Reality of Teaching and Learning Pronunciation Essay Example for Free

Reality of Teaching and Learning Pronunciation Essay Rationale of the study Nowadays, with the rapid pace of integration and globalization, English becomes a golden key to open the door of many fields such as commerce, communication, science and technology throughout the world. Therefore, to meet the demand of the society, it is very necessary to teach English in schools at all levels. And the highest target is to get well in communication. If one wants to get successful in communication, he must be good at pronunciation: â€Å"a threshold level of pronunciation in English such that if a given non-native speakers pronunciation falls below this level, he or she will not be able to communicate orally no matter how good his or her control of English grammar and vocabulary might be† (Celce-Murcia, 1987:5). In the field of language teaching, the role of pronunciation has varied widely from having virtually no role in the grammar-translation method to being the central focus in the audio-lingual method where emphasis is on the traditional notions of pronunciation, minimal pairs, drills and short conversations. The growing emphasis on communicative approaches for the teaching of English has placed higher demands for correct pronunciation. Despite this fact, at the upper-secondary school level in Vietnam, in language teaching and learning, compared with vocabulary, grammar and language skills, pronunciation has so far been paid less attention to. In the official textbooks used for teaching English at high school level, there are a few exercises for pronunciation practice. To make the matter worse, all important English exams at schools as well as the entrance exam to universities are always in written form so most teachers as well as students have little motivation to teach and to learn pronunciation. As a result, students are often shy and unconfident to speak in English. And that is the reason why the effectiveness of teaching pronunciation still remains one of the most widely problematic subjects in the field of language teaching. Coping with this pressing fact, as a language teacher teaching English at Quynh Coi high school (QCHS), the author always thinks of some burning questions: in language teaching and learning, what is the present situation of teaching and learning pronunciation at high school level in QCHS? What are the problems teachers and students face in teaching and learning pronunciation? How to find suitab le methods to teach pronunciation? What should teachers do to teach pronunciation effectively? How should teachers make students become interested in learning pronunciation? The answers to these questions will help language teachers improve their students’ pronunciation as well as help them make progress in effective communication. For the above reasons, the author decides to carry out the study entitled: â€Å"The reality of teaching and learning pronunciation at Quynh Coi high school: problems and solutions†. 1. 2 Aims of the study The main purpose of this study is to discover the reality of teaching and learning pronunciation at Quynh Coi high school, especially to find out problems that teachers and students often have in pronunciation lessons. The writer also hopes to make some feasible solutions that can help the English teachers overcome those problems and improve students’ pronunciation. 1. 3 Research questions The above aims of the study can be realized by answering the following research questions: (1) What is the present situation of teaching and learning pronunciation at QCHS? (2) Which problems do the teachers and students at QCHS face in pronunciation lessons? (3) What teaching techniques can be used to improve teaching pronunciation for students at QCHS? 1. 4 Scope of the study As a case study, this study focuses on the reality of teaching and learning two aspects of English pronunciation: stress and intonation for the 12th form students at Quynh Coi high school. The subjects of the study are 12th form students those are familiar with learning pronunciation for two years at high school. Moreover, stress and intonation are two major aspects of pronunciation introduced in the official textbook used by the 12th form students. Other characteristics of English pronunciation would not be deeply investigated in this research. . 5 Methods of the study In order to fulfill the tasks mentioned above, both qualitative and quantitative methods are selected for this case study, involving the following instruments: survey questionnaires, classroom observations and interviews. Firstly, the survey questionnaires were delivered to both teachers and students to investigate the reality of teaching and learning pronunciation at QCHS. Then, some classroom observations and interv iews with some English teachers have been also conducted to get supplementary information. Finally, the results obtained from questionnaires, observations and interviews have been discussed and analyzed to with a hope for providing language teacher with some feasible teaching techniques to work successfully with their students. 1. 6 Significance of the study This study hopes to make contribution to teaching pronunciation at high school level in Vietnam and the result of the study is considered to be useful for teachers and students at school. Thus, this study will be an interesting reference material for any high school language teachers in Vietnam, especially for those who are in favor of improving their students pronunciation. This research will help teachers and students identify their problems in teaching and learning pronunciation and self- improve their pronunciation. 1. 7 Design of the study This thesis consists of six main chapters: Chapter one is the INTRODUCTION including the rationales, the aims, the scope, the research questions, the methods, and the design of the research. In the book â€Å"Pronunciation† published in 1994, Christiane Dalton and Barbara Seidlhofer (1994:3) consider pronunciation â€Å"as the production of significant sound†. They look at the word in two senses. First, it is used as part of a code of a particular language. That is the reason why English sounds are distinguished from sounds of other languages. In this sense, pronunciation can be told as the production and reception of sounds of speech. Second, sound is used to achieve meaning in contexts of use. Here the code combines with other factors to make communication possible. In this sense pronunciation is referred with reference to acts of speaking. In the scope of this study, the concept of pronunciation can be described as â€Å"a way of speaking a word, especially a way that is accepted or generally understood† (American Heritage Dictionary, 1992) or â€Å"may be said to conclude the sounds of the language or phonology; stress and rhythm; intonation; combination sounds; linkage of sound† (Ur, 1996). 2. 2 Features of pronunciation Gerald Kelly (2000) points out main features of pronunciation including phonemes and suprasegmental features, in which consonants and vowels belong to phonemes, intonation and stress are two main parts of suprasegmental. Phonemes are units of sound, they are known as segments. Suprasegmental features are features of speech which apply to groups of segments, or phonemes. The features which are important in English are stress, intonation, and how sounds change in connected speech. The following diagram shows a breakdown of the main features of pronunciation: Features of pronunciation (Kelly, 2000:1) As seen from the diagram, pronunciation is a broad subject with the boundaries of various items such as consonants, vowels, stress, and intonation. This study is intended to focus on two major features of pronunciation: intonation and stress are deeply investigated. According to Quirk R. and Greenbaun S. (1973:450), stress is the prominence with one part of a word or of a longer utterance is distinguished from other parts. This can be understood like this: when an English word consists of more than one syllable, one of these syllables is made to stand out more than the others. This is done by saying the syllable louder. For instance, in such words as â€Å"English†, â€Å"teacher†, and â€Å"student† the first syllables are stressed. Intonation is an important part that most teachers have to deal with when teaching connected speech, it refers to the way the voice â€Å"goes up and down in pitch† (Kelly, 2000: 86) when we are speaking. It plays a vital role in helping people express their opinions, and understanding thought of others. In short, the word â€Å"pronunciation† is like a big umbrella covering various sub-items as consonants, vowels, intonations, stress, etc. With such big boundaries of items, language teachers and learners have to think of how to master these key aspects, especially stress and intonation, to be successful in teaching and learning pronunciation. 2. 3 Teaching pronunciation 2. 3. 1 The importance of teaching/ learning pronunciation and a â€Å"paradox† 2. 3. 1. 1 The importance of teaching and learning pronunciation Pronunciation is as important as any other aspects of language like syntax and vocabulary. Some people may argue that speech is obviously much more significant than pronunciation. However, speech cannot exist without pronunciation. Correct pronunciation, in fact, is considered to be a prerequisite to develop the speaking skill. That is why teaching pronunciation should occupy an important place in the study of any language. According to Gerald Kelly (2000), pronunciation â€Å"involves far more than individual sounds† including word stress, sentence stress, intonation, and word linking. All of these influence the sound of spoken English. Sound is the core of the language. When teaching a language, the first and foremost thing teachers should do is to let learners have chances to expose themselves to the sounds of that language. That is the reason why more and more teachers pay much attention to teaching pronunciation to their students. Considering the importance of communication in general and pronunciation in particular, Gerald Kelly confirms â€Å"a learner who constantly mispronounces a range of phonemes can be extremely difficult for a speaker from another language community to understand. A consideration of learners’ pronunciation errors and of how these can inhibit successful communication is a useful basis on which to assess why it is important to deal with pronunciation in the class† (2000:11). Sharing the same ideas with Kelly, Martin Hewings (2004:10) adds â€Å"difficulties with pronunciation might mean that students fail to get their message across, even when the correct words are being used, or they might fail to understand what is said to them. † The inaccurate use of suprasegmetal elements, such as tress or intonation, can also cause problems. Errors in pronunciation can lead to a problem of reception, or comprehension of the meaning or function of an utterance, even worse, they can affect the perceived tone or mood of an utterance. Moreover, it is obvious that good pronunciation serves as a strong motivation for language learners. Most language learners show considerable enthusiasm for pronunciation as they consider it as a good way to show that they are competent in the language. Once they have obtained adequate pronunciation competence, they gradually build up strong confidence for themselves and are ready to learn new things without hesitation. 2. 3. 1. 2 A â€Å"paradox† As the matter of fact, the role of pronunciation in English learning process could not be negated. Regrettably, teaching and learning pronunciation has not received appropriate attention as expected and Gerald Kelly call this fact a name â€Å"a paradox† (Kelly, 2000: 1). It tends to suffer from being neglected. This may not be teachers’ lack of interest or motivation in pronunciation. The main reason comes from their teaching experience and confidence, â€Å"feeling of doubt as to hoe to teach† (Kelly, 2000:13). In spite of the fact that both teacher and students are keen on pronunciation, they often take grammar or vocabulary precedence over pronunciation for granted. If it is not neglected, â€Å"it tends to be reactive to a particular problem that has arisen in the classroom rather than being strategically planned† (Kelly, 2000:13). This is the most popular problem is pronunciation lessons. Teachers only deal with pronunciation when it comes to be problematic. There is no lesson plan, no strategy in teaching and learning pronunciation. Most teachers often prepare lesson plan for teaching grammar, vocabulary, but pronunciation. Yet pronunciation work can, and should, be planned for, too. Teachers should regard features of pronunciation as integral to language analysis and lesson planning. This paradox arises from both the nature of pronunciation itself, from the teaching staff as well as from the learners themselves. However, to deal with this problem, as language teachers, teachers need to have a good grounding in theoretical knowledge. Furthermore, in order to teach pronunciation successfully, teachers should be practically skilled in classrooms, and they need to have good ideas, approaches, techniques, as well as classroom activities. 2. 3. 2 Teachers’ roles in teaching pronunciation Mastering a foreign language pronunciation is not something impossible as far as the student and the teacher participate together in the total learning process. Thus, to succeed in a pronunciation program, the teacher plays an essential role. Kenworthy (1987), Nguyen Bang and Nguyen Ba Ngoc (2001), and Hoang Van Van, et al. (2006) shared the similar ideas about teachers’ roles in the teaching and learning pronunciation process, in which, teachers are responsible for: †¢Helping learners to hear: The teacher has a mission to provide appropriate input of the target sounds for learners to hear. Teacher needs to check that their students are hearing sounds according to the appropriate categories and help them develop new categories if necessary. †¢Helping learners to make sounds: It is true that some English sounds do not exist in the learners’ mother tongue. Some learners may be able to imitate the target sounds if they are provided models. However, for those who lack such an ability, it is teachers’ duty to explain the way those difficult sounds are made and provide aids to help learners produce correct sounds. †¢Providing feedback: Students need to be told where they are standing, how much they have gained and what they need to improve because sometimes, students themselves can not know whether they are making mistakes or not. The teacher must provide them with feedbacks on their performance. †¢Pointing out what is going on: In many cases, learners fail to realize what and how they are speaking, as speaking is for most parts unconsciously controlled, learners may sometimes make mistakes in the way they produce a particular sequence of sounds, or put stress in an incorrect place, leading to misunderstanding. It is the teachers’ role to specify the area that learners have to pay attention to so as not to cause miscomprehension. †¢Establishing priorities: Native-like pronunciation is not easy to achieve. Therefore, learners need a guide to tell them about what aspects they should master, what aspects they not need to be â€Å"perfect†. Inevitably, when learning a foreign language, it is dealt if learners master every aspect of it. However, as this is somehow unrealistic, learners should learn to satisfy at an accepted level of those aspects which are not vital. The level at which learners can feel satisfied at depends on different situations for different individuals. †¢Devising activities: It is not easy for teachers to cover all activities in a limited time. Thus, teachers need to identify what exercises will be suitable for their learners, what activities would bring them the best effect. In devising them, however, it should be accepted that certain activities are more suitable to some students than others. †¢Assessing progress: An important role of teacher is to assess progress. Learners need to know at what level they are in pronunciation. Tests allocated at appropriate times will serve as a strong motivation for students. When they look at their marks, they have a clear sense of how much they have gained. Judging learners’ pronunciation performance is very complicated. However, this should be done accordingly. 2. 3. 3. Approaches, techniques and activities in teaching pronunciation 2. 3. 3. 1 Approaches in teaching pronunciation In the book â€Å"Teaching pronunciation† (Celce-Murcia M. , et al. 1996: 2), the authors point out two general approaches to the teaching of pronunciation in the modern time, namely intuitive-imitative approach and analytic-linguistic approach. An intuitive-imitative approach depends on â€Å"the learners’ ability to listen to and imitate the rhythms and sounds of the target language without the intervention of any explicit information†. This means the teaching of pronunciation depends largely on the teacher’s turning on and rewinding a cassette player (or another instrument), and the main activities in the class are listening and repeating. In this approach, the teacher has no responsibility to explain how sounds are formed or produced and the learners do their main task of listening and imitating, and it is expected that learners will gradually gain pronunciation competence. Meanwhile, an analytic-linguistic approach â€Å"utilizes information and tools such as a phonetic alphabet, articulator descriptions, charts of the vocal apparatus and other aids to supplement listening, imitation, and production† (Celce-Murcia M. , et al. , 1996: 2). In this approach, learners are given explanation as well as training on how to form particular sounds of the target language. Between these two approaches, there is no scale on whether which one is better. Choosing to apply which approach into teaching pronunciation depends on teachers themselves and the level of learners. To do well with these two approaches, it is a need for both teachers and learners to fulfill knowledge of articulator system such as consonants, vowels, stress, and intonation, etc. In this study, the author considers the use of both approaches to gain best effect in teaching and learning pronunciation. 2. 3. 3. 2 Techniques and activities Pronunciation is never an end in itself, thus to receive expected result in teaching and learning pronunciation, teachers have made use of a great deal of techniques. It may be taught in isolation or in combination with language skills of speaking, listening, reading or writing. Supported by Kelly (2000:16); and Celce, et al (1996:8), some common techniques are: †¢Drilling: One of the main ways in which pronunciation is practiced in the classroom is through drilling. In its most basic form, drilling simply involves the teacher saying a word or a structure, and getting class to repeat it. †¢Listen and imitate† The pronunciation of the target language is provided by the teacher or tape recorders, language labs, etc. students are to listen to a sequence of sounds or sentences and repeat it. †¢Chaining: This can be used for sentences which prove difficult for students to pronounce, either because they are long, or because they include difficult words and sounds The above mentioned techniques are nearly similar; they usually take two forms, which are either all-class or individual. These two forms are actually the two phase of the same techniques. Normally, at first, the whole class repeats after certain sound and phrases. After a certain amount of class-drilling, individual students take turns and pronounce those items themselves. †¢Phonetic chaining: This technique makes use of articulator descriptions, articulator diagrams and a phonetic alphabet. Learners are provided with basic theoretical knowledge about how sounds are formed. They are also aided by the teacher to make genuine sound production. †¢Minimal pair drills: These relate to words which differ from each other only one phoneme. Normally, students are allowed to listen to the tape and distinguish between the two sounds. This type of activities is particularly useful to teach sounds which causes difficulties for learners or sounds that are mismatched. †¢Contextualized minimal pair: In this technique, the teacher establishes the setting and present key vocabulary; students are then trained to respond to a sentence stem with the appropriate meaningful response. When minimal pair drills seem a bit boring and too theoretical with separated sounds, the contextualization seems to be more useful because it is more practical. †¢Tongue Twisters: This technique rooted from speech correction strategies for native speakers. When other techniques look serious and sometimes put learners under pressure, tongue twisters provide a more delighting way to learn pronunciation. Sounds which are difficult to differentiate are put together to make meaningful sentences. †¢Reading aloud/recitation: Students are provided with a passage or scripts and then read aloud, focusing on stress, timing and intonation. This activity is often done with texts such as poems, rhymes, song lyrics, etc. †¢Recording of learners’ production. This technique can use audio-tape, video-tapes of rehearsed and spontaneous speeches, free conversations, and role plays. It needs the feedbacks of teachers as well as self-evaluation. †¢Practice of vowel shifts and stress shifts related by affixation: Base on rule of generative phonology, used with intermediate or advanced learners. The teachers point out the rule-based nature of vowel and stress shifts in etymologically related words to raise awareness; sentences and short texts that contain both number of a pair may be provide as oral practice material such as:PHOtograph And phoTOgraphy 2. 4 Learning pronunciation 2. 4. 1 Factors affecting learning pronunciation According to Joane Kenworthy (1987), there are many factors affecting learning pronunciation, including the native language, the age factor, the amount of exposure, phonetic ability, attitude and identity. The native language: it is inevitable that learners’ native language has a great impact on their ability of pronouncing English. The â€Å"foreign accent† is therefore easy to identity. The age factor: it is often assumed that the younger a person starts learning a foreign language, the better he is at pronouncing it and he has a greater chance of having a native-like accent. The amount of exposure: people who live in the country where the target language is spoken and is surrounded by an English-speaking environment may have some advantages over some who do not. Phonetic ability: researches have shown that some people naturally have a â€Å"better ear† for a foreign language than others. Attitude and identity: results from many studies have shown that learners who have a positive attitude towards speakers of a foreign language tend to have a more native-like pronunciation. 2. 4. 2 Students’ roles in learning pronunciation It is essential that in order to learn a language, motivation plays a vital role. The same thing happens to learning pronunciation. If students really care much about their pronunciation, they will become more cautious about their speaking, and gradually build up good pronunciation. In teaching and learning pronunciation, if teachers play the roles of a â€Å"speech coach†, students themselves need to involve in this process as much as possible in order to get good results. According to Nguyen Bang and Nguyen Ba Ngoc (2001), students need to satisfy some demands. Firstly, they need to perceive the model as exactly as they can. Secondly, they need to response as much as and as well as possible to the recognition, the imitation and repetition activities. Lastly, beside the help of the teachers, students should do self-correction of their pronunciation mistakes. 2. 5 Teachers’ and students’ problems in teaching and learning pronunciation Both teachers and students encounter various problems in the process of teaching and learning pronunciation. These problems do not only arise from the nature of pronunciation itself, but from various subjective and objective factors. In the light of the previous and current studies, some major problems that teachers and learners face in teaching and learning pronunciation are:. The nature of pronunciation According to Nunan (1991), the problem of acquiring the phonology of a second or a foreign language presents a formidable challenge to any theory of second language acquisition. In teaching and learning pronunciation, the biggest problem that most of the English teachers and students complain come from nature of pronunciation. English pronunciation itself contains so many complicated factors and invisible rules. In the light of this problem, Doff A. (1988) listed some common problems that learners often make when they speak English. The first is difficulties in pronouncing sounds which do not exist in the students’ own language. The second is the problems with similar sounds that often cause learners’ confusion. The third is difficulties in pronouncing consonant clusters. And the last problem mainly comes from English stress and intonation. Students seem to have a tendency to give all syllables equal stress and â€Å"flat† intonation. Class setting A lot of problems in teaching and learning pronunciation come from class setting such as classroom size, quality of the teaching staff, teaching and learning equipment. Firstly, a large class causes difficulty in teaching pronunciation. At high school, on average, there are over 50 students per class. With such a high student-teacher ratio, it is impossible to make sure that the teacher could carry out successful teaching techniques and activities, and the learner is not able to listen and receive what the teacher is saying. The quality of teaching staff is also a big problem. Most teachers of English are non-native speakers, and a few of them can have a native-like pronunciation. As a result, the language input that students receive every day is from non-native people. Therefore, it is impossible to require students to achieve perfect pronunciation. Teaching model According to Kelly (2000), in the past, the model of teaching English pronunciation was â€Å"received pronunciation†, the pronounciation of people in the southwest England. Today, there are a vast number of English: American English, Australian English, etc. Thus, it is difficult for teachers to choose what model to teach. In fact, each teacher often cannot produce a â€Å"perfect† accent without being affected by his own language. This fact sometimes causes both teachers and students problems in teaching and learning pronunciation. Some teachers do not feel confident with their own voice and students do not know what input language is perfect to receive. Intelligibility Beside factors from the nature of pronunciation, class setting, etc, teaching and learning pronunciation involves in its own problem that Kenworthy (1987) calls it as â€Å"intelligibility†. He defines â€Å"intelligibility† as â€Å"being understood by a listener at a given time in a given situation†. This means that intelligibility is affected by a number of factors: the speaker, the listener, the time, and the situation. This also means that teaching and learning pronunciation depends on many factors, causing many problems for both teachers and students. In conclusion, in this chapter, some theoretical backgrounds relating to teaching and learning pronunciation have been pointed out. These factors are the pronunciation concepts and their features. Factors relating to pronunciation teaching and learning as the importance, the problems, techniques and activities have been also given. It cannot be denied that pronunciation and teaching pronunciation is an important part to conduct in any language course. It is even more important for those who are or will be teachers of the language. Methods of teaching pronunciation are various with different elements of pronunciation. What are the attitudes of teachers and learners towards teaching and learning pronunciation? The school has 36 classes with 90 teachers and 1,800 students. Each year, the school enrolls more than 600 new comers. 3. 1. 2 Description of the course At school, all students when pass the entrance exam to the school have to study English as one of the compulsory subjects. During the process of learning English at school, students use three English textbooks (English 10, English 11, English 12) focusing on four skills including reading, speaking, listening, writing and language focus part. The language focus comprises two major parts: pronunciation and grammar. Normally, students start learning pronunciation when they study English 10. However, at grade 10th, students only learn some vowels and simple consonants. At grade 11th, students continue to study complex consonants. And at grade 12th, students start to be familiar with stress and intonation exercises. That is the reason why stress and intonation are two major aspects of pronunciation chosen in this investigation. 3. 2 Subjects The subjects of this study comprised 10 teachers and 55 12th-form students at QCHS. All English teachers were invited to participate in this study. They are from 27 to 60 years old, and have taught English for more than 2 years. They graduated from both regular and in-service training. With those teachers who have taught English for many years, they have teaching experience, but were not well trained. They mainly graduated from colleges, even in-service training. With younger teachers, they graduated from many different universities: state and non-state universities. They are full of motivation, but lack of teaching experience. In general, these teachers are good at teaching grammar and do not feel confident to deal with speaking, listening, and pronunciation lessons. Thus, they often focus their lesson on grammar but the speaking and pronunciation. The class that the author chose to study consists of fifty-five 12th-form students. These students have had at least 6 years of academic English experience by the time they reach this course. However, their English proficiency is not good, especially at pronunciation. They may be good at grammar and can do these grammar exercises quickly, but can not speak fluently. Most of them do not feel confident to speak in class and express their ideas in English. These students have studied at high school for more than two years. Therefore, they have been getting similar with the teaching and studying methods, the conditions and the teaching environment, so it easy for the author to get their consent to participate in the research. 3. 3 Research methods As mentioned previously, the researcher chose a mixed-method approach to data collection, utilizing triangulation to measure a broad variety of variables in the research. Necessary data was gathered directly from the teachers and students participating in the research in several ways: Questionnaires: In order to collect reliable and comprehensive data, two questionnaires were designed: one for teachers and one for students. They are both open-ended and close-ended questions. Teacher questionnaire (Appendix 1): one survey questionnaire with 8 questions was designed for the teachers to get their ideas of pronunciation teaching and learning reality, problems faced by their students and some recommendations to improve learning pronunciation reality at school. To get this aim, the questionnaire is categorized into the following groups: †¢Teachers’ attitude towards present situation of teaching and learning pronunciation at QCHS; †¢Approaches, techniques and classroom activities used by teachers in teaching pronunciation; †¢Problems faced by teachers in teaching pronunciation; and †¢Teachers’ recommendations of techniques to improve students’ pronunciation. Student questionnaire Appendix 2): another survey questionnaire with 8 questions was designed for students including the following categories: †¢Students’ attitude towards learning pronunciation, especially stress and intonation; †¢Students’ problems in learning pronunciation; and †¢Students’ expectations in learning pronunciation. In-depth classroom observations: Six informal classroom observations during regular classroom sessions were used as an additional data source. The observations were carried out for two weeks during the course of the study to get more practical information about teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards teaching and learning pronunciation, and difficulties as well as techniques used in pronunciation lessons. During the process of observations, the author focused on some aspects taking in class as: †¢Teaching and learning materials used in class; †¢Students’ activities and their mistakes in producing pronunciation; and †¢Teachers’ approaches and techniques used in teaching pronunciation. Interviews and discussions (Appendix 3): after collecting data from the survey questionnaires and classroom observations, the author used the post interview in order to get the in-depth discussion about techniques used to improve students’ pronunciation. Because it is too difficult for the researcher to conduct long interviews with all teachers, the researcher randomly selected 5/10 teachers for interviews. They were willing to express deeply their opinions, and ideas about teaching techniques. 3. 2. Data collection procedures The study was conducted in the first term of the school year 2010-2011 (from September 2010 to December, 2010). At the beginning of the first term, two sets of questionnaires were given to the teachers and the students who agreed to participate in the research. After two days, these questionnaires were collected. The information from these questionnaires were then summarized and presented in the form of statistics. For the following two weeks, the autho r carried out some classroom observations. The observations during six English lessons including one in reading, one in writing, one in listening, one in speaking and two in language focus periods. At each session, the researcher took field notes on what happened when the students learned pronunciation. Finally, when the information from the survey questionnaires and classroom observations were collected and analyzed, structured interviews were carried out. The data collected from three different resources were read through to obtain a sense of the overall data. They were then analyzed both descriptively and interpretatively. The initial sorting-out process was writing findings in the form of reflective notes and summaries of field notes. The information was then displayed in forms of tables and figures while qualitative data from the open-ended questionnaire items, classroom observations and interviews were presented by quoting relevant responses from the respondents. CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION OF THE DATA This part, the information from collected data was presented in accordance with the category of data collection instruments. 4. 1 Survey questionnaires 4. 1. Teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards teaching and learning pronunciation Assuming that the consideration of the teachers’ and students’ attitude towards teaching and learning pronunciation would be beneficial to the research, at the outset, these factors were surveyed. The results, shown in below, reflect that grammar is the most concerning aspect in learning English at high school. Surprisingly, only 10% of the t eachers think that pronunciation is the most necessary for their students. They always pay much attention and time and energy on grammar. In contrast, teaching and learning pronunciation as well as developing listening, speaking or reading skills do not receive enough attention to. 4. 1. 2 Students’ pronunciation level From the chart 2, we can see an optimistic reality of students’ level in learning pronunciation at Quynh Coi high school. Being asked about this, all the teachers said that students’ level is not equal, however; it is not good as expected. 60% teachers said that their students’ level at pronunciation is at average; and even 30% of the students get under average level. None of the teachers evaluate their students’ level at pronunciation is good or excellent. . 1. 3 Pronunciation teaching and learning time Chart 3 presents time that teachers and students spend on teaching and learning pronunciation. One more time teachers and students share the same ideas about the fact that too little time is on pronunciation. 80% of the teachers and 43% of the students said that they di d not have time to spend on teaching and learning pronunciation in one teaching session (45 minutes); 20% of the teachers and 32% of the students spend less than 20 minutes on teaching pronunciation. None of the teachers and a very small number of the students teach and learn pronunciation for more than 20 minutes. The overall results indicate that the reality of teaching and learning pronunciation at Quynh Coi high school is not positive as expected. Although both teachers and students are very optimistic towards teaching and learning pronunciation, students’ level is not good as well as time spent on teaching pronunciation is limited during one normal teaching session. 4. 1. 4 Teachers and students’ problems in teaching and learning pronunciation Chart 4 shows that both the teachers and the students face many problems during the process of teaching and learning pronunciation. The biggest problem that both teachers and students face comes from the nature of pronunciation. The next two factors preventing students from gaining good pronunciation are teaching time and students’ competence. 27% of the teachers and 22% of the students said that they do not have enough time on pronunciation. 20% of the teachers considered that their students’ competence in pronunciation is too low. 22% students also agreed with that idea. Class setting is the next factor that 20% teachers chose. It is clear that quality of teaching staff is not good enough to come over all the difficulties in teaching pronunciation. In contrast, only 1% of the students agreed with this. The smallest factor that both teachers and students think that causing problem in teaching and learning pronunciation is students’ motivation. 4. 1. 5 Teachers’ and students’ problems in teaching and learning intonation and stress From the chart above, most of the teachers (50%) and students (43%) think that stress is the most difficulty in teaching and learning pronunciation. the second is intonation: 30% of the teachers and 14% of the students think that intonation causes trouble. Meanwhile, none of the teachers meet any difficulties in teaching consonants and vowels. Particularly, chart 6 shows that 43% of the students cannot know the place of stress in a word; 20% said they cannot pronounce stress though they may be know place of stress in those words. Surprisingly, 27% of the students said that they do not know anything of stress. From the above chart, we can see that the reality of learning intonation is even worse than learning stress. 56% of all surveyed students understand nothing about intonation, causing a lot of difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation.

Money should be the primary consideration in the selection of one’s career Essay Example for Free

Money should be the primary consideration in the selection of one’s career Essay Young people generally start thinking about their future career when they are still at school, by making the right choice of subjects to study. What the financial package of their dream career is may not be important at that stage, but it certainly becomes a relevant consideration later on. However, how important this consideration is varies from one person to another. On the one hand, financial gain is definitely a factor one should consider when choosing a career. There is no denying that the salary is one of the top priorities when people start looking for a job. Most people start to take on the responsibility for the cost of living when they leave school, and it is of great importance to find a job with a higher salary, even though working hours might be longer than in other occupations. Moreover, these positions may have numerous potentials, such as a chance for promotion, training opportunity, a good work environment, and reputation. Having money also helps one gain his independence, for instance, maintaining a family, buying a house, paying rent, travelling around the world. Money is also necessary to buy basic utilities such as food and water, and it also aids to secure your home from theft. On the other hand, many people do not, and should not, focus on this factor as the main one. Salaries should not be the most important factor in choosing a career. People may neglect many other things that are worth to pursue in ones life if they consider money to be the most important factor in choosing a career. In fact, many people choose to fulfil their life goals and give up the job opportunity with the highest salary. For one thing, being engaged with the job you love can let you work in a pleasurable atmosphere in order to enhance your work efficiency. People can gain more satisfaction once they achieve their goals. Not only that, but focusing primarily on money when selecting a career ignores the concept that making money is not the reason most of us get jobs, but rather a means of obtaining material goods and services and of achieving important goals, such as providing security for oneself and one’s family, lifelong learning, freedom to travel or to pursue hobbies. Acknowledging the distinction, one may select a career on the basis of money, since more money can buy more goods and services as well as the security, freedom, and time to enjoy them. It does not mean that everybody should regard it as the most important factor in life. After all, money is just a way satisfy our basic life needs. All in all, I think the best career choice is the combination of personal interests and financial benefits. If people choose a career that they do not like, they may be impatient when they are at work. Only in doing what they like or have interests in, can people improve their working productivity and performance.

Evaluation of the Viability of the Sukuk

Evaluation of the Viability of the Sukuk This proposal aims to evaluate the current status and the viability of the Islamic financial Securities such as Sukuk as an alternative of the conventional financial securities like Eurobond in the context of the current financial crisis. I will outline the overall aims and objective of the research and discuss the various studies on growth of Islamic finance and decline of conventional finance in the background of the financial crisis. This paper will reflect an overall structure of the whole proposal. SIGNIFICANT FOR THE RESEARCH In the financial global market, the Islamic financial services sector is analysed to be gown at double digit rate(Bley Kuehn, 2005), involving over 200 financial institutions with assets estimated to exceed US$ 200 billion(Al-Dhahiri et al, 2003). Researchers (Hamwi Aylward, 1999) already has recognised that over the last decade, Islamic banking and finance has experienced global growth rates of 10-15 percent per annum, and has been moving into an increasing number of conventional financial systems at such a rapid pace that Islamic financial institutions are present today in over 51 countries (Sole, 2007 pp:1). This research is aimed at investigating the practicability of the Islamic Financial system as an alternative to the traditional financial system especially in the context of the recent financial crisis. The fast growth of Islamic banking and finance raises different important questions: Is the development in Islamic banking and finance a result of the comparative advantages of the Islamic banking concept or is it largely attributable to the worldwide Islamic recovery since the late 1960s (Chong Liu, 2007). The fact that Islamic laws forbid paying and receiving interest promote all parties in a financial transaction to share the risk and profit or loss of the project (Qorchi, 2005). In an Islamic contract the output and the quality of the project, ensures a more equitable distribution of wealth (Qorchi, 2005). AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The overall aim of this research is to review and evaluate significant growth of Islamic finance and financial securities as an alternative of the traditional financial system and financial securities which led to the current financial crisis. The objectives of the research can be further identified as: (1). the recognition of the basic concepts of conventional and Islamic financial system. (2). How did studies deal with financial crisis and its effect on the traditional and Islamic banking system. (3). what are the effects of current financial crisis on traditional bond market? (4). How does the Islamic Finance response to the crisis? (5). Is Islamic Securities à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Sukukà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â€œ feasible? (6). If Islamic Sukuk is feasible then can it replace the traditional Eurobonds? (7). If it is not feasible then can it co-exist with the traditional Eurobonds? Overview Conventional Financial system Everyone has to contact with the financial system and everyone is very well aware of the financial institution like banks, building securities, and insurance companies, each providing in its own way for every day needs, such as payment facilities through banks, convenient savings and access to home loans from building societies, and car, house, or life insurance. The other financial markets, like the Stock exchange where the securities are bought and sold, are an important market though very few are directly concerned with their activities (Van Harne, 1990). All these financial institutions and markets fit together into a network which comprises the financial system or conventional financial system (Brian, 1992). The conventional financial system based on debt and the fixed rate of interest. The borrower in gaining the high fixed returns may get default as these bonds and corporate securities are not backed by the assets or gold. The burden and all risk are transferred on the issuer. Therefore in try to get high returns and greed of getting more financial share the conventional borrower and mortgage prices went up which result in the drying up the financial market and major companies got default. Islamic Financial System The Islamic financial system makes possible lending, borrowing and investment functions on a risk-sharing basis (Ishaq Mansoor, 2008). Islamic finance is fundamentally different from the conventional finance model as it is based on a profit and loss structure (PLS), which requires that a financial institution invest with a client in order to finance their needs, rather than lending money to the client. Because of the inherent risk involved in an investment, the financial institution is entitled to profit from the financial transaction (IBID). (SBP, 2007). Islamic banking and finance industry has been making breakthrough developments to become a truly feasible and competitive alternative to conventional systems at the global level as an industry adding more ethical, competitive, flexible and diversified tools and systems to global financial marketsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â€œ (Ishaq Mansoor, 2008 pp: 708). The need for Islamic banking is prompted by three considerations: (a). An Islamic investor should keep away from alliance with industries forbidden to Muslims: such as; alcohol, gambling, pornography, meat packing (of pork), weapons production, and liquor. (b). An Islamic enterprise is advised to avoid interest (riba), as well as gambling, and, accordingly, constraints exist on transactions involved in debt securities and in futures and options. (c). Many Muslim investors tend to be attracted to enterprises monitoring the Islamic ethical and moral standards (Oà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Sullivan, 1996). The Islamic finance industry has grown by about 15 percent on average over the last three years, with more than US$500 billion now lodged in Islamic banks, mutual funds, insurance schemes (takaful), and Islamic branches of conventional banks (Jobst, Kunzel, Mills, Sy, 2008). Islamic Law prohibits charging interest (Rajesh, K.A Yousaf, T., 2000). Islamic banking is currently practiced in more than 51 countries worldwide. In countries such as, Iran, Pakistan, and Sudan, only Islamic banking is practiced whereas other countries, such as Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan and Malaysia, Islamic banking co-exists with conventional banking (Chong Liu, 2007). Therefore Islamic banking, is not limited to Islamic countries as In August 2004, the Islamic Bank of Britain became the first bank licensed by a non-Muslim country to engage in Islamic banking (Chong Liu, 2007). SUKUK Islamic securities have become increasingly popular in over the last five years, both as a means of raising government finance through sovereign issues, and as a way of companies obtaining funding through the offer of corporate Sukuk (Wilson, R., 2008) as Sukuk is to be use as a tool for liquidity management (Wilson. R., 2008), the Sukuk market continues to generate strong interest by new issuers in Muslim and non-Muslim countries. Sukuk (plural of Sakk) are commonly referred to as an Islamic bond, but a more precise translation of the Arabic word would be an Islamic investment certificateà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"(Thomas, 2005). The Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) defines the Investment Sukuk as a certificates of equal value representing undivided shares in ownership of tangible assets, usufructs and services or (in the ownership of) the assets of particular projects or special investment activityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"(Norman, T.,2009). Sukuk is an Islamic financial certificate, similar to a bond in Western finance that complies with Sharia, Islamic religious law. As the traditional Western interest paying bond structure is not permissible, the issuer of a Sukuk sells an investor group the certificate, who then rents it back to the issuer for a predetermined rental fee. The issuer also makes a contractual promise to buy back the bonds at a future date at par value (investropedia, 2009). Sukuk are monetised real assets (converting a government debt into available currency, especially issuing securities, that are liquid (easy to convert into cash), easily transferred and traded in the financial market (Adam, 2006). Likewise the Eurobonds are also liquid assets which are marketable and accepted by all the investors (www.independent.co.uk, 2005). Eurobonds are issued by a government, company shows potential to repay borrowed money at a fixed rate of interest at a specific time. Eurobonds are liquid and trusted bonds as it is backed by a fixed interest rate (ibid). Sukuk can be examined without any difficulty by international and regional rating agencies which facilitate their marketability (Adam, 2006). Likewise the Eurobonds are easily rated by the rating agency as these rating agencies rate these securities on the basis of the liquidity and the liabilities not on the basis of the religion and ethics (Standard Poorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"s, 2009). As the agencies do not rate the securities on the basis of the religion, rather securities are rated on the basis of the quality and the ability of obligator to meet the obligations (ibid). Same like the similarities in the Islamic and conventional financial securities, there are few differences as well, and on the basis of that one system can be preferred on the other system. Starting from the type, the conventional financial Security is a debenture bond whereas the Sukuk are the Secured securities. Debenture bonds are those securities that is unsecured corporate bond by any mortgage, dependent on the credit of the issuer (Dictionary Reference.com, 2009). Whereas the Sukuk are backed by the real assets such as they are attached with the assets which can be turned into tradable in the future or can be replaced by the real assets (Richardson Abdl-Khaleq, 2007). Eurobonds are paper bonds whereas the Sukuk securities are really assets based security which have potential to convert the security into tradable asset in future. Secondly, the major difference in Sukuk and conventional bond is the right of ownership. As Sukuk represent the ownership opportunity in existing or well described assets whereas conventional bond represent pure debt on the issuer (Adam, 2006). LITRATURE REVIEW The relative success of the Islamic finance is remarkable (Bley Kuehn, 2005)as islamic finance institution are making progress with the grwoth rate of 15-18% which is double the average growth rate of conventional finacial institutions (Saifi, 2004). We will discuss A review of the litrature on traditional financial system (TFS)and Islamic financial system( IFS) and the security markets. That is devided into sections as will be reviewing the litrature on the decline of the popularity of the TFS and the growth of the IFS over the last two decades. The litrature review basically discuss information of three area on which research will be carried: (a) traditional banking system and its downfall, (b) islamic financial system and its growth, and (c) the empirical investigation of the feasibility of islamic financial securities to alternate the traditional finacial bonds to raise funds for the projects. BACKGROUND FOR STUDY The current collapse of banking and financial institutions raised a question as interest rate has long been recognized not only by classical and neo-classical economists but also by contemporary economists as one of the factors that determine the level of savings in the economy. Although there are cases of inconsistent findings, it is a generally accepted opinion that interest rate has a positive relationship with savings (Ahmad Haron, 1999). Generally, financial institutions perform two functions; one is to collect deposits and the other is to issue loans (Toutounchian, 1996). Depositors are guaranteed a predetermined return on the nominal value of the deposit by the bank even in most of the cases the deposits are insured (ibid). Hence it can be argued that the traditional financial system plays a passive role in the economy, is operating to face any economic fluctuations (ibid). It is argued that in these banks since the nominal value of the deposits is guaranteedshocks that can lead to banking crisis can cause divergence between real assets and real liabilities and it is not clear how this equilibrium would be corrected and how long the process of adjustment would takeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â€œ (Mohsin, 1985). This is the real essence of fund intermediary function of a traditional finance (Toutounchian, 1996). Islamic finance can simply be defined that it is based on the basic principle of the prohibition of the riba as Islamic institutions does not charge interest but rather participates in the yield resulting from the use of the funds( Lewis Algaoud, 2001). Ebrahim Safadi ( 1995) advocates that islamic finance operations are according to the profit and loss sharing principle which are superior financial security to debt for many reasons including risk sharing of the equities (Hamwi Aylward, 1999. Liu Chong(2007) are of the view that the islamic finance is not different from the conventional finance as the unique feature Profit and Loss sharing (PLS) practically is very similar to the TFS as islamic financial products based on the PLS are not interest free beacuse pegged to conventional deposits(ibid). On the other hand the basic pillar of the conventional financial system is interest rate and fixed income securities have been accepted globally in raising finance for funding large development and capital expenditures (Usmani, 2006). A fixed income security is an investment which provides a return in the form of fixed periodic payments and ultimate returns of principal at maturity (Usmani, 2006). The motivations of firms that issue global bonds is particularly to test whether firms are motivated to offer bonds in multi-markets to raise more capital, take benefit of being well-known in foreign markets and owing to poor domestic economic conditions (Tawatnuntachai Yaman, 2008). The bond market robustness converts into depression when financial crisis which started in 2007 has created the greatest financial dislocation since the Great Depression of the 1930s (Melvin Taylor, 2009). The Eurobond which are based on fix interest rate and guaranteed of fixed return failed to impress the investors in an auction (Kaminska, 2009). In addition, the loans rate set in the fixed income market will have large effect on the demand for properties, and thereby prices, one would strongly believe that securitised property prices are determined by the interest rate changes rather than the stock market (Cheong, Wilson, Zurbruegg, 2009). Financial markets are intergrated now a days and no single economy can avoid the effect of the financial crisis (Chapra, 2007). If the financial system is not responsible for the crisies then why there is a general nervous feeling that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¢something is wrong with the financial systemà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â€œ (Stiglitz, 2003, p: 54 On the other hand, the Islamic finance manages the affair without involving the pre-agreed interest payment and receipts that replace the interest-based intermediation between the borrower and the lender with profit and loss sharing and equity based link (Bhatti Khan, 2009). CURRENT FINANCIAL CRISIS The credit crunch refers to a sudden shortage of funds for lending, leading to a resulting decline in loans available (Blog, 2008). A Credit Crunch can occur for various reasons such as sudden increase in interest rate, direct money controls by the governments and a drying up of funds in the capital market (Blog, 2008). The crisis started in 2008 in US supreme mortgage market and widely spread all over the world which raised a question that why this has system collapsed which leads the splillover effects from US sub- prime crisis to UK by far the most transparent and worrying for the authorities that exposed the tension between the central banks with respect to the provision of liquidity support facilities, the difficulties inherent in the economy for dealing with the banking crisis, defects in banking economy regulation and supervision and the glaring flaws in deposit protection arrangements (Maximilian, 2008). Islamic Finance Response to Crisis Principles of Islamic Finance The first principle has an effect on the depositors à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"behaviour and their decision-making process. The choice of action is based not only on the immediate financial returns but also on those returns in the hereafter. Since Islamic banks operate on an interest-free basis and their establishment is designed to improve Muslim communities. In the case of the second principle that involves wealth, Islam has given a clear guideline to be followed by Muslims. The essence of Islamic finance summarised by the Charles FÃÆ' ¨vre, 2006 is as following: Interest rate, taking or receiving on transactions is prohibited. Capital must have a social and ethical purpose further than pure, unfettered return; Investments in those businesses which are dealing with alcohol, gambling, drugs or anything else that the Sharià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ah considers unlawful and unwanted, are prohibited. Transactions involving masir (speculation or gambling); gharar, or uncertainty about the subject-matter and terms of contracts are forbidden which includes a prohibition on selling something that one does not own. As the interest-earning on investments are restricted, Islamic banks obtain their earnings through profit-sharing investments or fee-based returns (Charles FÃÆ' ¨vre, 2006). Traditionally an Islamic bank offers two kinds of services: firstly; it provides services for those on a fee or a fixed charge, such as safe deposits, fund transfer, trade financing, property sales and purchases or handling investments (IBID). Secondly; those that involves joint ventures in investments and the sharing of profits and losses (Charles FÃÆ' ¨vre, 2006). REASEARCH METHODOLOGY Methodology is a set of tools, techniques, procedures and investigative methods, used to collect, store, analyse and present information. Scientific methodology involves the development of hypotheses and predictions, investigating the manipulation of particular variables while maintaining all other variables constant, using measurable, objective measures and statistical analyses in order to come to conclusions about the topic under investigationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â€œ (inspiritive.com, 2009). Research can be defined as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“something that people undertake in order to find out things in a systematic way, thereby increasing their knowledgeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Saunders et al, 2003). Research methods are the means by which knowledge is acquired and constructed within a discipline. It needs to be both relevant and rigorous in order to be accepted as legitimate within a particular field of knowledge (Harvey Myers, 1995).whereas Leedy Research methodology can be explained as the process ca rried out to achieve the overall aim and objectives of the research (Saunders et al, 2003). What does Research Methodology Include? The research methodology involves primary data and secondary data. The primary data collected are more consistent with our research questions and research objectives. With the help of primary data the reasons behind consumer behaviour, management decisions or problems faces in internationalisation efforts can be identified (Ghauri Gronhaug, 2005). According to Hussey and Hussey, (1997, pg.149) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¢original data is known as primary data, which is data collected at sourceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â€œ. Primary research provides information and data which doesnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"t already exist. Some of the methods of primary data collection include: Focus groups, Interviews, Observation and Questionnaires (Saunders et al, 2003). According to Saunders et al., (2007, pg.272) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“data that have already been collected for some other purpose, perhaps processed and subsequently stored, are termed secondary dataà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. Data can be collected internally or externally from the available materials for literature. These materials come from books, journals, articles, research papers, conference proceedings, newspapers, theses and internet sources. It includes both quantitative and qualitative data and they can be used in both descriptive and explanatory research. Within business and management research such data are used mostly in case study and survey-type research (Saunders et al, 2003). Research Methods Generally available methodological options for Research are two: qualitative research and quantitative research (Ticehurst Veal, 2000). Qualitative Research The purpose of qualitative research is to describe a certain process or problem, to interpret a particular problem and to develop new theoretical concepts and perspectives, to verify the validity of certain problem, and to evaluate the effectiveness of the chosen particular problem (Leedy, 2005). The qualitative analysis based on meaning expressed through words, symbols, interpretations, actions and behaviour (Thornhill et al, 2003). Quantitative research Generally, quantitative research is used to answer the question about relationships among measured variables with the purpose of explaining, predicting, and controlling phenomenon ( Leedy Ormord, 2005). Whereas, Thornhill et al, (2003) stated that in quantitative analysis, the data is based on meanings from numbers. The collection results in numerical and standardised data and the analysis are conducted through the use of diagrams and statistics (Thornhill et al, 2003). The aim of the project can be viewed as qualitative, explanatory, and comparative. To fulfil these aims, the study intends to use the qualitative comparative research strategy (Bryman Bell, 2003). As Leedy Ormrod (2005) noted that qualitative researchers commonly use triangulation for the validation of the research. Comparative Analysis Given the options, qualitative research will be carried out where the literature to be reviewed will be mainly secondary data. The results obtained from the data can be validated by using the above mentioned strategies and comparative analysis which is suggested by Leedy Ormrod (2005) to fulfil the requirements of research. As the Max Weber (1968) also develop approach for social and economical analysis based on comparative method to identify that the researcher plays primary role in outlining research questions, categorizing elements of analysis, and the topics for comparison rather than assuming an objective separation of the researcher and data, as he is of the view that this kind of approach does not confuse researcherà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"s conceptualization of the under research phenomenon and phenomenon itself. Comparative analysis facilitates researcher to investigate the problem from a recognized starting point and the investigate other aspects of the object during analysis (Weber , M., 1968 cited in: Google, 2009) Data Collections and Methods In order to achieve the aims and objectives of the research a series of the reviews will be conducted on available literature on Islamic Finance and Conventional finance, particularly the Islamic securities. Islamic source of finance, Al- Quran, Sunnaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"ah, Shariaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"a Laws, and Hadiths books have been taken into account to get information about the Islamic financial principles, and the regulations which are applicable to the finance. This research is based on secondary data which is collected by using research techniques, procedures and instruments such as 1. Journals 2. Books 3. Libraryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"s web based services such as ABI/Inform, Proquest system, Jstor, Emerald. 4. Newspapers 5. Internet and internet article As qualitative comparative analysis will allow the researcher to outline the research objectives and categorizing the elements of the analysis and the choice of selection of the topic to analyse. The comparative analysis will helpful throughout the research to investigate the selected topic from a recognised point and researcher will be able to investigate the other aspect of the analysis. The methodology will be persuaded towards an approach in order to analyse appraise views on the Islamic financial system and Islamic securities in detail as an alternative to the traditional financial system in the context of current financial crisis by presenting and discussing with supervisor as to how he see the future of Islamic and traditional banking following the direction in which it is undertaken. LIMITATIONS This research may have few limitations The main concern is the collection of basic qualitative data from reliable sources mainly from university web based sources and Google scholar search materials; the challenge will be the identification of the reliable sources as often there will be situation where the results can vary from source to source. Sorting the reliable data from since the resources have vast options and all of them might not be having the same facts and figures which will be may required more time than expected in research process. Another limitation that may occur and cause the research to be narrowed and summed up sooner is for the research to miss out on some useful information which would be useful if taken under consideration. As for the vastness of the topic it is a concern that could be distracting as religious validities can be possible but main focus will be managed throughout the research. This research is a qualitative comparative analysis which is depending on the secondary data that may lead research to be limited as collection of data is generally more time consuming and the time is limited and it is not possible to studied wide range of literature which can make difficult to make a systematic conclusion. Drawn Conclusion Comparison of the both system (Islamic Financial System and Conventional Financial System, major will be the Islamic financial securities and conventional bonds) will formed the ground for the conclusion depending on the information gathered from research.

Wind Power Essay -- Wind Power Energy Sources Essays

Wind Power Harnessing the natural power of the wind is by no means a new concept. Asides from sailing, wind power has been utilised for many thousands of years, principally for agricultural purposes. Basic windmills are thought to have been used in Persia (now Iran) as early as the 7th century AD. Their ability to make use of otherwise untapped energy sources without the needs and costs of other alternatives, ensured that they remained the machines of preference in several industries throughout both agricultural and industrial revolutions. Whilst their basic concepts have remained true to the basic origins, technological advances have enabled engineers to adapt the mechanics of the mill to enable a more functional and useable source of power. In the 18th C, engineers developed spring sails (a device incorporating shutters onto the sails) to enable the mill to be run at constant speed during variable wind speeds automatically. The development of the fantail in 1745 also ensured the mills ran in the face of the wind and along with airbrakes meant that the mill could run at its most efficient at all times without the risk of doing itself damage in strong winds. Uses developed into water pumping, wood sawing, papermaking, pressing oil seeds and a variety of grinding uses. The use of wind turbines for generating electricity was pioneered in Denmark late in the 1890s. The concept was made a reality by Poul la Cour (1846-1908) who had originally trained as a meteorologist. He built the world's first electricity generating wind turbine in 1891 and although his project was a success, decided the greatest problem lay in storage of the electricity. As a result he used the electricity from his turbines for electrolysis in order to produce hydrogen for the gas lighting in his school.  ¡Ã‚ §One basic drawback of this scheme was the fact that he had to replace the windows of several school buildings numerous times, as the hydrogen exploded due to small amounts of oxygen in the gas (!) ¡Ã‚ ¨ DWTMA. As technological barriers were worked through, wind turbines became increasingly complicated. One of the greatest developments was the use of aerofoils instead of angled blades. Aerofoils have the benefit of using lift to turn the blades in the same manner as an aircraft ¡Ã‚ ¦s wing rises on an air current. This type of blade replaced the older type, which relied upon drag, t... ...9, www.foe.co.uk Energy without end, Michael Flood, Friends of the Earth, London 1991 Green Futures, Magazine of Forum for the Future, Issues 6 1997- issue 11 1998, London Johnston, Bryan, 'Landscape effects leave wind power up in the air,' Planning 1084, 2.9.94. Milne, Roger, 'Renewables feel the draught,' Planning no. 1095, 18.11.94. Microsoft Encarta 1996 Encyclopaedia, www.msn.com Rothe, David, 'Renewable energy and rural development,' Town and Country Planning, March 1993. Review of the impacts of wind farms and other aerial structures upon birds, J Paul Gill, Mike Townsley & Greg P Mudge, Scottish National Heritage Review no.21, Perth UK, 1996 UK Power 99, McMillan- Scott PLC Publications, Cheshire December 1998 Wood, Peter & Wade-Smith, Richard, 'Welsh decision sets the wind farm scene', Planning 939, October  ¡Ã‚ ¥91. Wind Energy Conservation- from theory to practice- Proceedings of the 19th BWEA Conference (16-18 July  ¡Ã‚ ¦97), Edited by Ray Hunter, The British Wind Energy Association, Mechanical Engineering publications Ltd, London 1997 Wind Energy- Power for a sustainable future, British Wind Energy Association, London 1997, www.bwea.com

Essay --

The relaxed way to consider the concept of a differentiated culture is that of a system of sub cultures that occur in the organization. A casual look at an organization tells gigantic cultural diversity in terms of distinct offices; style of office lay out, uniforms accepted by staff groups; sharing of technology; style of technology, and work groups environment. Sub cultures are fruitful in numbers and range of cultural diversity. According to the research done by Dr. David Potter in his work Cultural Change states that the basic recipes for forming a sub culture are: 1. Two or more people come together for a common cause. 2. They encounter problems that require solving. 3. They develop solutions to solve these problems 4. More people join the group. 5. The groups are â€Å"cultivated† by the original founder or founders of the group. 6. A hierarchy starts to emerge. 7. A culturally specific expressive style emerges e.g. language, dress, and behaviors. 8. Group values, norms and established behaviors are developed then internalized by group members as the natural order of things. 9. Rituals, routines and artifacts are manufactured by the group as it grows that insulate their values, norms and established behaviors from change. 10. A cultural protocol emerges that through time is taken for granted by group members. 11. New group members are inculcated into the group culture through mediums such as storytelling, formal inductions, professional study and practical demonstrations to name but a few. 12. As the group continues to grow the established cultural themes morph into deeply held assumptions that form the cultural web of the group culture. The American philosopher and psychologist William James wrote, â€Å"In every concrete individual,... ...he first priority. Children are celebrated and sheltered. Wife fulfills domestic role. Mobility is limited. Difficulty separating work and personal relationships. Sensitive to differences of opinion. Fears loss of face, especially publicly.Shuns confrontation. Where as in America/Canada Wife often fulfills dual roles and Mobility quite common. Separates work from emotions/personal relationships.Sensitivity seen as weakness. Tough business front. In case of nationalism, Mexico Very nationalistic, Proud of long history and traditions, where as American/Canada Very patriotic. Proud of "American way of life." Assumes everyone shares his/her materialistic values ( Fu, Dienes, Shang, & Fu, 2013). Title and position more important than money in eyes of society in society case of Mexican where as money is main status measure and is reward for achievement in American/Canada.

Strategic Analysis of Pepsi :: Business Case Studies

The growing demand for more healthy goods has naturally delayed several sectors of the beverages industry. While consumers have turned to bottled water and juices rather than carbonated drinks in the soft drinks market, consumers concern over alcohol consumption has affected demand in the alcoholic drinks sector. This trend has affected the alcohol sector much more than the soft drinks sector with the exception of wine consumption because it is being proved by scientists that it may reduce the risk of heart disease with a moderate consumption. While there are only few new markets to expand into, the market for soft drinks is globally well exploited. There are few factors that suggest trivial forecast for growth. However, demand continues to grow. Before the end of the current decade, the soft drinks market is expected to surpass the alcoholic beverages market, which constantly has shown lower growth than the beverage industry market in general. While product innovation has stimulated some growth within the industry during the 1990s by introducing new plastic bottles, innovation is slowing within the soft drinks industry recently. Since1997, in terms of market value, the global beverages market grew by 1.7% in 2002 to reach a value of $1,060 billion, and an increase of 16.6% in the global beverages market is predicted by the year 2007 to reach a value of $1,236 billion. In terms of market volume, the global beverages market grew by 3.4% in 2002 to reach a volume of 551 billion liters, and an increase of 20.5% is forecasted by 2007 to reach a volume of 664 billion liters. Even though all sectors of the beverage market are generally dominated by big companies, the soft drinks market is quite different in terms of its competitive position. The soft drinks market is dominated by two global giants: Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. Even though innovation and brand extension strategies have played big role in the recent years within the soft drinks sector between major competitors, market leader Coca-Cola is still concentrating its efforts on the traditional carbonated drinks market with respectable success. It is absolutely difficult for new start-up companies to enter the soft drinks market because it requires a huge financial resources as well as logistical infrastructure that need to rely on. The most important asset for all of the top current players continues to be the brand, and this is where Coca Cola really have the edge.

A disaster recovery plan (DRP) and a business continuity plan (BCP) Essay

1. What is the difference between a risk analysis (RA) and a business impact analysis (BIA)? Risk analysis is often identifying the potential threats and the associated vulnerabilities to the organizations. Risk analysis doesn’t view the organization from the mission critical Business Process point of view. More over BIA perceives the organization from the impact that is going to occur for an organization if the critical business processes are interrupted or tampered. 2. What is the difference between a disaster recovery plan (DRP) and a business continuity plan (BCP)? Disaster recovery planning is an essential part of business planning that – too often – gets neglected. Part of this has to do with the fact that making a Disaster Recovery plan requires a lot of time and attention from busy managers and executives from every functional department within the company. Business continuity is a newer term which was first popularized as a response to the Y2K bug. In order to stop your company from bleeding money in these situations, you need a plan that will allow the organization to continue generating revenue and providing services – although possibly with lower quality – on a temporary basis until the company has regained its bearings. 3. Typically, a business continuity plan is also a compilation or collection of other plans. What other plans might a BCP and all supporting documents include? Technical backup Plan, Communications Plan 4. Why is it important to have detailed backup and recovery steps within your disaster recovery plan (DRP)? When the plans work together no data is lost in the transition in the process. 5. What is the purpose of a risk analysis? What is the purpose of a business impact analysis? Why are these an important first step in defining a BCP and DRP? The purpose of risk analysis is to allow organizations to decide which risks require more attention than other do. The purpose of business impact analysis is to identify those business functions that are crucial to the organization and classify them as critical or noncritical. BIA section for each critical function receives additional information, including a description of recovery goals and requirements for each function. These are important first step because they are the building blocks for the organization. 6. How does risk analysis (RA) relate to a business impact analysis for an organization? Each element in an organization has a limited budget, the risk analysis help managers and CEOs decide how much they are willing to risk and using the business impact analysis which and how much will be spent on certain elements. 7. Given the list of identified mission critical business functions and processes, what kind of company would you say this organization is, and what do you think are its most important business processes and functions? I would think this company is an automotive company. I think it’s most important business process and functions are quality control mechanisms, research and development activities, and Manufacturing and production line. 8. Given the prioritization list provided for the organization’s identified business functions and processes, write an assessment of how this prioritization will impact the need for IT systems, applications, and data access. 9. For the top five identified business functions and processes, what recovery time objective (RTO) would you recommend for this organization and why? Priority 1 would need RTO of 5 minutes, without the server you have no website or e-commerce for payroll. Priority 2 RTO of 15 minutes because the domains can be down for a little while which will hamper communications but they would still be able to be productive. Priority 3 RTO is 5 minutes because it shouldn’t take long to get the phone lines back on line. Priority 4 RTO is 5 minutes because if the organization can’t help their customers then nobody would buy their product. Priority 5 RTO is 5 minutes because you need to send email and communication with other to make the organization’s product. 10. Why is payroll for employees and human resources also listed as a No. 1 business priority? If your employees don’t get paid then they won’t work and then the business loses money and also the company can violate laws and agreements.