Training and Development The American National Red Cross

Introduction The field of training and development has changed significantly during the past several years, reflecting both its role and importance in achieving higher employee performance and meeting organizational goals. Training and development has become very important as the crucial link between organizational status and the changes in the market or environment.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Training and Development: The American National Red Cross specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Training and development helps the organization towards having informed workers as paradigms shift and technology changes. This essay provides an overview into the training and development activities in American National Red Cross based on personal observations. The American national Red Cross The American Red Cross organization is an umbrella organization of many community based organizations in the United States that o ffer humanitarian help or response in case of a disaster (The American National Red Cross, 2009). The American Red Cross offers numerous training opportunities both to its staff, volunteers and general public. All training is aimed at making individuals prepared enough to handle disasters or conflicts. American Red Cross relies heavily on volunteers. It is reported that 96% of the total work force in the organization are volunteers (The American National Red Cross, 2009). These volunteers need proper training and orientation before they can be deployed to do humanitarian work. The second core aspect of its operations is training the general public on issues to do with safety and health. The training programs they offer to the general public aim at preparing the public for emergencies and general hygiene in the homes Some of the disasters that Red Cross responds to include earthquake related devastation like the Haiti disaster, weather related disasters e.g. tsunamis and floods. The most common local disasters that American Red Cross deals with are fires in homes, road accidents, and any other home or work place accidents. The American National Red Cross does not only deal with emergencies and disasters. Additionally, the American National Red Cross has blood donation drives and is one of the senior suppliers of blood to hospitals in the US (The American National Red Cross, 2009).Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Additionally, the American Red Cross works closely with the military. Wherever there are military operations, the Red Cross plays the role of providing support services and attending to the wounded alongside military health officers. Moreover, they also provide message delivery services for the military from wherever to wherever around the globe (The American National Red Cross, 2009). The American Red Cross works closely or in connecti on with the international Red Crescent Movement and Red Cross. It participates actively in the conflict resolution efforts around the globe. However, its major focus is on helping the victims of such conflicts. For example, conflicts and disasters often displace many people. Red Cross works to reunite and reconnect dispersed or separated families. The American Red Cross is part of the international network that offers tracking services for separated individuals. It also offers messaging services for people around the globe who are dealing with either disasters or conflicts (The American National Red Cross, 2009). Training and Development in the American Red Cross Traditionally, only commercial organizations were preoccupied with achieving effectiveness or a competitive advantage. Due to scarce resources, even humanitarian organizations have moved towards adopting best management practices for efficiency and effectiveness. Most organizations appreciate the importance of human resourc e training and development. Organizations are as effectives as the work force i.e. people make organizations become more competitive or better placed in the market (Armstrong, 2006, 85). Research indicates that only organizations that have right employees manage to achieve a competitive advantage (Craig, 1996, p. 21). Most importantly, such organizations invest heavily in ensuring employee skills and competencies are well aligned towards achievement of organizational goals (Aswathappa 2006, 34). This is ensured through training and development. In organizations, training and development is done for two major purposes. Training helps motivate employees while at the same time aligning their skills and competencies with organizational needs. This is to mean that training and development is important both for the individual employee and the organization (Cole, 2005, p. 75). It helps improve employee effectiveness and efficiency as the employee is introduced to more information or skills . In turn the organization is able to cope with changing technologies or social spheres. In the American Red Cross, training and development or capacity building is at the core of their services. Training is done to introduce new entrants to Red Cross procedures, to orient volunteers and staff to a given operations peculiarities or as a form of reward for hard work. After being too involved in the field as a way of refreshing the employees, training is one option available to them.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Training and Development: The American National Red Cross specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Apart from training for staff and volunteers, the Red Cross provides training programs to the general public that aim at preparing them for disaster. Individuals are trained in how to live in a healthy way free from hazards i.e. body healthy and environmental safety. The training targets families, individ uals and workers in different industries. The regular training revolves around such basic skills like first aid, how to perform CPR, swimming. These trainings are done by the volunteers across the country. All volunteers coming into American Red Cross are taken through an orientation. The orientation serves to introduce the entrants to the general work done by the organization. Orientation also helps towards aligning volunteers or new staff’s experience, knowledge, skills and interests with disaster program or service opportunities. The training offered by American Red Cross to its staff and volunteers aims at helping them to become better equipped in humanitarian help execution, training of community in health and safety and emergency response. The staff is equipped by cutting edge knowledge and skills so as to respond properly to disasters train others effectively and offer appropriate help in the appropriate way. Training Needs Assessment Training Needs Assessment is done both at individual, organizational and community levels. At the individual level, American Red Cross looks into the training needs of its volunteers and employees. Depending on their level of training and anticipated deployment, the volunteers and staff are given holistic training that enables them respond or work properly. Individuals volunteering with the Red Cross are evaluated on general knowledge in safety, health and disaster issues. Depending on whether the individual has had any related training or not, they are admitted into orientation programs or formal training programs. Most volunteers are specialists in the different fields and thus Red Cross training and development only works to align their skills and experience with the humanitarian causes that it serves. At the organizational level, just as Green (2002, p. 56) advises, training needs assessment is done with respect to particular assignments or causes and their peculiar characteristics. The organization continuously scans the present and future for risks, safety hazards, and possible disasters thus continues to prepare its people for appropriate response. When a particular disaster or challenge occurs its peculiarities are analyzed and arising needs inform training in the organization. For example, given the disaster in Haiti, special trainings are carried out for those going to Haiti. These special trainings aim at helping the volunteers understand what to expect and what would be the appropriate responses.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More At the community level, needs assessment is done with the aim of equipping community members with appropriate skills especially in the emergency situations the group is prone to. Community trainings are basic, however, needs assessment are done to establish the training needs of each group. Often community members who are interested in training in basic life saving skills come to Red Cross centers. The training for community members is kind of standard but efforts are made to contextualize it. If an area is prone to tsunamis, efforts are made to encourage given attitudes or understands that would facilitate proper response in case of such a disaster occurring. Components of American Red Cross Training Programs Training and development in organizations has two components i.e. new entrant training and continuing education (Laird and Sharon, 2003, p.14). Training and development in the American Red Cross introduces new entrants to the American Red Cross operations and build capacity of already staff and volunteers already in operation. The new employee or volunteer program aims at equipping them with necessary skills and information necessary for successful participation in humanitarian operations. Continuing education in the American Red Cross takes the form of sponsored further studies for employees. Once an employee has worked with the organization for sometime, they receive sponsorship to pursue further studies in line with personal intentions and the overall organizational manpower forecasts. Continuous education is taken very seriously as they help staff to be informed of dynamics that affect or continue to affect their personal growth and work effectiveness. The personal career development goals and the organizational relevancy are key drivers in continued education for employees (Gary, 2004, p. 38). Education affords them progress in their careers while at the same time enabling achievement of long term organizational goals. The new skills and knowledge a cquired, instrumentally helps staff towards better and efficient service in the organization. Due to the long history of American Red Cross, numerous materials have been developed over time that aid in training. The training materials include training manuals and syllabus that is followed when tackling the different sessions. New volunteers often are introduced to Red Cross’s guiding policies, procedures and philosophy. Then there is introduction to basic skills and competencies necessary in a disaster operation or when responding to an emergency. After the introductory or orientation sessions, new entrants or volunteers are attached to team leaders. From their team they are exposed in an on job kind of training. On job training is a mandatory aspect of training and development (Rae, 2000, p. 83). In the American Red Cross, new entrants are given assignments alongside other more experienced members of the team. This is necessary so that they may receive support and help as ne cessary during work or operations. Once one has acclimatized to work and is now an independent worker in his or her team, continuing education is considered for him or her. Continuing education as already discussed is important because is helps employees expand on their knowledge and skills. Additionally, it also serves as a way of refreshing after many tiring months or years in the field. Continuing education has two components; internal and external. Internal is when the training is done within the Red Cross training centers. External is when the training is done in formal institutions of learning e.g. universities. Training Programs Design As discussed under the Training Needs Assessment, training programs are designed depending on given work or site related peculiarities. There are general programs that aim at helping volunteers and general public to be more prepared towards emergency response or handling of disasters. These programs are basic and standard; the cover the same ki nd of topics or courses. The basic skills or courses include CPR, swimming, dealing with home hazards, responding to fires, and fist aid. Volunteers being deployed in the different roles e.g. blood collection, disaster response etc are taken through specialized programs. Such specialized programs or briefings are critical to ensuring coordinated and appropriate response at the site. Site peculiarities are discerned ad communicated to volunteers and staff. For example, if an area requires certain cultural or religious stipulations, the volunteers are helped as to respond appropriately. Formal further education for staff is encouraged depending on discerned future needs in the organization. It is fortunate that most of the volunteers and staff come with specialized skills. However, through training need forecasts, the future needs in the organization are taken care of. Forecasting the future needs of the organization is a critical aspect or function of the human resource managers (Sal eemi, 2005, p. 82). The training and development function in American Red Cross works closely with the staff and volunteers to identify talent for development. Once an individuals training needs have been established, they are either given an opportunity to train further in a formal institution, they are given senior staff to mentor them or just given appraisal that encourages them to think of further development in a given area. The community training programs are designed with the needs of given social units in mind. Some red cross chapters have gone ahead and designed programs that target organization in its area of operation. Such programs often aim and massive sensitization on health and safety measures and appropriate responses to accidents or disasters. The courses offered are often full day or half day courses. Some of the topics covered in such like programs include general hygiene, communication skills (proper communication is important in disaster response operations, hea lth and safety procedures, medication administration, stopping infection spread, dealing with contamination, rescue or disaster operation planning, handling operation related stress etc. Training programs Delivery In the American Red Cross, training programs are delivered in a number of ways. Often individuals are invited to the Red Cross training centers for formal learning in given issues. Formal classes are given and assessments done. The classes often have theory and practical sessions in which students demonstrate the learnt skills. The trainings are also delivered on a one to one basis. The one to one training sessions are often for otherwise busy individuals who can not fit into the general courses offered at the training centers. Of recent, one on one training programs are also offered online by some Red Cross chapters. Other trainings are delivered in the field, in other institutions such as schools or business organizations. The training and development instructors are wel l trained individuals equipped with learning materials and other technologies. Guided by the philosophy of continuous improvement, the training programs are always improved on based on changing societal structure and increasing disaster ranges. The instructors provide written reading material and other helpful tools for further exploration and practice by participants in training. Training Program Effectiveness: Monitoring and Evaluation The training and development programs are of no use unless they are effective and efficient (Sims, 1998, p. 113). Programs delivery has to be properly time, and professionally delivered. Additionally, what is delivered has to be of consequence or substance. The effectiveness of a training program largely depends on mode of delivery and content. The American Red Cross instructors continuously seek to improve their training programs by monitoring and evaluating the existing programs. Monitoring and evaluation of programs is largely dependent on receiv ing feedback from beneficiaries or participants in the programs. Feed back helps trainers understand what has met expectations and what needs improvement. The other way of ensuring effectiveness or thoroughness in understanding is by every worker becoming a trainer of sorts (Reid Barrington, 2003, p. 98). In the American Red Cross, every experienced volunteer or staff is a trainer. Their work necessarily consists in sensitizing community, teaching community basic health and safety measures or orienting new entrants. Follow up communication is another sure way of ensuring training effectiveness (Sims, 1998, p. 114). This follow up process involves participants being sent newsletters and other pertinent informational materials for their own consumption. This helps especially in communicating new ideas, changes or expounding on already well known concepts. Through magazines and other publications availed to staff, volunteers and other stakeholders, continued learning on American Red C ross operations is facilitated. There is also a lot of information regularly posted on American Red Cross’ website or the websites of its constituent chapters. Conclusion: Overall evaluation Having looked into the training and development programs at American Red Cross, it is clear that the training programs are elaborate and well developed. However, the aspect of employee development is not well catered for. The organization heavily on volunteers and does not offer much room for development. An individual entering American Red Cross with the aim of growing through ranks may not find enough space for such. The organization only offers opportunities for those whose goal is to contribute to humanitarian causes. The lack of clear development guidelines or even opportunities is understandable. The motivation for working in such an organization is necessarily different from why one would work with Microsoft Inc. further; the volunteers are expected to be people who are interested in contributing their time in kind of charity to a humanitarian cause then moving on to their desired careers. A large percentage (96%) of workforces in the organization is volunteers and that may explain why the organization does not have an explicit development plan targeting all employees. However, like in every industry, some of the young volunteers go into the organization in the hope of starting as volunteers but growing steadily to become full time employees. Although the percentage of permanent staff is limited due to nature of work, the organization needs an employee development plan. The training and development department needs develop mechanism that allow for a sort of career progression for young volunteers. If the aspect of development can be elaborately looked into, the training and development programs run by American Red Cross are effective enough. Reference List Armstrong, M. (2006). A handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. 10th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. Aswathappa, K. (2006). Human Resource and Personnel Management  (Text and Cases). 5th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. Cole, G. A. (2005). Personnel and Human Resource Management. 5th Ed. Birmingham: Cengage Learning EMEA. Craig, L. R. (1996). The ASTD Training and Development Handbook: a Guide to Human Resource Development. 4th Ed. New York: McGraw – hill. Gary, D. (2004). Human Resource Management. 9th Ed. New York: Prentice Hall. Green, G. (2002). Training and Development. Chicago: John Wiley Sons. Laird, D. Sharon, S. N. (2003). Approaches to Training and Development. 3rd Ed. Massachusetts: Perseus Books Group. Rae, L. (2000). Effective Planning in Training and Development. London: Kogan Page Publishers. Reid, M. A. and Barrington, H. (2003). Training Interventions: Managing Employee Development. 2nd Ed. Mumbai: Jaico Publishing House. Saleemi, N.A. (2005). Personnel Management Simplified. 2nd Ed. Nairobi: Kwani Publishers. Sims R.R. (1998). Reinventing Training and develo pment. Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. The American National Red Cross. (2009). American Red Cross. 27th January, 2010. Retrieved from https://www.redcross.org/ This research paper on Training and Development: The American National Red Cross was written and submitted by user Raina Armstrong to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Sexual Harassment at Hooters

Sexual Harassment at Hooters AbstractManagers and employees periodically face various forms of ethical dilemmas. The manner in which they decide to deal with these dilemmas can have a compelling impact on the goals of the corporation. This paper outlines a few of the more common ethical dilemmas that managers and employees can face at Hooters of America, Inc., sexual harassment and supervisor subordinate dating.Company HistoryThe first Hooters restaurant opened in 1983 and since then the Atlanta based franchise has over 445 locations worldwide. Over half of Hooters 25,000 employees are employed as Hooters girls. Throughout the years beautiful woman have quite literally become synonymous with the restaurant chain. Hooters of America (2008) pride itself on what they describe as, "a pro active lead in the industry addressing issues raised by individual acts of sexual harassment." (About us P10)The company has adopted and implemented a non harassment policy which disallows any form of verbal or physical behavior tha t is deemed inappropriate.Five ways to fight sexual harassment(public servic...IntroductionThe Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) (2008) defines sexual harassment as "Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual's employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment." (Sexual Harassment P2) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects any employee against discrimination based on sex this includes any form of sexual harassment. According to EEOC web site (2008) the harasser or the victim can be either male or female. The harasser can be anyone employed by the organization including a non employee. The conduct performed by the harasser must be unwelcomed in order for the circumstance to merit sexual harassment. The EEOC (2 008) notes that during 2007 they received over...

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Rhetorical Analysis - Essay Example Half of the participants were told to leave their email alerts on while the other half were told only to check their emails three times daily. After a week the participants who checked email frequently were told to check only three times while the other group was told to check frequently. All the other factors remained constant. They observed that the participants were more stressed when they were told to check their emails more frequently. Evidently, the authors aim at proving that frequent viewing on one’s email might not be healthy, but at that same time warns that it might not be an easy task. The article begins with the questions, â€Å"Is email overload, bad for you?†. This question is used at the beginning of the article with the sole reason of making sure that the readers have the question in mind as they go through the rest of the article. It is like a way through which the writers notify the readers of the article exactly what the article is going to cover. The writers proceed by admitting that the question is rather a tricky question given the fact that there have been both sides of the argument, with both sides being keen on the evidence that they give for their assertion. The use of an example, in the first paragraph helps in giving more light on the exact possible consequences of frequently reading emails. Kuslev and Dunn choose to sue experimental evidence to prove their case. Through the case study discussed in the article, Kostadin Kuslev and Elizabeth Dunn are trying to prove to their readers that their assertion is not based on some assumption but some fact that can be proved. The practical scenarios tend to attract the attention of the audience by letting them know that the argument that frequent email reading can actually lead to stress. Through the presented case study, the authors are able to bring their audience closer to accepting their argument. Despite the fact that the

ESL Writing Achievement and Grades

ESL Writing Achievement and Grades STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARD WRITING ESL STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS PEER RESPONSE Graham, Berninger, and Fan (2007) emphasized that attitude is an effective component of motivation. Concerning (Second Language Acquisition (SLA), Cook (1993) elaborated on the Affective Filter Hypothesis proposed by Krashen’s 1982 theory of second language acquisition. Cook (1993) stated that Krashen theorized that motivation is an essential variable that has a facilitative, affective role in L2 (second language) learning. Cook (1993) explained that Krashen claimed that Language learners who are highly motivated are more inclined to acquire the target language. Unmotivated learners who are highly anxious on the other hand, usually have difficulty understanding the target language because of a high â€Å"affective filter† which results in a â€Å"mental block† that hinders â€Å"comprehensible input† from being acquired. The question here is; how about peer reviewers’ affective state? More critically, and in direct relation with (ESL) writing, Anderman and Wolters (2006) indicated that the affective states may influence the different types of strategies which are utilized by students while writing (as cited in Graham et al., 2007). Along similar lines, Isen (1990) stipulated that students with negative affect tend to use obsolete and dead-end writing strategies whereas students who are characterized by an affirmative and more encouraging attitude towards writing tend to get engaged in more flexible and adaptive self-regulated strategies which help them be cognitively engaged to the writing task (as cited in Graham et al., 2007). According to Graham, Berninger, and Fan (2007) the sole researcher who investigated students’ attitude towards writing in a systematic way during the 90s was Knudson (1992, 1993, 1995) whose main area of focus was elementary age children. Kear, Coffman, McKenna, and Ambrosio (2000) found out that children’s attitude toward writing actually worsens as they move to upper grades. Same results were reported in earlier research done by Knudson (1991, 1992, 1993) who also found out that older students tend to have less positive attitudes towards writing that younger ones (as cited in Kear et al., 2000). Therefore, Knudson (1995) insisted that since research indicates that writing anxiety and apprehension have a negative effect on students’ success in school, practitioners should be more involves in research that has to do with writers’ attitudes towards writing and how it evolved in school environment. Knudson (1995) also emphasized that educators should be know ledgeable about their students’ understanding of the writing tasks so that they would be better able to assess their students’ engagement, involvement, and interest. Knudson (1995) conducted a field study which examined how writing attitude and achievement are correlated in addition to the correlational relationship between writing attitude and grade level in addition to gender. The participants were 430 students enrolled in an elementary school in the USA / English language native speakers who came from either low or lower socio-economic status. The researcher administered a questionnaire for each student grade level. Hence, students in grades (1-3) responded to the writing Attitude Survey for Primary grade students; whereas older students in grades (4-8) responded to the Writing Attitude Survey for Children. It must further be noted that the aforementioned attitude scales were both developed by the researcher. In addition to the questionnaires, students were asked to respond to a given prompt. Each essay written by students was read and graded by two raters who had achieved acceptable terms of inter- rater reliability. Knudson (1995) triangulated her data collection procedures by randomly selecting 12 students from all grade levels and interviewed them to elaborate on their answers they have given in the writing attitude survey . The children were also interviewed to elaborate on their beliefs towards the writing tasks done at school and how they were directly related to their achievement as well as to explain how they perceived writing to be important. The interview contained 10 open –ended questions which provided the researcher more insights about students’ understanding of writing tasks and activities at different grade levels as well as more explanations on students’ responses given in the questionnaires administered earlier. Results indicated that writing achievement was directly related to students’ grade level as well as their perceptions and attitudes towards writing. Hence, Knudson (1995) reported that students who have positive attitudes towards writing regardless of age and gender tend to be better writers. On the other hand, concerning grade level and gender and their relation to writing achievement, the researcher also reported that older students and females in particular have a better inclination towards becoming proficient writers that younger writers and males in particular. What is interesting is that Knudson (1995) claimed that the questionnaires and interviews she conducted also measured how students’ attitudes towards writing changes as a result of specific writing strategies they learner in class. Hence, students in grade 4 for example were able to verbalize the process strategies they used in writing such as planning, organizing, and goal setting. So, the researcher conclu ded that the process writing approach became more prevalent in writing instruction where students engage in prewriting activities and this strategy was verbalized by the participants as â€Å"planning the entire composition†, drafting which was voiced by the interviewed students as â€Å"thinking what to include and leave out†, in addition to revising which was verbalized by Knudson’s participants as â€Å"being sure they stayed on topic† (Knudson, 1995, p. 94). These results are consistent with what Knudson (1991) suggested when she was in the process of developing her writing attitude scales back then. Hence, she recommended that â€Å"it is useful for researchers, program evaluators, and researchers to assess children’s attitudes towards writing and the effect of instruction on their attitudes, including treatment, grade, and times of measurement† (Knudson, 1991, p. 814). Of direct relevancy, Graham, Berninger, and Fan, (2007) investigate d one aspect of motivation; specifically, attitudes of young, beginning writers. The participants were 128 first grade level students (70 females and 58 males) and 113 third grade level students (57 females and 56 males) who were English language native speakers. The educational level of the parents was used as a socioeconomic status as well. The participants’ writing proficiency was average ranged. To begin with, each student wrote a composition and three measurements were conducted for each written composition. The first measure aimed at assessing the sophistication of vocabulary use by students. Therefore, two scorers counted 7- letters or more vocabulary words and transformed into portions (based on TOWL-2). The second measure was the average length of the right word sequence. The average length was measured by obtaining the â€Å"average length and correct word sequences that occurred in sequence before an incorrect word sequence occurred† (Graham, Berninger, and Fan, 2007, p. 525). Two scorers revised and discussed the rules for obtaining a correct word sequence and inter-rater reliability coefficient was 0.85.The overall quality of written essays was calculated by the third measure which was a holistic rating scale based on (Cooper 1977) . The papers were scored on a 7-point Likert scale, 1 being the lowest quality of writing and 7 being the highest by two former e lementary grade school teachers (inter-rater reliability coefficient was 0.93). As for students’ attitude towards writing, students had to cater to seven questions which measured their attitudes toward writing. The researchers used the Garfield the cat scale developed by McKenna et al. (1995). Hence, students chose images ranging from the image of a very happy Garfield the cat (score of 4) and ending up with a score of 1 that is the very unhappy or sad Garfield. Later on, structural equality modeling (SEM) approaches based on (Bollen, 1989, and Kline, 1998) were used to identify the structural relationship between attitude and achievement. It should be noted that in addition to examining the structural relationship between attitude and achievement, the researchers examined age differences (younger / older) and gender differences (male/ female). Results indicated that writing attitude does influence writing achievement because the relationship between them was found to be statistically significant. Moreover, girls were found to have more positive attitudes toward writing and therefore favored writing more than boys did. However, no statistical difference was reported concerning the writing achievement variable. Interestingly enough, Musgrove (1999) conducted a different kind of study concerning students’ attitudes toward writing. The researcher had her students write self-evaluative narratives that reflect how writing attitudes are usually shaped by how successful students’ writing experiences are. The participants were English majors prospective secondary teachers and college students registered in a first-year writing class. At the beginning of the term, Musgrove (1998) identified for her students what is meant by attitude â€Å"one’s predispositions toward particular tasks, ideas, or people† and provided them with lexical terms of attitude. Then, in a series of mini-lessons, she provided her students with literary works which demonstrated particular attitudes (positive and negative critical attitudes) which were discussed by students. The researcher then asked students to track down how their attitudes towards writing developed by keeping records and compiling portfolios. Musgrove (1999) announced that the portfolios included â€Å" a resume, an initial attitudinal survey, learning goals, personal grammar and usage handbook, in class writing, homework assignments, essays, and portfolio self-evaluations written at midterm and end of semester† (p. 5). Musgrove (1998) concluded that drawing students’ attention to their attitudes gave them the opportunity to examine how their beliefs and what they bring to their writing definitely affects their writing achievement. Moreover, the self-evaluations written by students helped them connect to their backgrounds as writers because their writing background actually directly affects their attitudes towards writing. However, Katstra, Tollefson, and Gilbert’s (1987) study was the only study; to my knowledge, that examined the effect of peer response on students’ attitudes toward writing. To elaborate, the study was conducted to investigate whether peer response in a process approach to writing environment could yield to positive attitudes towards writing along increased fluency. The participants were ninth grade native speakers in the USA who registered in seven English classes which were taught by three teachers. The subjects were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups in such a way that each teacher had a control group and an experimental group to teach. Both the control groups and the experimental groups responded to two attitude instruments before treatment. Then, both groups wrote the first draft of a personal narrative. The first drafts’ word number was tallied and recorded as a pretest measure for fluency in writing. The treatment was introduced over a pe riod of four days. First, the experimental group explicitly received training in peer response and participants rewrote their second drafts according to comments suggested by the peers in each response group. The students in the control group on the other hand, wrote their second drafts based on assistance offered by the teacher due to specific questions asked by students in the control group. The two groups then counted the number of words they had written in their second drafts and this became the post-test measure of writing fluency. Finally, the two attitude instruments which were administered to both groups as pertest were administered again as post-tests measures. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was administered in order to measure the three – way interaction between the independent variables which were (1) teachers (three levels) (2) gender of students (3) and treatment condition. Results indicated an increased positive attitude towards writing on behalf of the experim ental group. However, no significant differences were noticed in post-test writing fluency. Therefore, peer evaluation does not affect students’ writing fluency. Some studies tackling the affective benefits of peer response examined students’ perceptions toward peer feedback. Chong (2010) examined student teachers’ perceptions and attitudes toward peer response and the likelihood to how they are willing to use the aforementioned approach in L2 writing classes. Results indicated that student teachers did not favor the usage of peer response in their classes due to â€Å"external reasons such as class size, time restrictions, authority control, as well as internal factors such as inability to see the benefits of peer response, insufficient experience or training in using this technique† (p. 58). As for the affective factor of peer feedback of ESL university students, Zhang (1995) made it clear the majority of his 81 ESL students (75%) who were enrolled at a university in USA actually favored feedback provided by teachers as opposed to feedback provided by peers.. The findings coincide with Nelson and Carson (1998) whose ESL college students expressed their tendency to favor teachers’ feedback rather than their peers’ feedback. Moreover, cultural differences were perceived to negatively affect peer response as some of the participants’ goal in peer review sessions particularly Chinese students was mainly maintaining good harmony by refraining from providing their pees with critical peer response. However, another study actually contradicted Nelson and Carson’s (1998) findings concerning the Chinese group’s perception of peer response. Hence, Roskams (1999) who examined Chinese EFL learners’ perceptions toward peer response. The univer sity –bound Chinese students actually reported their openness to engage in peer response and expressed that this approach could be beneficial to their ESL language learning. Hence, participants generally perceived peer feedback as useful. However, only 5 % of participants did not enjoy the collaborative learning arrangement. Therefore, many studies revealed conflicting results which reported inconsistency in findings which reflected that peer response is problematic due to students’ cultural schemata, their ability to review their peers; work and their attitudes towards peer response. However, Hu (2005) indicates that these problems are not inherent in peer response as research literature suggests that carefully designed training in peer response can help assist L2 writing students as well as their teachers gain understanding of the benefits of peer response (Berg, 1999; Min, 2006; Ting and Qian; 2010). THE ROLE OF THE COMPUTER IN CONVEYING MEDIATED FEEDBACK The role of computers in conveying mediating feedback in L2 (second langue) settings has become central for research concerned with technology-enhanced peer response lately. However, the results on the effects of integrating computer-mediated communication (CMC) into peer response have been conflicting, mixed, and even inconsistent (Schultz, 2000; Hu, 2005; Liu and Sadler, 2003; Tuzi, 2004; DiGiovanni and Nagaswami, 2001). Hence, many researchers (Braine, 1997; Leh, 1999; Biesenbach-Lucas and Weasenforth, 2001; Liu and Sadler, 2003) have expressed concerns about using computer-mediated communication as a substitute for the face-to-face venue of peer response, especially that its ultimate benefits for ESL learners have not been yet established fully by researchers. However, consensus have been researched among researchers that CMC-based peer response should be seriously blended with face-to-face communication in the peer response process (Schultz, 2000; Hu, 2005; Liu and Sadler, 2003; Tuzi, 2004; DiGiovanni and Nagaswami, 2001).

Jiang Zemin :: essays research papers

Allen Bullock   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  HST 407  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  7/24/2003  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jiang Zemin, as the President of China, will be leading the world's most populous country into the 21st century. A new biography of Mr. Jiang describes him as an economic reformer but not a political reformer and as someone often mistakenly believed to have blundered his way to power. Bruce Gilley is the author of the first western full-length study of the Chinese leader. Historians, political scientists, and journalists hungry for reliable information about Chinese politics have to rely on official publications, and on the semiofficial and nonofficial accounts that bubble up in Hong Kong. These are the same methods of tracking and analyzing China's political movements that outsiders have used for decades. It is in this Byzantine context that Bruce Gilley has written Tiger on the Brink, a biography of Jiang Zemin and a highly readable account of modern Chinese politics. Unfortunately, Gilley is sharply limited by the same lack of access as every other student of Zhongnanhai. A correspondent for The Far Eastern Economic Review who covered China out of Hong Kong, Gilley has done an admirable job of scouring Chinese-language publications for tidbits about Jiang's personal background. But hamstrung by lack of information, this story of Jiang's decade at the top of China's Communist Party only partly satisfies. Tiger on the Brink is essentially a first-rate job. However, Gilley had to rely overwhelmingly on secondary sources; as he relates in the preface, the closest he ever got to his subject was when he ran into the portly president in the men's room at the Great Hall of the People. And Jiang left the restroom before a surprised Gilley could think of a question to ask. The big cat in the book's title apparently refers to China, not Jiang, for it is unlikely that anyone would ever mistake the genial and cautious leader portrayed by Gilley for such a ferocious creature. Gilley reinforces the assessment of Jiang as a politically slippery but tenacious survivor, less tiger than â€Å"Mr. Tiger Balm,† a moniker he once gave himself, which Gilley uses to head a chapter. Jiang Zemin emerges from this book as a skilled political tactician, who distinguished himself over nearly 50 years of Communist Party politics not as an intellectual or a fighter but by his ability to get along with superiors and inferiors alike, and by making use of an unsurpassed knack for currying favor with influential men.