I will still have things that will bring the classroom to life. One thing I must have in my classroom no matter what, is a copy of the Declaration of Independence. I will also have the students add to the classroom with their projects and other things they do so that they feel a part of the classroom. I want to have a classroom where the students are excited to be there, in good measure of course, so that it is not so distracting that they do not learn. Twice a week I am going to hold a classroom meeting. This is a meeting to make sure that my students are understanding the material, and that I am teaching to their needs. This is where the students really get to give their input on the class and what is going on. This idea was set forth by William Glasser. It follows my method of teaching, authoritative, and fits how I would like to relate to my students. This would take up to ten or fifteen minutes, but I do not believe it is wasted time. I will start off the meeting to see if anyone has any questions about the subject/time period we are on. I will establish if they are understanding it enough or not. Then I will ask for suggestions on things I can improve upon, and also ask for things that they like. I will then change some things and keeps some things according to how I think the classroom would best fit the current needs of the students. I will make sure to always hand my students test within a week of the test date. I also appreciated it when the teacher had a set time that they would get my test and assignments back to me. I believe it is important for them to see how they did and then gage how they can improve for the next time. At the beginning of the year I will establish things like this with them. They will then know what to expect from the class. I will set up my rules and regulations and procedures so that they will know how to act in my class. Also, every class period at the end I will have them write a few sentences on how what we learned in class effects us today. I want them to understand how the history we are learning relates to their own live and their interactions with others. Motivational Strategies Motivation focuses on mainly two categories, behavioral and cognitive. One of the big pushes in motivation is rewards or incentives. These are positive or negative stimuli that drive the student to succeed. This can be allowing the student to do something special, such as playing computer games or going on a field trip. The other big approach is internal motivation. The student’s thoughts are what guide their motivation. Motivation is what pushes students forward towards their objective. The cognitive perspective encourages giving students should be given more chances to do things of their own desire and to give them more responsibility. They are then taking their education into their own hands. They will have much more incentive to do well and strive for perfection; they are of course still monitored and rules still do apply. This strategy focuses on â€Å"goal setting, planning, and monitoring progress toward a goal (Shunk, 2008, p 462. † If a student has a goal before them they will want to achieve it. This strategy has the student look at how their actions determine the outcome of their school work. They take responsibility and gain more incentive to do well. There are another two main types of motivation associated with behavioral and cognitive motivation : internal and external motivation. Internal motivation is formed by our own wants, needs, and what we like to do. â€Å" It is determined by your personal values and goals. The drive to do something because it is interesting, challenging, and absorbing is essential for high levels of creativity. Enjoyment based internal motivation is the strongest and most pervasive driver as is a belief that it is a good or right thing to do. Often it is something we pursue even without a tangible result. † (Weisner) External motivation is the second kind of motivation. External motivation focuses much more on rewards than on one’s likes or goals. â€Å"Your motivation to attain your goal comes from a source outside yourself. It reflects the desire to do something because of external rewards such as awards, money, and praise. † (Weisner) This motivation tool is much less satisfactory than internal. In my classroom I will use this motivation, but I will try to use internal motivation when I can. If a student is doing something because he is motivated by rewards it is not near as gratifying if done for self interest. I will use both in my classroom as, unfortunately; sometimes rewards and external motivators are the only ones to get them to do their work. Some kids need incentives to be motivated to achieve their best, or to even try. They add interest or excitement to a classroom and in turn motivate them to do well. This is especially true of those who seem to not even care about the class (Emmer Evertson, 2009, p 460. ) If I see that there is somewhat of a lack of interest in what I am teaching I could implement a game. The more they know the better they will be at the game. Most people are competitive by nature, especially those who do not care it seems. So , a game in my class would motivate them to pay attention and learn the material. We could play history hot potato. A ball would be thrown around as history questions would be asked, if they took too long the student would have to sit down. The winner would then get maybe some extra credit points, or if I feel generous maybe some candy. In reaching the kids who do not care, I believe this is the best method. If they get something for learning they will start paying attention. This is not the most desirable, but this is sometimes the route that must be taken. (Skinner, p 236) There are also those who are just plain hard to reach; most of the time this stems from no confidence in themselves. I will most often use the cognitive approach when it comes to this. I will encourage them to set goals. I will encourage them and I will make sure they understand that they as a student can effectively control their environment. (Shunk) I will constantly encourage them and remind them that they are smart and that they can do it. I will also use Skinner’s operant conditioning in this situation. I will use positive reinforcement. I will reinforce their work with a smile, or a â€Å"good job†. Students feed off the praise of their teachers; we as humans naturally want to please others. Problem Behaviors The behaviors of students are not always conducive to the classroom and can cause disruptions. I will implement some rules so that they know exactly what is expected and I will have less problems. One rule that I think should be followed in my classroom is that the kids must be in their desks when the bell rings. This is a really good rule, because so much time can be lost on a class period just by making people sit down at the beginning. Another rule I would have for my classroom would be my students would have to bring all their books and materials to class. This rule is good as it is a distraction to people when someone leaves the room. A third rule I would have in my room would be ‘hands to yourself. ’ This rule prevents not only distraction between a couple people, but it also helps prevent distraction for others in the class. Another big rule I will have is no swearing, cursing, profanity, coarse jokes, or vulgar of any kind will be allowed in my classroom. They are not called for and should not be used, let alone in my classroom. A fifth and final rule I would implement would be that my kids would have to raise their hands to answer a question. If the kids just blurt out answers it will be chaos and I will not be able hear what people are trying to say. These five rules will help run my class smoothly. Rules however are not a safety net against behavioral problems. When dealing with behavioral problems I am not going to send my student to the principal’s office right away. The most desirable action when dealing with behavior problems is to work it out with the student first; after trying hard to work it out if the student still refuses to listen then more drastic measures must be taken. I would at first use minor interventions. (Evertson and Emmer, 2009, p 528. ) Nonverbal communication can be very useful when dealing with disruptions. One thing I could do is when a student is acting up is take make eye contact with them. I could give them the look, and convey with my eyes that what they are doing is not appropriate or I could make signs such as shaking my head, hand signal, or put my finger to my lips. This simple action lets the student know that they must get back on task. Another thing I could do is to keep the activity going. When there is not time in between things a student no longer has time to be disruptive. This way one does not even have to address the behavior issue; it is eliminated by procedure. Placement can even change the behavior. I can move the spot where I am teaching from. If a student is acting up I can move over by them and usually they will quite down and get back to work. Sometimes the student just needs to be reminded what they are supposed to be doing, I could address the class reminding them what they are supposed to be doing; in doing so the distracted student gets back on task. Also, a student may just need to be told no. I would need to keep eye contact and keep my voice down. I would address them with assertiveness and tell them that their actions are not accepted. I could also give the student a choice. He can either behave or accept the consequences. This makes him think and he will most likely choose to be good as to avoid a negative consequence. These strategies most often work as the student just gets off task and needs a little nudge in the right direction. The strategies above stem from positive and negative reinforcement and correlate with Skinner’s operant conditioning. The student, however, will not always respond to these strategies and more drastic measures. The students will not always cooperate and sometimes more moderate action must take place. Some students will abuse privileges, be disruptive, or interfere with my work with individual students. There are always the students who completely abuse the privileges they have been given, when this happen the teacher can take it away. This takes away an activity that the students use to enjoy and the next time they will think about their actions twice. They will not want to lose their freedom again. Also if a student acts up I could remove the student from positive reinforcement. If the student is removed from his element the gratification of his actions is taken away. I could take the student into the hall and talk to him one on one. This is never a pleasant experience and should stop the student from repeating the action; no one likes to hear, â€Å"can I see you in the hallway please. † Also I could impose a penalty such as extra homework; this needs to be done with care so as to not stem more annoyance with the class. (Evertson, Emmet, Worsham, 2009, p 528. ) Also I could have my student attend detention for their inappropriate behavior. This enforces that their actions will not be tolerated. â€Å"The teacher is given command over the student, who is expected to be respectful, submissive, and willingly obedient. When the pupil does not readily conform to the request made on him, discipline becomes necessary. By this is meant the use of coercive measures to bring about the desired behavior. †(Phenix p 41) If these actions still do not work a trip to the principal’s office or a phone call may be in order. Assessment Assessment is a big part of education, and helps a teacher gage how their students are doing. There are two main types of assessment in education, informal and formal. â€Å" ‘Informal’ is used here to indicate techniques that can easily be incorporated into classroom routines and learning activities. Informal assessment techniques can be used at anytime without interfering with instructional time. Their results are indicative of the students performance on the skill or subject of interest. Unlike standardized tests, they are not intended to provide a comparison to a broader group beyond the students in the local project (Navarete. )† I will use a variety of informal assessment to tools to gage how my students are doing. One tool I will be using is regular homework. This will tell me if they can grasp the subject enough that when asked to dive into the book and the content that they can give back to me a fair understanding of what is presented. Another tool I could use would be journaling. I would have my students journal about something they find interesting in what we are studying and then check how good their understanding of it is. When my class plays a game I can also check to see how well they know the material; if they are struggling for the answers something must done. Also general observation of my students is informal assessment. I would look for participation and understanding in class, and also as I would walk around I would observe their work. (Navarete. ) â€Å"Formative assessment is utilized to immediately determine whether students have learned what the instructor intended. This type of assessment is intended to help instructors identify material which needs to be clarified or re-taught and should not be used to evaluate or grade students. Results of formative assessment can assist instructors to ascertain whether curriculum or learning activities need to be modified during a class session or before the next class meets (Formative. )† I would quizzes mainly to judge this assessment. This is a quick way of assessing how much they know. It gages their current progress, not their progress as a whole. Other things would be reading quizzes to see if they get the material I have asked them to go over. It could also be something like a minute write where I have them write down something that tells me they understood what I thought during class that day. These tools give me a fast analysis or where they are at. Another assessment like this is the summative assessment. This assessment documents the students performance. This assessment uses a lot of standardized tests and things related to that format. This allows the tester to understand where the students are at as a whole. In the classroom I would use this when administering unit end tests. I can see how they have progressed and I can assess what to do better for the next unit. A Measure I would measure my students how they are doing on my tests and assignments, if they are failing I am doing something wrong. This, however, is not the only way that I would measure if my management plan was working. I would, as stated above, have classroom meetings. This would give me an opportunity to discuss with my students how the class is going. This would be my chance to get input on them on what I am doing right and what needs to be changed. I would hope that they would be mostly satisfied with the way things are going, but if they are not I will change my plan so they can learn better. This of course goes back to William Glasser and it also goes back to the authoritative management style. Glasser is very keen on having students involved in the classroom and the teaching process. I very much agree with him. The opinion of my students is very important to me. The authoritative plan also focuses in on the student’s role. They need to have a hand in their education. If their voice is not heard, the students will just continue to fail and the teacher will not know why. So, if my plan is working well my students will do well on their tests, quizzes, and assignments and they will have positive things to say at our classroom meetings. Our relationship will be a cordial one and not one of animosity. Completed Rubric 1. I believe that I have a very compelling argument for my planned proposal. It fits to the rest of my paper and sets a precedent for how I will go about running my classroom. I have many cited supports and they were all knowledgeable on the subjects I discussed. 2. I described all five of the target groups at a satisfactory level. I let the reader know exactly what my future looks like for teaching. The reader can look at any one of the components and know what I want to achieve in my vocation. 3. I believe that I very effectively communicated my rules policies and management ideas in such a way that is very understandable to students and teachers. This letter home is in a very nice format with great colors, and it is pleasing to the eye. It is attractive and professional.

American Authors: Building Character One Sentence at a Time Essay

Most of today's writers get their inspiration from other writers, whether it be present day authors or primitive. All of them have their own style of writing for their stories. Today we mostly see books about sparkling vampires and paranormal stories involving teenagers who investigate the issue. Back then, the stories had more of a meaning. Some of the stories were about the government, society, or their own personal life. Most of today's stories do not have a real meaning behind their stories, unlike the stories Olaudah Equiano, Anne Bradstreet, Jonathon Edwards, Patrick Henry, and William Bryant wrote. Each of these writers had their own writing approach and plot. However, there are writers who still write like Equiano, Bradstreet, Edwards, Henry, and Bryant. They were influenced by the famous authors I listed beforehand. These new authors have paved the way for present and future writers. Olaudah Equiano was an African American who wrote about the hardships he endured as a slave. Equiano was kidnapped and sold into slavery when he was eleven years old. He was very intelligent for a slave with no education. Olaudah encountered other hardships, like losing touch with his family and home life. He lost his sister quite a few times during his term as a slave, also. He saved up his money during his time of being a slave and eventually bought his own slaveryBefore Equiano bought his freedom, he acquired a skill for seamanship and traveled long distances. He was trained by his slave owner who was a captain at sea. Equiano documented his life by a journal. In his journal, titled â€Å"The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa,† he had daily entries that described what was happening during his time ... ...ar would have never happened, we would not have liberty or a fully functioning government. We would also be void of free trade. Patrick Henry helped form the basis for today's society. All of these people have been extremely important to today's character. Each person has played a role in government and writing. They have all formed a basis for whatever they were working on. Without the ideas of government from Henry, we would have a different political system all together. Anne Bradstreet and William Cullen Bryant have helped piece together poetry. Anne and Jonathon catapulted religious views. Bradstreet and Equiano helped people understand that not everyone leads a perfectly happy life and many were mistreated. Olaudah Equiano was vastly important to the abolition of slavery. We have all of them to thank for the society, government, and literature we have today.

Balance Sheet and Income Statement

Individual Assignment: Balance Sheet and Income Statement Commentary Publicly traded companies are entities that are allow for the offering of its registered securities. This allows them to become traded over a one stock exchange or over the counter market. This process allows for companies to gauge how much the company is truly worth compared to other companies in the same field or overall. This gives some inherent advantages over some of the privately traded ones such as being able to reach debt markets and the selling of future equity.However, this also takes away from the overall control from the majority of its owners and company founders. There are many different types of companies that fall under this category. They range from anywhere between trucking to retail and anything in between. These companies are traded constantly with their stocks going up and down based on how people feel about the company. The four areas that are focused in this paper are manufacturing, trucking, retail (grocery), and mortgages. AEP Industries Inc. (AEPI) is a manufacturing company that develops ways to package different things.The company prides itself on the plastic is creates and uses for this process. This company is very similar to that of Riordan Manufacturing. Both companies have develop their own plastic materials that are used for different things. According to the Balance Sheet, The shareholders’ equity dipped in 2011 and rose drastically in 2012. This is most likely do to the increase of assets and liabilities. In the Income Statement, the overall gross profit increased from 2011 to 2012 by over 50,000. The net income also almost doubled from 2011 to 2012. Though the trade value of this company’s stock has dropped to . 1 under the profit line, the company has continued to show growth from year to year. AMERCO (UHAL) is a company that specializes in trucking/transporting items across any distance. It gives most of its power to the individuals who hire the company giving them the power to control when and where they are shipping their materials. Overall the company is looking at a profit. It is currently at 1. 67 and rising. The company’s Income statement shows that the company is slowly but steadily continuing its growth. It gained about 100,000 gross profit last year and does not show signs of slowing down.The overall net income came to about 21,000 in one year. The balance sheet also shows that the total assets and liabilities have grown and that it has increased the overall equity of the company for the shareholders. Arden Group Inc. is a holding company that operates seventeen full-service supermarkets in Southern California. The company itself carries both perishable and grocery products. The company is currently lost about 2. 20 today. According the Balance Statement, the assets of the company from 2011 to 2012 dropped by nearly half the amount, the biggest cause seems to be the short term investments.The short term investments in 2011 where 30, 413 and in 2012 it is 1,759. That is nearly 80% in one year. It seems that people have strayed away from this company when it comes to short term investments. This caused the equity of the company to be cut in half. In the Income statement, on the other hand, shows a steady growth of profit. The company is making money even without the short term investments. Nationalstar Mortgage Holdings Inc. is the nation’s leading mortgage service. It offers its supplies directly to the consumers. According to the Balance Sheet, the company has grown leaps and bounds.In 2011, the company was looking at little under 2 million total assets, but in 2012 that number grew to over 7 million. The company is growing drastically and based on the previous 2 years does not seem to be slowing down. The liability and the equity has grown in conjunction with the assets. The Income Statement shows also an impressive increase in net income. The company is growing and making a lot of money with it. The 2011 net income was 20,887. This number ballooned to 205,287 total net income. In conclusion, these four companies are publicly traded and are very successful in their own way.Nationstar has grown the greatest and seems to be able to continue to grow in the mortgage field. Arden and AEP are both growing company possibly going through growing pains and will be able to come out stronger. Finally, AMERCO is a strong company based in the right field and will continue to grow. References AEP Industries Inc. (AEPI). (2013). Retrieved from http://finance. yahoo. com/q/bs? s=AEPI+Balance+Sheet&annual AEP Industries Inc. (AEPI). (2013). Retrieved from http://finance. yahoo. com/q/is? s=AEPI+Income+Statement&annual AMERCO (UHAL). (2013). Retrieved from http://finance. yahoo. com/q/bs? =UHAL+Balance+Sheet&annual AMERCO (UHAL). (2013). Retrieved from http://finance. yahoo. com/q/is? s=UHAL+Income+Statement&annual Arden Group Inc. (ARDNA). (2013). Retrieved from http ://finance. yahoo. com/q/bs? s=ARDNA+Balance+Sheet&annual Arden Group Inc. (ARDNA). (2013). Retrieved from http://finance. yahoo. com/q/is? s=ARDNA+Income+Statement&annual Nationstar Mortgage Holdings Inc. (NSM). (2013). Retrieved from http://finance. yahoo. com/q/bs? s=NSM+Balance+Sheet&annual Nationstar Mortgage Holdings Inc. (NSM). (2013). Retrieved from http://finance. yahoo. com/q/is? s=NSM+Income+Statement&annual Balance Sheet and Income Statement Individual Assignment: Balance Sheet and Income Statement Commentary Publicly traded companies are entities that are allow for the offering of its registered securities. This allows them to become traded over a one stock exchange or over the counter market. This process allows for companies to gauge how much the company is truly worth compared to other companies in the same field or overall. This gives some inherent advantages over some of the privately traded ones such as being able to reach debt markets and the selling of future equity.However, this also takes away from the overall control from the majority of its owners and company founders. There are many different types of companies that fall under this category. They range from anywhere between trucking to retail and anything in between. These companies are traded constantly with their stocks going up and down based on how people feel about the company. The four areas that are focused in this paper are manufacturing, trucking, retail (grocery), and mortgages. AEP Industries Inc. (AEPI) is a manufacturing company that develops ways to package different things.The company prides itself on the plastic is creates and uses for this process. This company is very similar to that of Riordan Manufacturing. Both companies have develop their own plastic materials that are used for different things. According to the Balance Sheet, The shareholders’ equity dipped in 2011 and rose drastically in 2012. This is most likely do to the increase of assets and liabilities. In the Income Statement, the overall gross profit increased from 2011 to 2012 by over 50,000. The net income also almost doubled from 2011 to 2012. Though the trade value of this company’s stock has dropped to . 1 under the profit line, the company has continued to show growth from year to year. AMERCO (UHAL) is a company that specializes in trucking/transporting items across any distance. It gives most of its power to the individuals who hire the company giving them the power to control when and where they are shipping their materials. Overall the company is looking at a profit. It is currently at 1. 67 and rising. The company’s Income statement shows that the company is slowly but steadily continuing its growth. It gained about 100,000 gross profit last year and does not show signs of slowing down.The overall net income came to about 21,000 in one year. The balance sheet also shows that the total assets and liabilities have grown and that it has increased the overall equity of the company for the shareholders. Arden Group Inc. is a holding company that operates seventeen full-service supermarkets in Southern California. The company itself carries both perishable and grocery products. The company is currently lost about 2. 20 today. According the Balance Statement, the assets of the company from 2011 to 2012 dropped by nearly half the amount, the biggest cause seems to be the short term investments.The short term investments in 2011 where 30, 413 and in 2012 it is 1,759. That is nearly 80% in one year. It seems that people have strayed away from this company when it comes to short term investments. This caused the equity of the company to be cut in half. In the Income statement, on the other hand, shows a steady growth of profit. The company is making money even without the short term investments. Nationalstar Mortgage Holdings Inc. is the nation’s leading mortgage service. It offers its supplies directly to the consumers. According to the Balance Sheet, the company has grown leaps and bounds.In 2011, the company was looking at little under 2 million total assets, but in 2012 that number grew to over 7 million. The company is growing drastically and based on the previous 2 years does not seem to be slowing down. The liability and the equity has grown in conjunction with the assets. The Income Statement shows also an impressive increase in net income. The company is growing and making a lot of money with it. The 2011 net income was 20,887. This number ballooned to 205,287 total net income. In conclusion, these four companies are publicly traded and are very successful in their own way.Nationstar has grown the greatest and seems to be able to continue to grow in the mortgage field. Arden and AEP are both growing company possibly going through growing pains and will be able to come out stronger. Finally, AMERCO is a strong company based in the right field and will continue to grow. References AEP Industries Inc. (AEPI). (2013). Retrieved from http://finance. yahoo. com/q/bs? s=AEPI+Balance+Sheet&annual AEP Industries Inc. (AEPI). (2013). Retrieved from http://finance. yahoo. com/q/is? s=AEPI+Income+Statement&annual AMERCO (UHAL). (2013). Retrieved from http://finance. yahoo. com/q/bs? =UHAL+Balance+Sheet&annual AMERCO (UHAL). (2013). Retrieved from http://finance. yahoo. com/q/is? s=UHAL+Income+Statement&annual Arden Group Inc. (ARDNA). (2013). Retrieved from http ://finance. yahoo. com/q/bs? s=ARDNA+Balance+Sheet&annual Arden Group Inc. (ARDNA). (2013). Retrieved from http://finance. yahoo. com/q/is? s=ARDNA+Income+Statement&annual Nationstar Mortgage Holdings Inc. (NSM). (2013). Retrieved from http://finance. yahoo. com/q/bs? s=NSM+Balance+Sheet&annual Nationstar Mortgage Holdings Inc. (NSM). (2013). Retrieved from http://finance. yahoo. com/q/is? s=NSM+Income+Statement&annual

Cannibalization

Cannibalization Assignment Your choice of line extension (Allround +) which of the line extensions do you believe will have the least degree of cannibalization and why? We chose the 12-hour multi-symptom capsule because it will have the least amount of cannibalization because our product right now only works for 4 hours. We will reach a new market of customers and it won’t hurt our market with our Allround product. The capsules are also different because they are easier to carry around so that will reach different customers.The degree to which you believe the sales of your choice of line extension will come from your current core product (Allround). We believe that our new product, Allround +, won’t take much of the sales revenue from our current product Allround. The products tend to customers in different markets and customers looking for different things in their OTC medicines. We do, however, believe that Allround will help Allround + get sales because of how well k nown the Allround brand is and how respectable our company is.What options do you have to minimize the degree of cannibalization of the line extension? We could try to position them on the shelf in different areas so that customers don’t have to choose between the two products. We could position the new Allround + next to the Extra brand because then it would be in competition with that brand instead of competition with our Allround. This would also be good because in our marketing plan we discussed that our biggest competitor is Ethik so that would go in line with competing with them.We could also market to different kinds of customers. With the Allround + product, we could market to more active people that are out all day that need the 12 hours of help and with Allround we could just market to parents of children who are at home all day where it doesn’t matter if you took several doses a day. Another option would be to make the Allround + product a little more expens ive because it lasts so much longer and is more efficient. This would cause there to be two different types of customers who are buying the different products.

Czarist Russia essays

Czarist Russia essays In the early czarist age/ pre-Revolutionary era Russia was a feudal land system and there was a growing gap between agricultural Russia and industrial Europe. Russia under the czars was growing out of the feudal system, but it was a slow process because the czars were afraid of losing power and control. The czars were just large landowners themselves, so they tried to resist turning Russia into an industrial capitalist state. However the czars did many things to start the process, they initiated all kinds of land reforms, such as the Stolypin reforms which weakened the communal agricultural land and allowed peasants to own small pieces of land. Allowing the private ownership of land allowed for some peasant families to become wealthy, and allowed them to use land as a commodity. Peasants could now buy and sell land to settle debts, and those that had to sell their land moved into the cities and started to create a labor force. Under the czars Russia was able extensively expand their railroad system. IN 1861 they had about 2000 kilometers of rail ,by 1913 they had increased the rail line to 70,000 kilometers. The expansion of the rail allowed for the Russians to transport their military more easily, and it opened up the coal and iron resources in the Ukraine. The rail also helped in the transporting of grain and other agricultural outputs. The czarist government also created a conservative monetary policy that allowed Russia, in 1897, to join the international gold standard. Industry took advantage of their countries backwardness by adopting already existing technology instead of trying to create their own. Industrial outputs at this time increase, grain out put triples, labor force grows and the GDP increases. However even with the major increase Russia is still well behind the other European countries. The czars helped to increase the foreign involvement in Russia through trade and through increase in foreign capi ...

Learn More About the History of Lasers

Learn More About the History of Lasers The name LASER is an acronym for Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation. It is is a device that emits a beam of light through a process called optical amplification. It distinguishes itself from other sources of light by emitting light in a spatially and temporally coherent manner. Spatial coherence keeps the beam within a narrow and tight path over long disances. This allows the energy generated to be used in applications such as laser cutting and laser pointing. Having temporal coherence means that can emit light within a narrow spectrum to generate a light beam of a specific color. In 1917, Albert Einstein first theorized about the process which makes lasers possible called Stimulated Emission. He detailed his theory in a paper titled Zur Quantentheorie der Strahlung (On the Quantum Theory of Radiation). Today, lasers are used in a wide range of technologies including optical disk drives, laser printers and barcode scanners. They are also used in laser surgery and skin treatments as well as cutting and welding. Before the Laser In 1954, Charles Townes and Arthur Schawlow invented the maser (microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) using ammonia gas and microwave radiation. The maser was invented before the (optical) laser. The technology is very similar but does not use visible light. On March 24, 1959, Townes and Schawlow were granted a patent for the maser. The maser was used to amplify radio signals and as an ultra sensitive detector for space research. In 1958, Townes and Schawlow theorized and published papers about a visible laser, an invention that would use infrared and/or visible spectrum light. However, they did not proceed with any research at the time. Many different materials can be used as lasers. Some, like the ruby laser, emit short pulses of laser light. Others, like helium-neon gas lasers or liquid dye lasers, emit a continuous beam of light. The Ruby Laser In 1960, Theodore Maiman invented the ruby laser considered to be the first successful optical or light laser. Many historians claim that Maiman invented the first optical laser. However, there is some controversy due to claims that Gordon Gould was the first and there is good evidence backing that claim. The Gordon Gould Laser Gould was the first person to use the word laser. Gould was a doctoral student at Columbia University under Townes, the inventor of the maser. Gould was inspired to build his optical laser starting in 1958. He failed to file for a patent his invention until 1959. As a result, Goulds patent was refused and his technology was exploited by others. It took until 1977 for Gould to finally win his patent war and receive his first patent for the laser. The Gas Laser The first gas laser (helium-neon) was invented by Ali Javan in 1960. The gas laser was the first continuous-light laser and the first to operate on the principle of converting electrical energy to a laser light output. It has been used in many practical applications. Hall's Semiconductor Injection Laser In 1962, inventor Robert Hall created a revolutionary type of laser that is still used in many of the electronic appliances and communications systems that we use every day. Patel's Carbon Dioxide Laser The carbon dioxide laser was invented by Kumar Patel in 1964. Walker's Laser Telemetry Hildreth Walker invented laser telemetry and targeting systems. Laser Eye Surgery New York City ophthalmologist Steven Trokel made the connection to the cornea and performed the first laser surgery on a patients eyes in 1987. The next ten years were spent perfecting the equipment and the techniques used in laser eye surgery. In 1996, the first Excimer laser for ophthalmic refractive use was approved in the United States. Trokel patented the Excimer laser for vision correction. The Excimer laser was originally used for etching silicone computer chips in the 1970s. Working in the IBM research laboratories in 1982, Rangaswamy Srinivasin, James Wynne and Samuel Blum saw the potential of the Excimer laser in interacting with biological tissue. Srinivasin and the IBM team realized that you could remove tissue with a laser without causing any heat damage to the neighboring material. But it took the observations of Dr. Fyodorov in a case of eye trauma in the 1970s to bring about the practical application of refractive surgery through radial keratotomy.

Bambiraptor - Facts and Figures

Bambiraptor - Facts and Figures Name: Bambiraptor (Greek for Bambi thief, after the Disney cartoon character); pronounced BAM-bee-rap-tore Habitat: Plains of western North America Historical Period: Late Cretaceous (75 million years ago) Size and Weight: About four feet long and 10 pounds Diet: Meat Distinguishing Characteristics: Small size; bipedal posture; feathers; relatively large brain; single, curved claws on hind feet About Bambiraptor Seasoned paleontologists spend their entire careers trying to discover the fossils of new dinosaursso they must have been envious when a 14-year-old boy stumbled upon the near-complete skeleton of Bambiraptor in 1995, in Montanas Glacier National Park. Named after the famous Disney cartoon character, this tiny, bipedal, birdlike raptor may have been covered with feathers, and its brain was almost as big as that of modern birds (which may not seem like much of a compliment, but still made it smarter than most other dinosaurs of the late Cretaceous period). Unlike the cinematic Bambi, the gentle, sloe-eyed friend of Thumper and Flower, Bambiraptor was a vicious carnivore, which may well have hunted in packs to bring down bigger prey and was equipped with single, slashing, curved claws on each of its hind feet. Which isnt to say that Bambiraptor was at the top of its late Cretaceous food chain; measuring only four feet from head to tail and weighing in the vicinity of five pounds, this dinosaur would have made a quick meal for any hungry tyrannosaurs (or larger raptors) in its immediate vicinity, a scenario that youre unlikely to see in any forthcoming Bambi sequels. The most important thing about Bambiraptor, though, is how complete its skeleton isit has been called the Rosetta Stone of raptors by paleontologists, who have studied it intently over the last two decaes in an attempt to puzzle out the evolutionary relationship of ancient dinosaurs and modern birds. No less an authority than John Ostromthe paleontologist who, inspired by Deinonychus, first proposed that birds evolved from dinosaursraved about Bambiraptor shortly after its discovery, calling it a jewel that would confirm his once-controversial theory.

Transformational Leadership and how used in the hospitality industry Essay

Transformational Leadership and how used in the hospitality industry can increase profitablity - Essay Example chniques of good listening, hones and open communication, delegating, conflict resolution skills, etc.,† It is generally accept that good leadership is essential to the functioning of an organization. Organizations are constantly seeking leaders with a set of skills at all levels, which can inspire team members to achieve goals and earn the loyalty of customers. Leadership is the process of interaction between situations among team members. Thus, an effective leadership is contingent upon a number of variables, such as trait, leading styles, communications skills, conflict resolutions, and be able to motivate team members. Every team member also has a responsibility that specifies his or her involvement. Teams are set forth to establish roles to accomplish common goals. All team members should have a clear idea of their own roles, own duties, and responsibilities in the team and have a good understanding of how they contribute to achieve the team’s goal. The role given to every single member of the team should reveal their individual strengths as much as possible to maximize each member’s contribute to the fulfilment of the team’s objectives (Bass& Riggio 2005 p45). It is important that the abilities and skills of the employees must have to be brought out in order to fully perform in their duties and obligations in the workplace. The more proficient the member the success of the team is also ensured. A team member is usually chosen based on their expertise, qualities, and what he or she can provide for the team. Therefore, an effective leader should understand his or her team memb er’s strengths and weakness to properly assigned tasks. Transformational leadership is a very important present-day theory of leadership. This leadership style is effective for successful organizational change management. Burns believed that all behaviour regarding leadership is transactional or transformational in nature. Transactional behaviours are "mainly oriented for

Twitter (Marketing) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Twitter (Marketing) - Essay Example Twitter’s marketing strategy includesboth short-term and long-term activities in a formulation of market-oriented strategies. The main goal of Twitter is to increase the membership all over the world tosupport reach for its advertising clients.    The Twitter Social Media Company has many services such as self-service ads, tweets, user-sharing photos that are used by individuals as businesses alike.iii Today, Twitter has more than 500 million members, of which 284 million members are considered active users. In terms of the number of users, Twitter is far behind Facebook, its closest competitor.iv As Twitter is introducing new services and improving its Internet reach over the last few years, itsmarket position is improving.v In the last three quarters what year, the revenue generation of Twitter is increasing with the fast user growth. However, although the revenue is growing at a fast pace, the amount of users has slowed in comparison to Facebook. For the first time in history, the company has posted revenue of more than one billion dollars.vii The firm uses various types of advertising and marketing mediums to enhance the reach of the product and services that are connected to the Internet. Twitter uses all mediums in an effort to increase the members such as email, search engines, back links to websites.  This popular website also uses many mediums such as TV, movies,  etc.  as a part of advertising  strategy. Twitter is also an important part of SEO or Search Engine Optimization strategy. One of the main advantages of this service is that the signing up of the account is free and the site offers free publicity for the members, whether it is the company page or an individual.  They can offer a free link to the customers by clicking on a short link offered by the company. In exchange, the site also gets free advertising in every medium. This paragraph is not clear. What is the mix of advertising that they use to

Negotiation Experience Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Negotiation Experience - Essay Example Negotiation skills are important in every stage of ones life. As children we may not have been very discreet to this whole give and take process but with age a refines comes in and one is a bit more diplomatic about how one handles this process. Negotiation is a skill, an art which can be refined as one advances in life. It is like a double faces sword and one has to be good in this field yet be cautious not to hurt others feels while trying to get ones work done to excel professionally. One could succeed to be a really good negotiator if one abided by the Franciscans values of generosity, respect, love, joy, reverence, service and humanity. A negotiation is generally successful only when we have a win- win situation for both the parties, when we are a bit generous and respect the needs of the other party too. Only when the opposite party is happy and satisfied would we truly be satisfied with the out come of our negotiation. Distributive negotiation : Here in one a person is generally in the superior position and the other in a junior one where one party gains and the other loses. This kind of negotiation could lead to an argument which may not be beneficial to either of them. The main goal of both the parties is to emerge as winner where in they are not looking at building a lasting business relationship. Integrative negotiation: This type, on the other hand is a kind of negotiation where in both the parties emerge as winners. The final out come is a win-win situation for both. In normal business scenario integrative negotiation is preferred over distributive as it eventually helps in building stronger business ties. One of the cases out of the numerable situations encountered by me in my professional life was while negotiation the cost of landscaping and repainting an owner’s house. This was a gentle man in his mid 50’s who despite

SHORT LISTENING ASSIGNMENT FORMAT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

SHORT LISTENING ASSIGNMENT FORMAT - Essay Example The soloists follow the order of the piano first, then the saxophone which is interrupted by the trombone and drums and then continued till trumpeter takes over. The chorus sequence at the end is beautiful not just melodiously but also visually since the musicians move their heads to match the music and add to the amusement and joy of the listeners. The soloist I most preferred is the saxophone since it was a long piece. It started at a low range of tone with beautiful riffing technique and paved the pitch for the other soloists to showcase their pieces. The slightly low range of tones in the second set of repeats is offset by the high pitched trumpets after it. It was a very successful solo. All in all the entire song evoked happiness in me. The quick paced rhythm almost resembles swing music and I felt like dancing to the tune. The melody of the chorus was pleasing as was the solo performances of the musicians. This is definitely one of those songs one can’t easily

Performance Management as an Important Part of Organization Productivi Essay

Performance Management as an Important Part of Organization Productivity - Essay Example Therefore, the system of performance management generally involves evaluating and developing the skills, behaviours, and the performance of individual employees, generally for ensuring that the organization competes favourably in the market through its high performance. Performance management, therefore, can be used as a measuring and management instrument of employees in the organization. This process mostly benefits the big international companies, and those companies, whose workforce is greatly distributed. As a process, performance management comprises different types of activities aimed at achieving the objective of the general process. These include reward and remuneration for employees, coaching and mentoring of employees, team working, measuring, competencies, and competencies, and personal development plans, among others. Today, performance management is characterized by various changes, as the way it is approached today differs with how the process was approached in the past centuries. The changes in performance management today have contributed to its increased efficiency, and keep helping organizations to retain their high-performing employees. Performance management today is a holistic process, which embraces different processes, and th is is efficient in people management in companies (Kreitner 2008). Armstrong & Baron (2005) note that performance management is not a new process in organizations. This process has lasted for the past seventy years, since its inception in the 1940’s. Initially, managers of companies developed performance management during this period, in order to establish whether the different salaries and remuneration for the employees were justified or not. The difference between performance management of those days, and the performance management today is reflected in the complexity of the process.  Ã‚  

Leadership and Management Issues Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Leadership and Management Issues - Assignment Example Some famous quotations are even written about the meaning of leadership like Warren Bennis saying that â€Å"leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality,† (Corocran 2008, p. 3). The image is very important in leadership as it guides the core values of the leader and the activities and strategies to turn the vision or goal into reality (Anthonissen 2008, p. 48). Another way of defining leadership is according to Gardner that President Harry Truman defines leadership as to â€Å"get other people do what they don’t want to do and like it,†. It means that a good leader should be able to understand his members in the team or organization and he knows how to deal with them. If problems arise, he can think quickly of ways on hot to solve them. He really understands human motivation. It is defined by Hoy and Miskel as cited in Chelladurai (2006, p. 100) as the â€Å"activating forces [†¦] within individuals† which consist of â€Å"memory, aff ective responses, and pleasure-seeking tendencies† as they affect human behaviors and actions with â€Å"a goal orientation.† It can be said that together with leadership and motivation comes management. Management is an old concept. It originated from the Latin word manus which means by hand or power. Management may also come from the Italian word managers are pertaining to officers in charge of a certain production facility. It evolved then into the French manager and later on, it became the English term management.... In the concept of English people, management pertains to business organizations with people working as guides and to supervise the performance of others (Witzel 2004, pp. 1-2). American Management Association in 1980 defined the concept of management and according to the group, â€Å"management is getting things done through other people,† (Montana and Charnov 2008, p. 2). It means the efforts of other people are involved and the management is just the supervision and guidance on the efficiency of the whole group. Currently management can be defined as â€Å"working with and through other people to accomplish the objectives of both the organization and its members† (Montana and Charnov 2008, p. 2). According to Montana and Charnov (2008, p.2), there are three key differences between the two definitions: the employees play the great part in the organization, the focus is the result to be obtained and personal goals are aligned with the organizational goals. The practice of managing people in the organization is called the management process. The management process has six fundamental functions: planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating and controlling. Planning is the most basic function of management. It is concerned with what, how and when the activities or performance be carried out by an organization. The course of actions is created in the process of planning. It involves the identification of long-term and short-term objectives, creation of strategies and formation of policies and rules to be followed by the members of the organization. Usually the top management creates the initial planning and identification of long-range objectives but the planning function is being done by all managers from all

Performance Management as an Important Part of Organization Productivi Essay

Performance Management as an Important Part of Organization Productivity - Essay Example Therefore, the system of performance management generally involves evaluating and developing the skills, behaviours, and the performance of individual employees, generally for ensuring that the organization competes favourably in the market through its high performance. Performance management, therefore, can be used as a measuring and management instrument of employees in the organization. This process mostly benefits the big international companies, and those companies, whose workforce is greatly distributed. As a process, performance management comprises different types of activities aimed at achieving the objective of the general process. These include reward and remuneration for employees, coaching and mentoring of employees, team working, measuring, competencies, and competencies, and personal development plans, among others. Today, performance management is characterized by various changes, as the way it is approached today differs with how the process was approached in the past centuries. The changes in performance management today have contributed to its increased efficiency, and keep helping organizations to retain their high-performing employees. Performance management today is a holistic process, which embraces different processes, and th is is efficient in people management in companies (Kreitner 2008). Armstrong & Baron (2005) note that performance management is not a new process in organizations. This process has lasted for the past seventy years, since its inception in the 1940’s. Initially, managers of companies developed performance management during this period, in order to establish whether the different salaries and remuneration for the employees were justified or not. The difference between performance management of those days, and the performance management today is reflected in the complexity of the process.  Ã‚  

Occupational Safety and Health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Occupational Safety and Health - Essay Example Much is known about the causes of many traditional occupational diseases, but according to Schute, "what is needed are better ways to apply what is known" (273). The workplace is changing, with new methods of organization, non-traditional work schedules, and economic pressure from globalization, and it is up to the business community to be aware of changes and address them. With technology a major part of today's business, the latest research brings nanotechnology into play. Nanotechnology is "the control and manipulation of matter at near-atomic scale to produce new materials, structures, and devices" (NIOSH: Strategy, par. 1). This new focus in business creates a variety of risks not previously part of the workplace. With the development of new applications, it is necessary to give high priority to societal implications, human health, and environmental issues related to nanotechnology in addition to other workplace risks. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is the federal agency responsible for studying work-related injury, illness, and death. NIOSH's past experience equips them for research into the possible risks of working with engineered nanoparticles. Exposure to noxious fumes such as diesel, welding, smelter and fire smoke particles are known to affect health, and research is being done to see if engineered nanopar ticles have similar risks. Chemical and physical properties of engineered nanomaterials can vary greatly from bulk forms of the same materials. These new substances require research, analysis, and testing to determine their risks and how to manage them (Bartis and Landree ix). The projects initiated by NIOSH are focused on safe materials handling, exposure handling, exposure assessment and mitigation, and further toxicity testing. Their strategy includes all facets of the corporate structure from input to outcome and from strategic goals to management objectives. Critical occupational safety and health issues possibly arising from nanotechnology are: Exposure and dose Toxicity Epidemiology and Surveillance (NIOSH: Strategy) These potential dangers lead to the need for risk assessment, measurement methods, controls, safety, communication and education, and finally recommendations. The Institute's projected timeline for addressing critical issues covers the period from 2005 to 2009. It will be necessary to update the Material Safety Data Sheet system to incorporate relevant classifications, toxicity data, and safety and health recommendations for working with nanomaterials. Societal Implications of the Technological Advances of the 21st Century In the global community, several organizations are studying the issues brought about by new technology, for instance the European Commission's New OSH Era project initiated on 1 April 2006 (New and Emerging). It is their goal to identify new and emerging risks in the area of occupational health and safety through cooperation and coordination in the national and regional arena. The scheme is called ERA-NET and is made up of four phases: information exchange, strategies for future cooperation,

Ethical behavior Essay Example for Free

Ethical behavior Essay One of the primary rules of conduct in the medical profession is â€Å"First, do no harm,† and it is upon this directive that most matters of ethics in medicine can be grounded. Ethical behavior rests on this principle. It is the norm and is what is expected from all doctors and nurses. For instance, providing a patient with all relevant information to enable him to make an informed decision on whether to undergo surgery or not is considered ethical and proper. Most unethical behavior, on the other hand, stems from a desire for profit, although the actual participants (nurses, in particular) in an unethical act may only be taking part to preserve their job. A blatant (although unlikely) example of unethical behavior in a doctor would be the performance of surgery while under the influence of alcohol or another substance that adversely affects mental functions. Another is the recommendation and performance of unnecessary surgery (where simpler treatments would have sufficed) for extra profit. For many doctors and nurses, committing ethical or unethical acts is partly a matter of conforming to their organization’s rules. Ethical dilemmas relate directly to the organizational effectiveness of the system of doctors and nurses who work together—participation in ethical and unethical acts has a direct bearing on the efficiency of this system. In the case of routine circumcision, for example, a doctor may choose to continue encouraging new parents to get their babies circumcised because it would mean extra profit, in spite of the misgivings of his fellow doctors. However, it is not only the â€Å"cooperative† aspect of ethical and unethical behavior that is significant. Even if all members of an organization agree to cooperate in unethical behavior, an awareness of the â€Å"unethicality† of their actions can leave a seriously negative impression on the organization’s members, which could adversely affect their performance and thus render the organization much less than optimally efficient. It would therefore be towards the benefit of an organization to abide by practices that are generally considered ethical.

Civil Disobedience and Its Relation to the Democratic Process Essay

Everything in the universe is a system that must progress, and in order to progress, it must consume and test the realities around it. Throughout the history of humanity, individuals and groups have always defied laws that they believe are unjust and have always moved to progress society based on either their own motives. The idea of Democracy is revolutionary; it is a microcosm of the collective reality because different entities always come together in a feedback loop in order for their motives to coalesce and balance each other out. This is the case from large galactic masses to individuals engaging in civil disobedience in order to further a cause. Despite concerns that it eliminates order and allows individuals to disregard laws that they disagree with, civil disobedience is quintessential to the democratic process, because it allows those who engage in it to accept the legal consequences of their actions and spark debate over whether heinous legalities should be repealed. Any symbiosis of individuals and government, must be egalitarian. The Founding Fathers of this nation believed that all men are created equal and should be ensured the right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The United States Constitution was created in order for the institution of government to be able to deed the greatest amount of liberty and prosperity to all individuals, through a representative democracy. Here, whenever there are disagreements between individuals and government officials in regards to how a community is running, citizens are given greater leeway to manage their issues locally and gradually see results carried out to the national level, based on the momentum and support the respective initiatives have in the public domain.... ...the use of this tool, then we will have unlocked the gateway to prosperity in this country. Works Cited "Bill of Rights Transcript Text." National Archives and Records Administration. Web. 25 Mar. 2012. Casola, Luca. Black Markets: Empirical Studies into the Economic Behaviour of the Black Market Consumer. Diss. University of Canterbury, 2007. Canterbury, Australia: University of Canterbury, 2007. Print. Celente, Gerald. "Protest Trends for the New Millenium." Trends Journal (2009). Print. Harvey Wheeler, "Preface," Daniel Sisson, The American Revolution of 1800, Alfred A. Knopf, N.Y. 1974. Limieux, Pierre. "Civil and Uncivil Disobedience Would Henry David Thoreau Have Obeyed Stop Signs in Outremont, Quà ©bec?" Liberty (1995). Web. 12 Mar. 2012. "Schaffer Library of Drug Policy." DRCNet Online Library of Drug Policy. Web. 18 Mar. 2012.

Sphere :: essays research papers

Sphere Brief Plot Summary: The military discovers a spaceship at the bottom of the ocean. A team is sent down to investigate and gets stuck down there due to a storm on the surface. A sphere is discovered inside the ship, made by an alien species. People go into the sphere and it gives them the power to create things with their minds. They realize this power is too powerful and that mankind isn’t ready for it. So they use this power to forget everything about the ship. Brief Character Description: Norman Johnson-53-year-old psychology professor, the last choice to be on the team because of his age. He’s always evaluating the mental stability of the team members. Harry Adams-A mathematician. The only black member, he thinks everyone is discriminating against him. He cracks the alien code. Beth Halpern-The team zoologist, due to bad experiences with men she doesn’t trust them. Doesn’t always think things through. Theme: There are many very intelligent animals on our planet, but the thing that sets ups apart from them is our ability to imagine thins. We can imagine something and then strive to accomplish it. We just don’t realize how powerful or important that ability is. Last Comments: I was surprised at how much the author discussed complicated matters. He mentions space-time and how we could theoretically travel in time. He talks about the â€Å"anthropomorphic problem† of how we assume that aliens would have the same thought process as humans. He also talks a lot about psychology and the human mind. Question: 1) What kind of sea creature attacks the habitat? –A giant squid 2) What power did the sphere give to people? –The ability to manifest things with their minds

Total Export of Container Throughput By Kuching Ports

Malaysia is a developing country and maritime sector is one of the most important sectors in Malaysia, The container ports will give advantage to a developing country like Malaysia because with the existence of ports in this country, Malaysia can establish new relationship with other country by means Of export Of the goods. In this study will show how export will give impact On economy growth and What factors that influence the export activities. Export has its own effect, Whether in good side or bad side. Export is also depends on the demand from the seers itself.The demand Will become the first thing that Will influence the rate Of export. So, the growth of maritime sector surely can give good impact on economic growth. Hopefully this project will help Maritime sector at Kicking port become more efficient in managing the port especially in the container throughput sector. This analysis Is carried out using the e-flews to check whether the data is stable or not. And then this resear ch continues by using Microsoft Excel to forecast the export of container from year 2013 to year 2020. Keywords: Container throughput, Export, Forecasting, E-flews, Microsoft Excel 1. Introduction Centralization Is an Important transportation system in the rapid growth of international trade. Especially in the country dominating both of Importing and exporting Like Malaysia. Containers are used for shipping many types of goods such as agricultural. Consumer. And manufacturing products. Container through put is measured by twenty;foot equivalent units (TELL). The container is widely referred to as a box. A container terminal is a place where contemporaries are berthed for loading/unloading. Storage of import. Export and trans-shipment containers.Container throughput is a measure of the number of containers handled over a period of time, It is a standard measure for the productivity of a seaport. Kicking Port Authority was the first Malaysian port authority to have its Container Handl ing Management System accorded the MS ISO 9002 certification. Kicking Port Authority also was the first organized port in the state of Karakas. This port was established in year 1961 under the Port Authorities Ordinance 1961. Eyeing situated just outside Kicking, the capital City Of Karakas and the seat Of the State Government andTotal Export of Container Throughput By Kicking Ports, Malaysia, using forecasting method from year 2013 to year 2020 By unmanned method from year 2013 to year 2020 T. M. H. Tongue Sounding, Department of Universities Malaysia Triggering, 21030 Koala Triggering, Triggering, Malaysia one of the most important sectors in Malaysia. The container ports will give of export of the goods. In this study will show how export will give impact on economy growth and what factors that influence the export activities. Export has its own effect, whether in good side or bad side.Export is also depends on the demand from the users itself. The demand will become the first th ing that will influence the rate of export. So, the growth of maritime sector surely can give good impact on economic analysis is carried out using the e-views to check whether the data is stable or not. Forecasting, E-views, Microsoft Excel 1. 0 Introduction Centralization is an important transportation system in the rapid growth of international trade, especially in the country dominating both of importing and exporting like Malaysia.Containers are used for shipping many types of goods such s agricultural, consumer, and manufacturing products. Container through put is measured by twenty-foot equivalent units (TIES). The container is widely referred to loading/unloading, storage of import, export and trans-shipment containers. Period of time. It is a standard measure for the productivity of a seaport. Kicking year 1961 under the Port Authorities Ordinance 1961. Being situated Just outside Kicking, the capital city of Karakas and the seat of the State Government and measured by twen ty-foot equivalent units (TEE). The container is widely referred to

Dynamic Programming Essay

Dynamic Programming is a mathematical technique dealing with the optimization of multistage decision processes. In this technique, decisions regarding a certain problem are typically optimized in stages rather than simultaneously. This generally signifies that the original decision problem is divided into small sub-problem (stages) which can then be handled more efficiently from the computational view point. Basic Elements of Dynamic Programming To apply Dynamic Programming, we have to pay special attention to the three basic elements of the DP Model. They are: 1. Definition of the stages. 2. Definition of the alternatives at each stage. 3. Definition of the states for each stage. Definition of the states varies depending on the situation being modeled. Nevertheless, as we investigate each application, we will find it helpful to consider the following questions: 1. What relationships bind the stages together? 2. What information is needed to make feasible decisions at the current stage without reexamining the decisions made at previous stages? Application of the Dynamic Programming in the Business World We will try to present three application models and finally a worked out implementation of Dynamic Programming showing the superiority of DP over the usual or straight forward method of solution. 1. Work Force Model: In some construction projects, hiring and firing are exercised to maintain a labour force that meets the needs of the project. Given that the activities of hiring and firing both incur additional costs. In such cases, through the implementation of DP Model, we can get the optimum result regarding how the labor force should be maintained throughout the life of the project. For example: A construction contractor estimates that the size of the work force needed over the next 5 weeks is to be 5, 7, 8, 4 and 6 workers respectively. Excess labor kept on the force will cost $300 per week and new hiring in any week will incur a fixed cost of $400 plus $200 per worker per week. The elements of this DP model are: 1. Stage i Such problem can optimally be solved through DP Model. Equipment Replacement Model: The longer a machine stays in service, the higher is its maintenance cost, and the lower its productivity. When a machine reaches a certain age, it may be more economical to replace it. The problem thus turns into determining the most economical age of a machine. Suppose that we are studying the machine replacement problem over a span of n years. At the start of each year, we decide whether to keep the machine in service an extra year or to replace it with a new one. For example: Shajib Farms wants to develop a replacement policy for its 2-year-old tractor over the next 5 years. A tractor must be kept in service for at least 3 years, but must be disposed of after 5 years. The current purchase price of a tractor is $40,000 and increases by 10% a year. The salvage value of a 1-year-old tractor is $30,000 and decreases by 10% a year. The current annual operating cost of the tractor is $1,300 but is expected to increase by 10% a year. Such problem can optimally be solved easily by applying DP Model. Investment Model We commonly assume that an investor wants to maximize â€Å"Total Return†. Suppose that Mr. Jamal wants to invest Tk. 4,000,000 (4 Million) now and 2,000,00 (2 Million) at the starts of years 2 to 4. The interest rate offered by NCC Bank is 8% compounded annually and the bonuses over the next 4 years are 1.8%, 1.7%, 2.1% and 2.5% respectively. The annual interest rate offered by Eastern Bank is 2% lower than that of NCC Bank, but its bonus is .5% higher. The objective is to maximize the accumulated capital at the end of 4 years. Such problem can also optimally be solved easily by applying DP Model. A company is selecting the advertising for its productand the frequency of advertising by each material are shown in the following table: |Frequency per week |Expected Sales (In Tk. 1,000) | | |Television |Radio |Newspaper | |0 |0 |0 |0 | |1 |25 |20 |33 | |2 |42 |38 |43 | |3 |55 |54 |47 | |4 |63 |65 |50 | We have to determine the optimum combination of advertising frequency and sales. Solution: States: Let X1= The frequency of advertisement at stage-1 (0~6) X2= The frequency of advertisement at stage-2 (0~6) X3= The frequency of advertisement at stage-3 (=6) S= Total Frequncy Stage-1 |Total Frequency (S) |Frequency at |Expected Sales | | |Stage-1(X1) | | |0 |0 |0 | |1 |1 |25 | |2 |2 |42 | |3 |3 |55 | |4 |4 |63 | Stage-2 | X2 |f 2(S, X2)=R2(X2)+ f 1*(S-X2) | | | | | |f2*(S) |X2* | |S | | | | | |0 |1 |2 |3 |4 | | | |0 |0+0=0 | | | | |0 |0 | |1 |0+25=25 |20+0=20 | | | |25 |0 | |2 |0+42=42 |20+25=45 |38+0=38 | | |45 |1 | |3 |0+55=55 |20+42=62 |38+25=63 |54+0=54 | |63 |2 | |4 |0+63=63 |20+55=75 |38+42=80 |54+25=79 |65+0=65 |80 |2 | Stage-3 | X2 |f 3(S, X3)=R3(X3)+ f 2*(S-X3) | | | | | |f3*(S) |X3* | |S | | | | | |0 |1 |2 |3 |4 | | | |4 |0+80=80 |33+63=96 |43+45=88 |47+25=72 |50+0=50 |96 |1 | Now we can derive the optimal values: X1=1 X2=2 X3=1 Expected Sales= 96,000 Usual or Straight forward method of solution √ Circle indicates alternative plans at each stage & √ Arrows represent the decision. The features of the above exhaustive enumeration scheme are: 1. All the decisions of any combination must specified before a combination can be evaluated. Here during solution, we have to make 64 alternative plans first. 2. An optimum policy cannot be determined until all combinations have been evaluated. This method is inefficient because some of the combination may not be feasible. 3. In other cases the number of combination may be too large to allow exhaustive listing. The Dynamic Programming approach avoids the above mentioned difficulties by first breaking up the problem into smaller sub-problems which are called stages in DP. A stage here signifies a portion of the problem for which a separate decision can be made.

Pillow Method

Do children apologize to each other? Apology events in young Israeli peer discourse ZOHAR KAMPF and SHOSHANA BLUM-KULKA Abstract Children’s apologies are greatly under-researched. Though there is wealth of information available on the pragmatics of apologies generally, we know much less about whether and how children apologize. Our study explores modes of remedial work by Israeli children in peer discourse. The data were collected through ethnographic observation of Israeli preschool and preadolescents, and consist of 57 (taped and transcribed) apology events identified in natural peer interactions.The analysis of children’s apology events revealed a rich range of apology strategies used by 4 6 year old children, indicating the acquisition of remedial competencies for face management at a relatively early age and showed that with age, a richer range of potential violations is identified, and more elaborate forms of repair are being used, indicating a growing sensitivity to the other’s face needs. Furthermore, we found that adult intervention in children’s conflictual situations serves to model remedial strategies, but is not necessarily effective for conflict resolution.Importantly, peer talk apology events index the centrality of friendship in young children’s social world: breaches from expected behavior in play are taken as face threatening to the core of friendship, namely the children’s shared face as friends, and hence can function to end (even if temporarily) the friendship. Consequently, in such cases, the restoration of friendship becomes a necessary precondition for the felicitous realization of an apology. Keywords: apology, remedial work, remedial competencies, pragmatic development, peer talk, social norms 1. IntroductionThe apology as a speech act has recently received a great deal of attention in a variety of disciplines philosophy, sociology, psychology, law, Journal of Politeness Research 3 (2007), 11 3 7 DOI 10. 1515/PR. 2007. 002 1612-5681/07/003 0011 Walter de Gruyter 12 Zohar Kampf and Shoshana Blum-Kulka political science, international relations, communication and discourse studies and through diverse methodologies. Nevertheless, there are still surprising lacunae in this field, such as the lack of knowledge on the pragmatic development of children’s apologies in natural discourse.The pragmatic study of apologies to date has been mainly adult-usage oriented, whether conducted within the framework of gender differences (Holmes 1989, 1993; Tannen 1994), cross-cultural (for example, Olshtain 1989, Suszczynska 1999; Rieter 2000) or interlanguage pragmatics ? (Trosberg 1987; Garcia 1989; Bergman and Kasper 1993). Children’s apologies have been most frequently studied from the standpoint of social psychology, using mainly experimental methodologies.In this approach the experiments conducted focused primarily on judgments of the perception and effectiveness of apologie s (Meier 2004). As Meier stresses in her brief but exhaustive review, the study of children’s apologies has been â€Å"developmental in nature, precipitated by an interest in the overall socialization process. Focuses have thus been on apology production as it relates to cognitive maturation and concomitant changes in perceptions of responsibility, intentionality and self. † (Meier 2004: 5).However, as far as we are aware, no study to date has examined the speech act realization of apologies in natural child discourse (in both peer and adult-child interactions). Thus, research is needed to address questions such as strategy choice in relation to contextual and social factors; the types of violations triggering apologetic behavior in children’s social worlds; and face-management as related to face-threat and remedial work in the sequence of interaction. The dearth of research concerning children is puzzling, particularly in view of the importance of apologies fro m a developmental perspective.Mastering the ability to apologize indicates the maturation of the child as an independent agent (Hickson 1986), who is accountable for his/her deeds. This development also implies the emergence of the awareness of negative face wants (Brown and Levinson 1987). The realization of apologies further indicates the emergence of positive face wants, since by its realization the child manifests his/her ability for appropriate behavior in the social world, complying with basic norms.In fact, the familiarity with the apology script, in its narrow sense as remedial work for a misdeed (Goffman 1971), demonstrates familiarity with two different norms: the norm violated which threatened the face of the offended party, and the norm by which it is appropriate to apologize in such circumstances (Tavuchis 1991). Thus, by using the appropriate form in the appropriate settings, abiding by the basic felicity conditions, the child is manifesting his/her acquired competence to restore equilibrium to social relations, utilizing an efficient tool for conflict resolution, and Apology events in young Israeli peer discourse 3 thereby fulfilling the main social function of the speech act of apology (Edmondson 1981; Leech 1983). Beyond acquiring the basic features of the apologetic script, children also need to learn a multiplicity of forms and functions for the speech act in order to achieve full pragmatic competence. Apology forms can be used as a means to save the face of the other or that of the self as well as to threaten them (see Lakoff 2001 for a review on the forms and functions of the speech act), and, as such, they index children’s competencies of face management in interactions with peers andor adults.In this paper we closely examine apologies observed during natural peer interaction of Israeli children with the following issues in mind: What is the scope of strategies used by children for apologizing? Is there a developmental line in apol ogetic behavior over the years? What types of offenses trigger an apology? What can they tell us about the norms of the social world of Israeli children? And lastly, what are the roles of adult mediators both in socializing children in the practice of apology and to the practice of conflict management and resolution? . Method The apologies analyzed here were detected in child discourse during ethnographic observations of peer interactions in Israeli preschool children in the preschool and at home, and Israeli young adolescents at home and at a diner1. These observations are part of a larger longitudinal project aimed at tracking the development of genres of extended discourse2. Within the overall framework of the project, we followed two cohorts of 20 Israeli children each young preschoolers and fourth graders for duration of three years (2001 2003).The children were observed and taped in three types of speech events: natural peer interactions; family mealtimes; and semi-structured adult child interviews. The data for this paper come from the transcripts of natural peer interaction of both preschoolers and fourth graders in free play during the first and the third year of the project, when the mean age of the younger group was 5 and 7 respectively, and that of the older group 9 and 11. We analyzed 1362 minutes (22 hours and 42 minutes) of transcribed interaction, using two different methods.First, by using a key word search, we located all the explicit apologies that contained IFID’s (Illocutionary Force Indicating Device) in our data. We considered all expressions containing variants of the conventional forms of apologies in Hebrew: hitnatclut (apology), slixa (literally forgiveness, or pardon, can function as ‘excuse me’), and ca’ar (sorry or regret). For each occurrence, we analyzed the full interactional sequence of the apology event from the initial violation through the realization of the apology and later reac- 14 Zohar Kampf and Shoshana Blum-Kulka tions to it in order to characterize the pragmatic strategies and social ontexts in which they were uttered. After ensuring through these procedures that we did not miss any conventional form of apology in our data, we reviewed the transcripts to locate conversational sequences that were likely to invite remedial work and analyzed the instances of the indirect apologies identified. The children’s apology events were analyzed with several goals in mind. First, in terms of their form, namely the main strategies used by the speaker: type of IFID, admittingavoiding responsibility, types of accounts, the presence of a promise of forbearance, offers for repair, minimizations and maximizations (see Blum-Kulka et al. 989 for details). Second, in terms of their function, namely by noting the interactional goal of the apology (whether it functions apologetically or nonapologetically as in a challenging or sarcastic keying) and, more broadly, by noting the way it functions and develops in the specific context and co-text in which it appears. Close consideration of the local co-text and context also takes into account the violations that trigger apologies and the â€Å"keying† (Blum-Kulka et al. 004) of the apologies, namely whether the apology was sincere, casual, challenging or sarcastic (see Deutschmann 2003 for details), and whether realized within a pretend-play frame. Thirdly, we further explored the strategies and functions of apologies in Israeli children’s peer talk from a developmental perspective, looking for differences in the use of strategies with age. We also considered the role of mediators, mostly institutional figures, in the socialization of apologetic behavior. And lastly, we analyzed the preschool children’s sholem (lit. eace) ritual; a cultural alternative for apology manifested by signaling performatively the restoration of a â€Å"peace† state. Our most surprising finding was the richness o f the range of apology strategies used by young children (4 6 years old); a finding that indicates the acquisition of remedial competencies for face management at a relatively early age. 3. Children’s remedial work How frequently do people apologize? Since most research on apologies has been carried out with the use of written questionnaires, role-play or anecdotal data collection during ethnographic observations (Butler 2001), the actual ate of apologies in natural talk remains a puzzle (Holmes 1990). Our observations of 22 hours and 42 minutes of children’s interactions yielded an apology event on average every 23. 9 minutes, (0. 042 apologies per minute, 57 apology events in 1362 minutes of talk: see Table 1). Apologies were the least frequent at the first observation of the younger cohort. When the children were age 4 to 6 years, the rate Apology events in young Israeli peer discourse 15 Table 1. Mean of apology events per minute for each age group. Preschool year 1 (4 6) Number of apology events Length of transcription (minutes) ean of apology events per minute Preschool year 3 (6 8) preadolescents year 1 (9 10) preadolesN cents year 3 (11 12) 12 11 15 19 57 377. 5 235. 5 321 428 1362 0. 032 0. 046 0. 047 0. 44 0. 042 of apology events is one every 31. 5 minutes (12 events in 377 minutes. ). Two years later the rate goes up to one apology every 21. 4 minutes (235/ 11). This is also the rate for apologies in the talk of the older cohort: every 21. 4 minutes the first year (321/15), when the children were age 9 to 10, and every 22. 5 minutes two years later, when the children were age 11 to 12 (428/19).The 57 apology events contained 82 occurrences of IFIDs (different Hebrew specific illocutionary force device expressions used for apologizing): an apology expression for every 16. 6 minutes of talk, 0. 06 per minute. The ratio of IFIDs per words is surprisingly similar to the rate found for British English spoken by people of varied ages and ba ckgrounds. As calculated by Deutschmann (2003), the rate of IFIDs in British English was 59. 7 per 100,000 words, (3070 tokens in 5,139,083 running words), while in our small corpus of 157,666 running words (and 82 IFIDS) the rate found was 52 per 100,000 words3. . 1. Apology events: Types of violations and remedial work We defined an â€Å"apology event† as a conversational sequence including at least one remedial utterance indicating a violation. Further remedial actions with regard to the specified violation were considered as part of the same event. The event might further include complaints, a demand for an apology and negotiations over the acceptance of the apology and its meaning. 3. 1. 1. Violations By â€Å"violation† we mean an act or event that breaches a norm or a behavioral code; a breach the offender is expected to be accountable for to the offended party.In politeness theory terms, a violation is a face-threatening act the offender is expected to repair, supporting the offended party’s 16 Zohar Kampf and Shoshana Blum-Kulka Table 2. Types of violations over age (N Preschool year 1 (4 6) A. Accidents B. Mistakes and misunderstandings C. Breach of expectation D. Lack of consideration E. Talk offences F. Social gaffs G. Requests H. Hearing offense I. Offense involving breach of consensus J. Unidentified N i 57)i. Preschool year 3 (6 8) 3 preadoles- preadoles- Adult N cents year 1 cents year 3 all groups (9 10) (11 12) 3 3 1 4 4 3 1 3 1 5 3 3 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 1 8 1 13 1 8 3 4 2 3 1 11 9 15 7 8 19 1 3 57 One violation was coded for each apology event. The distinction between child and adult violation is in the question â€Å"who is the violator? †. face without a threat to his/her own (Chen 2001). Violations are at the core of the apology event. Exploring the types of violations children consider accountable allows us a glimpse of a child’s notion of what acts or words are considered face-threatening and how these notions change with time. In other words, it allows us to assess the children’s system of politeness from their own point of view.The distribution of types of violation identified (following Deutschmann’s 2003 classification) is presented in Table 2. Despite the small numbers, some tentative patterns emerge: the most salient type of violation is lack of consideration (13), followed by mistakes and misunderstandings (8), breach of expectations (8), talk offenses (8) and accidents (7). Except for accidents (which mainly have to do with unintentionally physically hurting another child), these categories all relate to children’s social worlds, and testify to children’s norms and expectations from their peers.Interestingly, the categories are not evenly distributed: while children in the younger cohort realized apologies with regard to only four types of violations, the children in the older cohort realized apologies with regard to seven types at the age of 9 to 10, and nine types at the age of 11 to 12. Hence as children develop, they seem Apology events in young Israeli peer discourse 17 to identify a richer range of potential violations, refining their sensitivity to the positive and negative face needs of the other, while concurrently developing more elaborate forms of repair4.Lack of consideration is the most salient type of violation attended to. Example 1 illustrates how the style of directives in play may become an issue of face-threat and trigger an indirect demand for an apology. The two girls, Liat and Nofar are enacting the roles of salesgirls in a dress shop scenario of pretend play. Liat, who takes on the leading role, issues a series of detailed direct instructions to Nofar in a machine gun style, which apparently Nofar finds irritating. Example 1: Annoying instructions5 Participants: Liat, f, (9;5); Nofar, f, (9). Date: 2. . 2000 Place: Liat’s room. Situation: The girls play free-play, â€Å"clothing store†. The first indication for considering the instructions as a threat to Nofar’s face is her refusal to cooperate (turn 131). The second indication is more explicit: following yet another instruction in 134, she repeats her refusal in an angry voice, adding a tag for emphasis (turn 135). This time her companion begins her turn overlapping Nofar immediately after the first two words â€Å"I can’t† beginning yet another directive but cutting herself 18 Zohar Kampf and Shoshana Blum-Kulka ff to insert a repair â€Å"ok sorry†, thereby indicating that she must have sensed the angry tone in Nofar’s mid-turn. Yet she continues with still another attempt to pull Nofar back into her â€Å"instruction taking† role by the use of â€Å"but† (â€Å"but look, let’s say you finished. †) The attempt fails, and Nofar continues to protest (turn 137). It is noteworthy that while all of Liat’s turns are uttered within the pretend play frame, it is not clear whether Nofar’s turns (except for 133) are uttered within that frame, testifying to the salesgirl’s state of mind, or are uttered outside the frame, indicating real annoyance.Other types of salient violations, with 8 occurrences each, were mistakes and misunderstandings, talk offenses and breach of expectations. The first type, mistakes and misunderstandings, happened mainly during play, and only in the preadolescent’s talk. The explicit apology uttered referred to violations such as mistakes in operating a toy cashier or not putting an item in its place during a â€Å"clothing store† play (see example 1). Talk offenses, attended to through self repairs, occurred in our data first at the age of 6.Conversely, breach of expectations was attended to mainly in the young cohort6. Another salient type of violation was accidents (7), which were mainly violent acts against a member of the peer group, and occurred chiefly between boys. 3. 1. 2. Remedial strategies Do remedial strategies correspond to types of violation? We found no indication in our peer talk data that, as argued by Darby and Schlenker (1982), the nature and severity of the violation affects the form of the apology. The distribution of IFIDs (Illocutionary Force Indicators) and apology strategies is presented in Tables 3 and 4.Of the three forms, only mitnacel (apologize) is a uni-functional IFID used for apologies only; both micta’er (sorry) and slixa (forgive, excuse, pardon) are pragmatically multi-functional and can be used with other speech acts, with varying force of the apology function (e. g. , sorry, you have to clean the room now). The results confirm previous findings with regard to young children’s basic understanding of the notions of culpability and responsibility (Weiner and Handel, 1985) and their capability for providing violation targeted accounts (Much and Shweder, 1978).The lexeme slixa (literally ‘pardon’ derived from the verb ‘to forgive’, lisloa’x, often used for ‘excuse me’) is the most frequent item in all ages, followed by micta’er (I’m sorry) and finally by ‘apologize’, which is more formal and appeared only once in our corpus and was realized by an adult. From among the various strategies identified in adult discourse (Olshtain, 1989; Deutschmann, 2003), three did not show up in the children’s Apology events in young Israeli peer discourse 19 Table 3. Distribution of Common Hebrew apology IFID types across age groups (N 82).Preschool year 1 (4 6) A. Apologize or apology (mitnacel ) B. Sorry (micta’er) C. Forgive, Excuse, Pardon (slixa) N Preschool year 3 (6 8) preadoles- preadoles- Adult N cents year 1 cents year 3 all groups (9 10) (11 12) 1 1 5 2 3 4 4 16 20 7 14 15 9 65 17 (18 with 19 adult realizations) 14 82 25 (32 with 7 (13 with adults readult realizations) alizations) Table 4. Distribution of Is raeli children’s apology strategies across age groups (N Preschool year 1 (4 6) Responsibility Excuses Justification Promise for forbearance Repair Minimization Maximization 4 N 9 Preschool year 3 (6 8) 28). preadolespreadolesN cents year 1 cents year 3 (9 10) (11 12) 2 1 1 8 9 2 8 1 1 4 2 1 9 14 3 28 discourse: promise for forbearance; repair; and minimization. Taking on responsibility by naming the offense (I’m sorry for what I did ) occurred in both age cohorts, as did excuses. Contrary to the claim made in the literature (Graybill 1990; Schadler and Ayers Nachamkin 1983), preschool children did externalize causes for wrong doing via the use of excuses (by mistake/not because of me/I didn’t mean to/I don’t hear so well ).On the other hand, maximization (by intensifiers like very much, really) occurred only in the speech of the older cohort, and might indicate a growing recognition with age of the importance of sincerity in the realization of apologies. This finding is in line with Darby and Schlen- 20 Zohar Kampf and Shoshana Blum-Kulka ker’s (1982) argument that older children (9 12 years) perceive elaborated apologies as expressing deeper regret, and are also more able than younger children (5 6 years) to realize such apologies. 3. 2. The keying repertoire of children’s apologiesOne aspect of children’s growing sophistication in mastering the forms and functions of apologies is expressed through variations in â€Å"key†, the interpretative frame of the utterance marked often through tone of voice in terms of its â€Å"color† or mood, such as ironic, sincere, playful or subversive (Blum-Kulka et al. 2004). A somewhat similar notion is proposed by Deutschmann (2003) in marking apologies on a scale for sincerity, such as casual, sincere, challenging or sarcastic. Adding the category of â€Å"pretend† we adopted Deutschmann’s terms to classify all the apologies used by type of keying .As can be seen in Table 5 the major cutting line between the two cohorts is in the absence of the sarcastic and the scarcity of challenging keying from the younger children’s discourse. All other keyings are realized by all age groups. Casual keying (such as in sorry after stepping on somebody’s foot) appears in the younger children’s talk during joint activities, like drawing (Silver? Silver? Sorry, I don’t have silver color ) and is used by the preadolescents on various occasions, including for having made an error of speech.Marking apologies as sincere (lexically by repetition as in I’m really really sorry or by tone of voice) is common practice for all children. These two keyings are linked to apologies proper, namely with utterances that carry the illocutionary force of the ‘apology’ speech act. On the other hand, the use of the challenging and sarcastic keying (both less common) can be associated with a range of speech acts, som etimes mitigating the challenging key of the upcoming act, and sometimes underscoring it.Thus such forms can be used to pre-empt an FTA (as in directives excuse me, could you †¦), indicating the speaker’s Table 5. Distribution of apologies by keying over age (N Type of Keying Casual Sincere Challenging Sarcastic Pretend Preschool and Grade 1 Preadolescent 8 13 2 1 8 (2 challenging; 6 (all sincere) 6 sincere) Adults 3 8 19 29 57). 3 4 N 11 25 2 (4) 1 14 (2 challenging; 12 sincere) 57 Apology events in young Israeli peer discourse 21 reluctance to impinge on the hearer’s negative face and thereby redressing that impingement (Brown and Levinson 1987).Deutschmann (2003) argues that in adult discourse, when such use of apology forms occurs in response to violations having to do with deviations from the consensus and in an aggressive tone, usually during heated debates, it is hard to see how they can be considered a mitigating device. Similarly, in situations of behavio r control, the apology forms used by adults in interaction with the preschoolers serve a different purpose (Teacher: Excuse me?! You take your bag and you go in, no going wild. Please, don’t put chairs here).Such apology forms act in fact as directives to control behavior, and are in concert with and actually underscore the challenging key of the main control act. We found no instances of such use among the preschoolers, but it does appear in the talk of the preadolescents. On one occasion, when Ronen (9. 9) and Sa’ar (10) are playing with nylon bubbles, Ronen reacts to Sa’ar snatching the nylon with an indignant, excuse me sir, sir sir. Here again the apology form is used in the service of another function, namely to express an indignant objection.On the whole, the sarcastic keying is quite common in the talk of preadolescents, and is used with a variety of speech acts (Blum-Kulka et al. 2004), yet appeared only once with apologies. Example 2: ‘Sorry for Sa’ar’s momentary insanity’ Participants: Sa’ar, m, (10); Ronen, m, (9;9) Orly (9;9). Date: 22. 2. 00. Place: Sa’ar’s room. Situation: The children are talking to the microphone. In pretend play children learn to abide by rules and regulations, and their behavior in the play frame includes attending to minor and major 22 Zohar Kampf and Shoshana Blum-Kulka violations.Minor violations might be an error in naming one of the characters in play, or mistakes in the ways in which toys are operated. Major violations have to do with acting out of character in play, as in a case of a fight between two Pokemon characters, in which one of the children is offended by what seems to him as undue force having been used towards him by the other. The category of ‘pretend’ keying encompasses instances which are doubly keyed: first, for being uttered within the play frame; and second, for their specific function within play as sincere, sarcastic o r challenging.Interestingly, apology forms associated with a challenging key appeared only in the third observation period for the preschoolers, when the children were 6 to 8, and only within the play frame. The following example illustrates such a case of slixa (sorry) uttered within the pretend play frame, in which Idit is enacting a dissatisfied pupil complaining to her ‘teacher’. The use of slixa here can be seen to function both to express indignation in response to the content of the previous turn (with no trace of its apology meaning), as well as to apologize for and thus mitigate in advance the upcoming FTA (you are a bad teacher ).Although she is ostensibly using the voice of a child, the style and adversarial tone of her delivery seems to echo adult parlance, perhaps that of a dissatisfied parent or teacher. Thus the play activity, by bringing in multiple roles and voices, allows for the development of pragmatic competencies by widening the repertoire of apolo gy forms and functions. Example 3: ‘Excuse me teacher. Don’t speak with me about them’ Participants: Idit, f, (6;8); Shirley, f, (5;10). Date: 14. 3. 02 Place: Idit’s living room. Situation: The children are playing with dolls. Apology events in young Israeli peer discourse 3 4. Resolution: Adult mediation vs. child negotiation Adult intervention in children’s conflicts may provide potentially important socializing input to the development of the pragmatics of apologizing. One adult strategy observed in the preschool is to attend to both parties in a conflict in the same breath, admonishing the offender on the one hand and stressing the need to accept his or her apology on the other (You have to accept his apology). Adult interventions in the children’s conflict may also function to model behavior, and to achieve conciliation through mediation (Tavuchis 1991: 64 68).We do not know of course the extent to which the use of apologies by the chil dren is the direct outcome of adult modeling, but echoes of adult usage in peer talk, as when quoting the speech of one’s mother to a disruptive child visitor at home (she said to him Nadav, sorry, you are exaggerating! ), show that children can be highly attentive to adult speech. Children’s acknowledgement of the role of adult as mediator and conciliator finds its expression in the preschool in situations of conflict through quite frequent threats ‘to tell’ (ani agid otxa (lit. I’ll tell on you)).Yet children’s conflict management does not necessarily benefit from adult intervention. In the following examples we shall consider cases when a) children locally solve a conflict by themselves (example 4); b) cases when adult intervention is partly successful in modeling apology behavior, yet does not solve the conflict (example 5a and 5b); and c) cases when adult intervention is non-felicitous the adult imposes collective punishment without goin g to the root of the matter, while the children find sophisticated ways to negotiate a conciliation (example 6).In the episode below, the children have been enacting Pokemon characters in pretend play, and Dani, playing the good Pokemon, declares having killed the bad Pokemon played by Oren, apparently enacting the â€Å"killing† with undue force and hurting Oren physically. Oren shows he is hurt by emphatically opting out of play (32: I’ m simply not playing with you, really, I won’t play with you at all, Dani ). Dani reacts first by countering Oren, but seems to cut himself off to apologize briefly (34: sorry)7.Oren obliquely refuses to accept the apology by declaring his intention to hurt the offending party, using third person singular to mark re-entry to the pretend frame (35: I’ll hit him). The elaborate apology proffered by Dani next, containing both an IFID and the taking on of responsibility, (36: I’m sorry for what I did. Sorry) seems to satisfy Oren, who concedes that the hitting was done ‘gently’.The repair sequence lasts 4 turns, and includes repair, threat, elaboration of the repair, and acceptance of the repair through re-framing of the violation as non-grave. The full success of the repair sequence is evident 24 Zohar Kampf and Shoshana Blum-Kulka Example 4: ‘It was done gently’ Participants: Oren, m, (6;1); Dani, m, (5;11); Alon, m (5). Date: 6. 4. 00. Place: â€Å"Einit† preschool, Jerusalem. Situation: The children are playing Pokemon. n the next two turns (39 and 40), in which the two children resume cooperation in enacting in play different Pokemon characters, and Oren proceeds to tell Dani, (with Dani’s willing cooperation as active audience), a complicated tale which serves to explain why he even shouldn’t have been considered the enemy and been hit in the former stage of the pretend play (see Blum-Kulka 2005, for a fuller transcript and analysis of this in teraction).This episode, which follows immediately the previous one, lasts over 76 turns, and illustrates how adult mediation might enhance the learning of strategies of conflict management, but does not necessarily lead to conflict resolution. The event builds up to a crisis when more children join Dani and Alon in the Pokemon based pretend play, with the children enacting various Pokemon characters (wearing imaginary space suits) having a fight. At some point Erez kicks a sand ball which hits Dani’s face; Dani is physically hit, spits and sneezes, and calls out Erez’s name.Erez apologizes briefly (slixa (lit. ‘forgive’)) but his apology is emphatically rejected by Dani (No, I’m not forgiving you, turns 321 324). Next, Dani uses the opportunity of the student-teacher addressing him on another matter (Daniele, did you have a drink) to try and register a complaint (YES BUT EREZ, shouting in anger) and is cut off by Erez apologizing again (also shouti ng, turn 327). The student-teacher, apparently inferring from this Apology events in young Israeli peer discourse 25Example 5a: â€Å"You have to accept his apology†: The role of the mediator Participants: Erez, m, (5;11); Dani, m, (5;11); Alon, m (5); Student (Assistant). Date: 6. 4. 00. Place: â€Å"Einit preschool, Jerusalem. Situation: The children are playing Pokemon. 26 Zohar Kampf and Shoshana Blum-Kulka Example 5a: (continued) brief exchange that there must have been a fight and that Dani is the offended party, attempts to appease Dani by convincing him to accept Erez’s apology (328: What happened? , uttered as a rhetorical question, He is apologizing).But Dani won’t have any of it and continues to recount the details of the incident in a shouting voice that indicates his emotional stress (329 335), ignoring Erez’s attempt for finding an excuse (but I didn’t see). At turn 334, the student takes on the role of the mediator in earnest. She a llocates turns, (using explicit meta-pragmatic comments) as in a political debate, allowing each of the parties to present his side. First ensuring Dani’s speaking space (Let him speak and then you tell me) and then allocating speaking rights to Erez (Let’s hear what Erez has to say).Dani uses his speaking rights to complete the description of the violation (the act of kicking the sand in his face) and its consequences (I have sand in my mouth ) (335 336). Erez uses his space to provide a confused account of the happenings that led to the incident (including reference to previous unclear violation, when someone threw something on him)8 and goes on to minimize his responsibility for the incident through a series of excuses that embed the offense in the pretend play frame: accusing the other party (they shot at me first ), describing the unintended consequence of an action (I wanted to shoot and it flew the sand ).This sequence includes ‘positive excuses’ (W einer et al. 1987) indicating that the skills needed for engaging in image restoration (Benoit 1995) and self facesaving (Chen 2001) are already activated by children in the preschool. In turn 338, the student tries to clarify if there has been any bad intention behind the offense. We can see her efforts as an attempt to socialize the children to the conventional norm for assigning blame; full responsibility applies only if the deed was fully intentional.After clarifying with Erez (in courtroom highly coercive interrogative ‘yes/no questions’ style) that the acts were not intentional, she announces her verdict as mediator, carefully attending to both parties, asking Erez to be more careful next time, and urging Dani to accept the apology (turn 342)9. Apology events in young Israeli peer discourse 27 Example 5b: ‘I don’t forgive you and I’m not your friend’ Participants: Erez, m, (5;11); Dani, m, (5;11); Alon, m (5); Date: 6. . 00. Place: †Å"Einit preschool, Jerusalem. ((22 turns omitted) Does Dani accept the mediation? Though there is no verbal indication that he does, the resumption of normal communication between the two children (Erez declares that he is going, Dani asks him to bring him his Pokadur) seems to suggest that the incident has been resolved. But actually, as the next extract shows, this is not the case at all. In the part omitted, Dani and Alon continue playing without Erez.When Erez returns, Daniel does not mince words to tell him not only that his apology has been in vain, but also that he has drawn the necessary conclusions: ‘Erez, Erez, Erez, I, I don’t forgive you and I’m not your friend anymore’ (368). We can see that despite all her efforts, the adult’s attempts at mediation and conciliation had no visible impact on the offended party, and the conflict remains unresolved. It is interesting to note the supportive part played in the conflict by Alon, Dani’s younger friend.First, Alon is the one who stays to play with Dani, after Erez leaves; second, he aligns himself with Dani by offering a moral to the incident that supports Dani (369: The one who is bad goes to hell, the one who is good goes to Heaven); third, he continues in his efforts to appease Dani and make him feel better for several minutes after the play is over by making new suggestions for a joint activity (would you like to continue with me the picture my dad drew for me of Pikachu? ). All to no avail, until he finally manages to make him join in laughter around a funny speech error10.In the next episode, the children are playing in a wooden structure in the yard called â€Å"the boys’ structure†. The structure contains an old cupboard, some tools and several big pillows. Preceding the episode quoted here they prepare an â€Å"insects cake† from sand (and ants) for one of the children’s imaginary birthday, present it to the birthday child who 2 8 Zohar Kampf and Shoshana Blum-Kulka pretends to taste it, and then pour its content into the sand box at the other end of the yard and run back to the â€Å"boys’ structure†.The confrontational event begins when Ariel asks Yoav to hand him the stick Yoav is holding, claiming it as his, and when Yoav refuses, tries to grab it by force. During the fight that develops, Yoav receives a blow from Ariel. At first one of the children justifies the act (38: Golan: Because you didn’t give me the stick’) but as they realize the seriousness of the blow and Naor threatens to tell the staff (43: ‘I’m going to tell on you Ariel ’) both Ariel and Golan begin to apologize profusely with Ariel repeating ‘sorry’ (slixa) no less than 14 times.This intensity, as suggested by Darby and Schlenker (1982), is possibly motivated by the threat to involve an institutional figure in the conflict. The male Teacher-Aid who appears on the scene makes no attempt to mediate for reconciliation. Instead, he threatens to impose collective punishment, I’ll take (it) apart, because, there is too much violence there (turns 60, 62), and indeed proceeds to take the stick from Ariel and dismantle the structure. When a few minutes later Ariel approaches Yoav with a new idea for play and Yoav concedes (77 78: Ariel: Let’s have a picnic; Yoav: Let’s have a party).At first the previous incident seems to have been completely forgotten, but Ariel’s reference to the unpleasant incident in turns 81 and 83 I didn’t mean to do it to you and I didn’t mean at all to do it to you (meaning, to hurt you) sheds a new light on the whole exchange, turning it into a carefully planned remedial action, performed in stages. The first stage consists of an attempt to re-establish mutual trust as friends by proposing a joint play, using solidarity politeness markers (‘let’s’) that suggest common ground. It is only after the offer is fully embraced by the other child, and a shared commitment to renewed friendship is firmly established, that reference is made to the previous incident. The renewal of friendship, which is expressed verbally through each child echoing the other’s ‘let’s’ utterance, underscoring their new togetherness, seems to work here to build the trust needed for allowing for the apology to come forward in a context that enhances its chances for being accepted as sincere.In this mutually supportive context, Ariel’s repeated denial of intent (see turns 81 and 83) stands a better chance of being accepted than in the confrontational context preceding it, and we can indeed witness its success through the two children’s full collaboration in the new play frame11. The renewal of friendship between Ariel and Yoav stands in sharp contrast to the outcome of the previous incident, in which Dani refuses point blank to renew his friendshi p with Erez.What we can see here is that the children’s norms for face threat and remedial action are driven by local, child world specific concerns: friendship is the central motivating force for interpersonal relations, and there are (mostly) unspoken norms governing appropriate behavior between Apology events in young Israeli peer discourse 29 Example 6: ‘Let’s do a picnic party’ Yoav, m, (4;8); TEACHER-AID, Teacher Assistant (m); Golan, m, (5;6); Ariel, m, (4;11); Amichay, m, (4;10); Amit, m, (4;11); Naor; Date: 05-06-00, Place: â€Å"Einit† kindergarden, Jerusalem.Situation: The children are playing in the recycled junkyard consisting of small structures; they are in the â€Å"boys’ play structure†. 30 Zohar Kampf and Shoshana Blum-Kulka Example 6: (continued) ((continued: the boys are playing peacefully and keep on planning their picnic. )) friends. Breaches of this behavior (like causing physical damage to your friend) are taken as face threatening not only to the offended party, but also to their shared face as friends.Since it is friendship that is jeopardized, such confrontational episodes can have either of two outcomes: (temporary) end of friendship or successful remedial action that leads to its full resumption. Apology events in young Israeli peer discourse 31 5. Other means of reconciliation In this section we discuss the sholem (literally ‘peace’) ritual as one salient indirect way of negotiating reconciliation in the children’s world12.The sholem ritual is an important cultural practice of appeasement in Israeli children’s peer world. The word sholem denotes being in a friendly state, and its antonym brogez, (in anger) denotes being in antagonistic state. The terms can be used both to denote being ‘in peace’ (sholem) or the opposite (brogez, ‘in anger’) as well as performatively, to bring such states into being (Katriel 1985). Through the shole m event children declare and mark performatively the end of conflict; sholem events put an end to a period of brogez.They provide speakers with indirect means for appeasement, circumventing the need to apologize explicitly and thereby minimizing the threat to the self’s negative face. Similar to apologies, sholem rituals presuppose that a violation has taken place, has led to a state of brogez (a severance of relationship), a situation which is being remedied through the performance of the ritual which allows for the resumption of relations and reestablishment of the normal social matrix. The initiation for a sholem ritual can be rejected, which is face-threatening for the initiator.Our next example illustrates one way to minimize the threat to negative self face. By engaging in a pre-sholem-ritual move, querying the state of the relationship (are you brogez/sholem with †¦? ) rather than attempting to change it, the speaker can find out if the necessary preparatory condi tion for the ritual holds without actually risking its performance. In the following extract, the three boys are talking about their forthcoming lunch, and Ben expresses concern that one of the boys (Eitan) will not share his bagels with his friends.Apparently bagels are a coveted item, but to have them shared necessitates that both receiver (s) and donor are in a friendly relationship. But Eitan (the potential donor) is considered a ‘non-friend’ throughout the exchange, in which the other boys keep telling him that they are in a state of brogez with him. Ben’s question to Eli (turn 92) refers to Eitan (the potential donor) in the third person, suggesting that he is an unratified participant; one with whom the others are in a state of ‘not friends right now’ (brogez).This is a state Eli’s proposes to remedy through the sholem ritual of peace making. But instead of following up this suggestion, Ben, speaking on behalf of the group, minimizes th e threat to Eitan’s positive face caused by his exclusion by claiming that it was not in earnest (94: we teased you, teased you, okay? ), and then goes on to query rather than state the collective wish to make peace. In the next example the pre-sholem-ritual query is used as a sophisticated indirect strategy for gaining play entry (Blum-Kulka, in press). 2 Zohar Kampf and Shoshana Blum-Kulka Example 7: ‘Make now sholem’ Participants: Ben, m, (4;9); Eli, m, (4;6); Eitan, m (4;11); Date: 2. 2. 2000. Place: â€Å"Dganit† kindergarden, Ashdod. Situation: The children are talking about their forthcoming lunch. This extract is a small part of a long episode in which Dalit and Adi, best friends, engage in pretend play based on Pokemon characters, while a third girl, Shirley, makes repeated failed attempts to join in.This extract represents a failed attempt at appeasement. Shirley’s preritual-query in turn 22 (are you (plural) sholem with me? ) queries the status of her friendship with the two other girls in an attempt to establish the necessary precondition for play entry. As noted by Corsaro (1985), children in this age group use ‘claims of friendship in an attempt to gain access, and the denial of friendship as a basis for exclusion’ (p. 168). Example 8: The ‘sholem-brogez’ incidentParticipants: Dalit, f, (5;0); Adi, f, (4;7); Shirly, f, (4;0). Date: 4. 5. 2000. Place: â€Å"Dganit† kindergarden, Ashdod. Situation: The children are playing freely outside. Apology events in young Israeli peer discourse 33 Shirley’s indirect request to join in systematically rejected by Dalit (see turns 25 for an indirect denial of friendship and 28 for reference to arbitrary rules as a way for denial), while her friend, Adi, acts as the gobetween, speaking up for Shirley while also placating Dalit.The failure to reach reconciliation is encapsulated in Shirley’s move in turn 26: she declares a new state of personal dispute, singling Dalit brogez itax (singular ‘you’), thereby countering Dalit’s move of exclusion by reclaiming the initiative for herself. In principle, this should rule out any further attempts by her to join the game, but in practice she does continue with her efforts to negotiate entry, efforts met every time with direct yet grounded refusals on the part of Dalit13. Several points about children’s concept of apologies that we saw earlier are illustrated here: first, the centrality of friendship as a necessary recondition for all social relationships (be it for sharing food or joint play); second, the vulnerability of ‘friendship’ as a shared face construct; and third, physical damage as well as acts of exclusion constitute grave face-threats that sever friendships and hence need to be remedied in ways that ensure the re-institution of the relationship in full. 6. Summary The analysis of apology events in peer interaction as pr esented here suggests that the children’s system of politeness for apologies contains a rich repertoire of verbal formulae and apology functions, and is largely driven by the deep interests of childhood peer culture.The verbal formulae manifest in the children’s talk echo adult usage: both the young and the older cohort used the formulaic slixa (literally, ‘forgive’, used as ‘excuse me’) and ani micta’er (‘I’m sorry’), for a number of functions and in different keyings. Thus ‘I’m sorry’ is being used formulaically (I’m sorry, I don’t have †¦ ) and sarcastically (I’m sorry for his momentary insanity †¦ by 10 year old boy), and ‘forgive’ is used both in a challenging key (excuse me teacher, don’t speak †¦ ) and in earnest (I’m sorry for what I did, excuse me).We also saw that the pragmatic repertoire for apologies includes the ability to detect a complaint realized indirectly, to use various excuses to minimize responsibility and to deny intent Comparing the two cohorts, we saw that with age, the range of forms and functions increases, as does the repertoire of acts considered as violations requiring an apology14. Thus, while apologies made by younger children are often conventional in nature and focus mostly on ‘breach of expectation’ type of violation, (as in Silver? Silver? Sorry, I don’t have silver color’, in response to a request for a silver color from a 6 year old girl).Preadolescents vary their use of forms and keyings to address di- 34 Zohar Kampf and Shoshana Blum-Kulka verse types of offenses (as in the case of Iris, 10, personifying the microphone by ‘eh forgive me, don’t be offended, don’t be offended ’). Concurrently, the need to apologize often arises in situations of play, in cases when a momentary violent act by one of the children threatens wh at Corsaro (1985) calls â€Å"the fragile interactive space† shared by a group of playmates. Corsaro argues that the concept of friendship in the preschool years is mainly built on the concept of collaboration in play.Your friends are the children you play with, and since peer interactive spaces are difficult to enter yet easily disrupted, ‘children develop relation with several playmates as a way to maximize the probability of successful entry’ (Corsaro 1985: 186). Our observations suggest a broader concept of friendship in the preschool years. Friendship as such seems to be conceived as the major precondition for gaining access to play: being ‘in peace’ (sholem) indexes being friends, and declaring a state of ‘in anger’ (brogez) indexes a grave threat to face because it means the denial of friendship.Hence disruptive acts during play are interpreted as threatening the very foundation which makes play possible, namely presupposed friend ship. The negotiation over the remedial action that follows, successful or not, has to do with re-instating the relationship. Interestingly, when adults intervene, the focus shifts to the clarification of intent (TA: you have to accept his apology because he did not do it on purpose) whereas among the children, intent gets mentioned only after mutual trust and solidarity have been re-established through the acceptance of a new play frame (Yonatan: I didn’t mean to).The study of children’s apologies, as undertaken here, is exploratory in nature and does not claim to represent the full pragmatic system for children’s notions of face threat and remedial action at different ages. Yet because it is based entirely on natural discourse, it allows us a glimpse into the way that children’s politeness systems are being shaped in their daily interactions, and how they are driven by local immediate concerns of childhood culture, like friendship, while concurrently co nstantly adopting the forms and conventions of the adult world. Notes 1.There are only few apology studies that have relied on transcribed natural discourse. The two recent studies that did rely on natural spoken data (Deutschmann, 2003 from a politeness theory perspective; Robinson, 2004 from a CA perspective), focused on adult usage only. 2. See Blum-Kulka et al. (2004) and Blum-Kulka (2005) for more information on the project. 3. Obviously, more research is needed for reaching any cross-cultural or age related conclusions from such comparisons. 4. The findings also indicate some gender differences in the types of offenses which precede apologies.Whereas most of the boys’ apologies were realized after a vio- Apology events in young Israeli peer discourse 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 35 lent conflict (which fall mainly to the accident category), girls apologized mainly after lack of consideration or talk offenses. See Sheldon (1993) and Sheldon and Johnson (1994) for the broader picture of gender differences in conflict talk. Transcription Conventions: word emphasis Wo::rd stretch WORD loud volume ?word? low volume AB pitch changes slow rhythm >words< fast rhythm #words# unique tone (0) pause [words] overlap word overlatch word- cut-off word) transcription doubt ((comment)) comments (†¦. ) unclear talk. Turn numbers reflect the original numbering in the full recorded session the excerpt is taken from. The English translation follows the Hebrew text closely; cases where Israeli norms or strategies are culture specific are commented on in the body of the paper. Deutschmann (2003) includes in this category offenses such declining offers or requests, forgetting agreements etc. For example, when Dafna (6;2) asks for the silver color during a joint drawing activity, Daniela (5;9) apologizes â€Å"Silver? Silver? Sorry, I don’t have silver color†).It is not perfectly clear from the tape who is uttering the first â€Å"sorry† i n this sequence. The second IFID realization in turn 36 is made by Danni, who is also the offender in this apology event. Because of technical problems the sequence was only partly transcribed, a matter which makes it difficult to characterize the violations in detail; thus we do not know what the TA is referring to when she talks about â€Å"falling†. This is the only occurrence of the word â€Å"apology† in the corpus. Nine turns later (382) the children started to play with an iron which warmed up in the sun, and later sat on it.Prompted by the heated metal, they started a verbal play with a distortion of the utterance â€Å"my butt is boiling†, which made them both laugh and finally succeeded in cheering up Dani. Ariel’s moves seem to resemble the â€Å"confidence building measures† diplomats talk about in the context of international conflict resolution. We have also noted other indirect ways of appeasement, such as humor, narratives and expla nations, but will not elaborate on these for lack of space. There were 32 â€Å"brogez† utterances and 17 â€Å"sholem† utterances in the young cohort’s data, and not a single occurrence in the older cohort’s talk.We can see that the â€Å"sholem† ritual is replaced with age by the conventional apology formula of the adult world. A caveat is in order here. More data is needed to confirm our developmental observations, since some of them might be due to the different circumstances in which peer talk took place in the two cohorts: during free play in groups for the younger children, and during a meal in a fast food restaurant in pairs of two for the older cohorts. 36 Zohar Kampf and Shoshana Blum-Kulka References Benoit, W. L. (1995). Accounts, Excuses and Apologies: A Theory of Image Restoration Strategies.Albany: State University of New York Press. Bergman, L. M. and G. Kasper (1993). 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