Angels Demons Chapter 1-5

1 High atop the steps of the Pyramid of Giza a young woman laughed and called down to him. â€Å"Robert, hurry up! I knew I should have married a younger man!† Her smile was magic. He struggled to keep up, but his legs felt like stone. â€Å"Wait,† he begged. â€Å"Please†¦Ã¢â‚¬  As he climbed, his vision began to blur. There was a thundering in his ears. I must reach her! But when he looked up again, the woman had disappeared. In her place stood an old man with rotting teeth. The man stared down, curling his lips into a lonely grimace. Then he let out a scream of anguish that resounded across the desert. Robert Langdon awoke with a start from his nightmare. The phone beside his bed was ringing. Dazed, he picked up the receiver. â€Å"Hello?† â€Å"I'm looking for Robert Langdon,† a man's voice said. Langdon sat up in his empty bed and tried to clear his mind. â€Å"This†¦ is Robert Langdon.† He squinted at his digital clock. It was 5:18 A.M. â€Å"I must see you immediately.† â€Å"Who is this?† â€Å"My name is Maximilian Kohler. I'm a discrete particle physicist.† â€Å"A what?† Langdon could barely focus. â€Å"Are you sure you've got the right Langdon?† â€Å"You're a professor of religious iconology at Harvard University. You've written three books on symbology and – â€Å" â€Å"Do you know what time it is?† â€Å"I apologize. I have something you need to see. I can't discuss it on the phone.† A knowing groan escaped Langdon's lips. This had happened before. One of the perils of writing books about religious symbology was the calls from religious zealots who wanted him to confirm their latest sign from God. Last month a stripper from Oklahoma had promised Langdon the best sex of his life if he would fly down and verify the authenticity of a cruciform that had magically appeared on her bed sheets. The Shroud of Tulsa, Langdon had called it. â€Å"How did you get my number?† Langdon tried to be polite, despite the hour. â€Å"On the Worldwide Web. The site for your book.† Langdon frowned. He was damn sure his book's site did not include his home phone number. The man was obviously lying. â€Å"I need to see you,† the caller insisted. â€Å"I'll pay you well.† Now Langdon was getting mad. â€Å"I'm sorry, but I really – â€Å" â€Å"If you leave immediately, you can be here by – â€Å" â€Å"I'm not going anywhere! It's five o'clock in the morning!† Langdon hung up and collapsed back in bed. He closed his eyes and tried to fall back asleep. It was no use. The dream was emblazoned in his mind. Reluctantly, he put on his robe and went downstairs. Robert Langdon wandered barefoot through his deserted Massachusetts Victorian home and nursed his ritual insomnia remedy – a mug of steaming Nestle's Quik. The April moon filtered through the bay windows and played on the oriental carpets. Langdon's colleagues often joked that his place looked more like an anthropology museum than a home. His shelves were packed with religious artifacts from around the world – an ekuaba from Ghana, a gold cross from Spain, a cycladic idol from the Aegean, and even a rare woven boccus from Borneo, a young warrior's symbol of perpetual youth. As Langdon sat on his brass Maharishi's chest and savored the warmth of the chocolate, the bay window caught his reflection. The image was distorted and pale†¦ like a ghost. An aging ghost, he thought, cruelly reminded that his youthful spirit was living in a mortal shell. Although not overly handsome in a classical sense, the forty-five-year-old Langdon had what his female colleagues referred to as an â€Å"erudite† appeal – wisps of gray in his thick brown hair, probing blue eyes, an arrestingly deep voice, and the strong, carefree smile of a collegiate athlete. A varsity diver in prep school and college, Langdon still had the body of a swimmer, a toned, six-foot physique that he vigilantly maintained with fifty laps a day in the university pool. Langdon's friends had always viewed him as a bit of an enigma – a man caught between centuries. On weekends he could be seen lounging on the quad in blue jeans, discussing computer graphics or religious history with students; other times he could be spotted in his Harris tweed and paisley vest, photographed in the pages of upscale art magazines at museum openings where he had been asked to lecture. Although a tough teacher and strict disciplinarian, Langdon was the first to embrace what he hailed as the â€Å"lost art of good clean fun.† He relished recreation with an infectious fanaticism that had earned him a fraternal acceptance among his students. His campus nickname – â€Å"The Dolphin† – was a reference both to his affable nature and his legendary ability to dive into a pool and outmaneuver the entire opposing squad in a water polo match. As Langdon sat alone, absently gazing into the darkness, the silence of his home was shattered again, this time by the ring of his fax machine. Too exhausted to be annoyed, Langdon forced a tired chuckle. God's people, he thought. Two thousand years of waiting for their Messiah, and they're still persistent as hell. Wearily, he returned his empty mug to the kitchen and walked slowly to his oak-paneled study. The incoming fax lay in the tray. Sighing, he scooped up the paper and looked at it. Instantly, a wave of nausea hit him. The image on the page was that of a human corpse. The body had been stripped naked, and its head had been twisted, facing completely backward. On the victim's chest was a terrible burn. The man had been branded†¦ imprinted with a single word. It was a word Langdon knew well. Very well. He stared at the ornate lettering in disbelief. Angels & Demons â€Å"Illuminati,† he stammered, his heart pounding. It can't be†¦ In slow motion, afraid of what he was about to witness, Langdon rotated the fax 180 degrees. He looked at the word upside down. Instantly, the breath went out of him. It was like he had been hit by a truck. Barely able to believe his eyes, he rotated the fax again, reading the brand right-side up and then upside down. â€Å"Illuminati,† he whispered. Stunned, Langdon collapsed in a chair. He sat a moment in utter bewilderment. Gradually, his eyes were drawn to the blinking red light on his fax machine. Whoever had sent this fax was still on the line†¦ waiting to talk. Langdon gazed at the blinking light a long time. Then, trembling, he picked up the receiver. 2 â€Å"Do I have your attention now?† the man's voice said when Langdon finally answered the line. â€Å"Yes, sir, you damn well do. You want to explain yourself?† â€Å"I tried to tell you before.† The voice was rigid, mechanical. â€Å"I'm a physicist. I run a research facility. We've had a murder. You saw the body.† â€Å"How did you find me?† Langdon could barely focus. His mind was racing from the image on the fax. â€Å"I already told you. The Worldwide Web. The site for your book, The Art of the Illuminati.† Langdon tried to gather his thoughts. His book was virtually unknown in mainstream literary circles, but it had developed quite a following on-line. Nonetheless, the caller's claim still made no sense. â€Å"That page has no contact information,† Langdon challenged. â€Å"I'm certain of it.† â€Å"I have people here at the lab very adept at extracting user information from the Web.† Langdon was skeptical. â€Å"Sounds like your lab knows a lot about the Web.† â€Å"We should,† the man fired back. â€Å"We invented it.† Something in the man's voice told Langdon he was not joking. â€Å"I must see you,† the caller insisted. â€Å"This is not a matter we can discuss on the phone. My lab is only an hour's flight from Boston.† Langdon stood in the dim light of his study and analyzed the fax in his hand. The image was overpowering, possibly representing the epigraphical find of the century, a decade of his research confirmed in a single symbol. â€Å"It's urgent,† the voice pressured. Langdon's eyes were locked on the brand. Illuminati, he read over and over. His work had always been based on the symbolic equivalent of fossils – ancient documents and historical hearsay – but this image before him was today. Present tense. He felt like a paleontologist coming face to face with a living dinosaur. â€Å"I've taken the liberty of sending a plane for you,† the voice said. â€Å"It will be in Boston in twenty minutes.† Langdon felt his mouth go dry. An hour's flight†¦ â€Å"Please forgive my presumption,† the voice said. â€Å"I need you here.† Langdon looked again at the fax – an ancient myth confirmed in black and white. The implications were frightening. He gazed absently through the bay window. The first hint of dawn was sifting through the birch trees in his backyard, but the view looked somehow different this morning. As an odd combination of fear and exhilaration settled over him, Langdon knew he had no choice. â€Å"You win,† he said. â€Å"Tell me where to meet the plane.† 3 Thousands of miles away, two men were meeting. The chamber was dark. Medieval. Stone. â€Å"Benvenuto,† the man in charge said. He was seated in the shadows, out of sight. â€Å"Were you successful?† â€Å"Si,† the dark figure replied. â€Å"Perfectamente.† His words were as hard as the rock walls. â€Å"And there will be no doubt who is responsible?† â€Å"None.† â€Å"Superb. Do you have what I asked for?† The killer's eyes glistened, black like oil. He produced a heavy electronic device and set it on the table. The man in the shadows seemed pleased. â€Å"You have done well.† â€Å"Serving the brotherhood is an honor,† the killer said. â€Å"Phase two begins shortly. Get some rest. Tonight we change the world.† 4 Robert Langdon's Saab 900S tore out of the Callahan Tunnel and emerged on the east side of Boston Harbor near the entrance to Logan Airport. Checking his directions Langdon found Aviation Road and turned left past the old Eastern Airlines Building. Three hundred yards down the access road a hangar loomed in the darkness. A large number 4 was painted on it. He pulled into the parking lot and got out of his car. A round-faced man in a blue flight suit emerged from behind the building. â€Å"Robert Langdon?† he called. The man's voice was friendly. He had an accent Langdon couldn't place. â€Å"That's me,† Langdon said, locking his car. â€Å"Perfect timing,† the man said. â€Å"I've just landed. Follow me, please.† As they circled the building, Langdon felt tense. He was not accustomed to cryptic phone calls and secret rendezvous with strangers. Not knowing what to expect he had donned his usual classroom attire – a pair of chinos, a turtleneck, and a Harris tweed suit jacket. As they walked, he thought about the fax in his jacket pocket, still unable to believe the image it depicted. The pilot seemed to sense Langdon's anxiety. â€Å"Flying's not a problem for you, is it, sir?† â€Å"Not at all,† Langdon replied. Branded corpses are a problem for me. Flying I can handle. The man led Langdon the length of the hangar. They rounded the corner onto the runway. Langdon stopped dead in his tracks and gaped at the aircraft parked on the tarmac. â€Å"We're riding in that?† The man grinned. â€Å"Like it?† Langdon stared a long moment. â€Å"Like it? What the hell is it?† The craft before them was enormous. It was vaguely reminiscent of the space shuttle except that the top had been shaved off, leaving it perfectly flat. Parked there on the runway, it resembled a colossal wedge. Langdon's first impression was that he must be dreaming. The vehicle looked as airworthy as a Buick. The wings were practically nonexistent – just two stubby fins on the rear of the fuselage. A pair of dorsal guiders rose out of the aft section. The rest of the plane was hull – about 200 feet from front to back – no windows, nothing but hull. â€Å"Two hundred fifty thousand kilos fully fueled,† the pilot offered, like a father bragging about his newborn. â€Å"Runs on slush hydrogen. The shell's a titanium matrix with silicon carbide fibers. She packs a 20:1 thrust/weight ratio; most jets run at 7:1. The director must be in one helluva a hurry to see you. He doesn't usually send the big boy.† â€Å"This thing flies?† Langdon said. The pilot smiled. â€Å"Oh yeah.† He led Langdon across the tarmac toward the plane. â€Å"Looks kind of startling, I know, but you better get used to it. In five years, all you'll see are these babies – HSCT's – High Speed Civil Transports. Our lab's one of the first to own one.† Must be one hell of a lab, Langdon thought. â€Å"This one's a prototype of the Boeing X-33,† the pilot continued, â€Å"but there are dozens of others – the National Aero Space Plane, the Russians have Scramjet, the Brits have HOTOL. The future's here, it's just taking some time to get to the public sector. You can kiss conventional jets good-bye.† Langdon looked up warily at the craft. â€Å"I think I'd prefer a conventional jet.† The pilot motioned up the gangplank. â€Å"This way, please, Mr. Langdon. Watch your step.† Minutes later, Langdon was seated inside the empty cabin. The pilot buckled him into the front row and disappeared toward the front of the aircraft. The cabin itself looked surprisingly like a wide-body commercial airliner. The only exception was that it had no windows, which made Langdon uneasy. He had been haunted his whole life by a mild case of claustrophobia – the vestige of a childhood incident he had never quite overcome. Langdon's aversion to closed spaces was by no means debilitating, but it had always frustrated him. It manifested itself in subtle ways. He avoided enclosed sports like racquetball or squash, and he had gladly paid a small fortune for his airy, high-ceilinged Victorian home even though economical faculty housing was readily available. Langdon had often suspected his attraction to the art world as a young boy sprang from his love of museums' wide open spaces. The engines roared to life beneath him, sending a deep shudder through the hull. Langdon swallowed hard and waited. He felt the plane start taxiing. Piped-in country music began playing quietly overhead. A phone on the wall beside him beeped twice. Langdon lifted the receiver. â€Å"Hello?† â€Å"Comfortable, Mr. Langdon?† â€Å"Not at all.† â€Å"Just relax. We'll be there in an hour.† â€Å"And where exactly is there?† Langdon asked, realizing he had no idea where he was headed. â€Å"Geneva,† the pilot replied, revving the engines. â€Å"The lab's in Geneva.† â€Å"Geneva,† Langdon repeated, feeling a little better. â€Å"Upstate New York. I've actually got family near Seneca Lake. I wasn't aware Geneva had a physics lab.† The pilot laughed. â€Å"Not Geneva, New York, Mr. Langdon. Geneva, Switzerland.† The word took a long moment to register. â€Å"Switzerland?† Langdon felt his pulse surge. â€Å"I thought you said the lab was only an hour away!† â€Å"It is, Mr. Langdon.† The pilot chuckled. â€Å"This plane goes Mach fifteen.† 5 On a busy European street, the killer serpentined through a crowd. He was a powerful man. Dark and potent. Deceptively agile. His muscles still felt hard from the thrill of his meeting. It went well, he told himself. Although his employer had never revealed his face, the killer felt honored to be in his presence. Had it really been only fifteen days since his employer had first made contact? The killer still remembered every word of that call†¦ â€Å"My name is Janus,† the caller had said. â€Å"We are kinsmen of a sort. We share an enemy. I hear your skills are for hire.† â€Å"It depends whom you represent,† the killer replied. The caller told him. â€Å"Is this your idea of a joke?† â€Å"You have heard our name, I see,† the caller replied. â€Å"Of course. The brotherhood is legendary.† â€Å"And yet you find yourself doubting I am genuine.† â€Å"Everyone knows the brothers have faded to dust.† â€Å"A devious ploy. The most dangerous enemy is that which no one fears.† The killer was skeptical. â€Å"The brotherhood endures?† â€Å"Deeper underground than ever before. Our roots infiltrate everything you see†¦ even the sacred fortress of our most sworn enemy.† â€Å"Impossible. They are invulnerable.† â€Å"Our reach is far.† â€Å"No one's reach is that far.† â€Å"Very soon, you will believe. An irrefutable demonstration of the brotherhood's power has already transpired. A single act of treachery and proof.† â€Å"What have you done?† The caller told him. The killer's eyes went wide. â€Å"An impossible task.† The next day, newspapers around the globe carried the same headline. The killer became a believer. Now, fifteen days later, the killer's faith had solidified beyond the shadow of a doubt. The brotherhood endures, he thought. Tonight they will surface to reveal their power. As he made his way through the streets, his black eyes gleamed with foreboding. One of the most covert and feared fraternities ever to walk the earth had called on him for service. They have chosen wisely, he thought. His reputation for secrecy was exceeded only by that of his deadliness. So far, he had served them nobly. He had made his kill and delivered the item to Janus as requested. Now, it was up to Janus to use his power to ensure the item's placement. The placement†¦ The killer wondered how Janus could possibly handle such a staggering task. The man obviously had connections on the inside. The brotherhood's dominion seemed limitless. Janus, the killer thought. A code name, obviously. Was it a reference, he wondered, to the Roman two-faced god†¦ or to the moon of Saturn? Not that it made any difference. Janus wielded unfathomable power. He had proven that beyond a doubt. As the killer walked, he imagined his ancestors smiling down on him. Today he was fighting their battle, he was fighting the same enemy they had fought for ages, as far back as the eleventh century†¦ when the enemy's crusading armies had first pillaged his land, raping and killing his people, declaring them unclean, defiling their temples and gods. His ancestors had formed a small but deadly army to defend themselves. The army became famous across the land as protectors – skilled executioners who wandered the countryside slaughtering any of the enemy they could find. They were renowned not only for their brutal killings, but also for celebrating their slayings by plunging themselves into drug-induced stupors. Their drug of choice was a potent intoxicant they called hashish. As their notoriety spread, these lethal men became known by a single word – Hassassin – literally â€Å"the followers of hashish.† The name Hassassin became synonymous with death in almost every language on earth. The word was still used today, even in modern English†¦ but like the craft of killing, the word had evolved. It was now pronounced assassin.

Curriculum Integration

Curriculum integration  has been identified among the most revolutionary pedagogical strategies in the interdisciplinary approach to education. Julie Thompson Klein (2006) explained that in curriculum integration,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Disciplinary and subject boundaries are blurred and connections magnified†¦Integration becomes the purpose of education, not simply a tool. In student-centered curricula, the students’ worlds, not a school- or government-mandated syllabus, become the heart of learning.Students even participate in selecting the themes and problems they will study, and they often work together collaboratively. †Ã‚  (Klein 2006, p. 14). Educators first explored the concept of integrating curriculum in the 1890s. Over the years, there have been numerous educational researchers, e. g. , Susan Drake, Heidi Hayes Jacobs, James Beane and Gordon Vars, who have described various interpretations of curriculum integration, referring to the curriculum as interwoven, connect ed, thematic, interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, correlated, linked and holistic.Many educators, e. g. , Robin Fogarty, go beyond a single definition of curriculum integration and view it instead as a continuum. Furthermore, curriculum integration aims to improve students’ interdisciplinary understanding, defined as  Ã¢â‚¬Å"the capacity to integrate knowledge and modes of thinking in two or more disciplines to produce cognitive advancement – e. g. explaining a phenomenon, solving a problem, creating a product, raising a new question – in ways that would have been unlikely through single disciplinary means. †Ã‚  (Klein 2006, p. 5) While the true origins of the theory of integration are numerous and wide-ranging, a general consensus identifies the work of German educator Johann Herbart (1776-1841) as the â€Å"germ† of the modern integration movement. From Herbartian beginnings, the first half of the twentieth century saw a development of curricu lum integration through the project approach, core curriculum movement, and problem-centered core curricula (Klein 2006). Each involved varying levels of priority shifting from separate subject knowledge acquisition to problem-solving experiences that integrated disciplinary learning.That period also reflected the influence of John Dewey’s views on the social purposes of education. Educators interested in integration began to consider the school’s role in expanding democracy and encouraging the development of values and skills necessary for the â€Å"common life. † (Beane 1997) Beane (1997) defined curriculum integration as  Ã¢â‚¬Å"curriculum design that is concerned with enhancing the possibilities for personal and social integration through the organization of curriculum around significant problems and issues, collaboratively identified by educators and young people, without regard for subject area boundaries.   (Beane 1997, p. x-xi) Teachers who adopt thi s kind of curriculum have to make several shifts in the traditional teacher-student relationship, such as sharing decision making with students, focusing more on student concerns than predetermined content guidelines, learning along with students in unfamiliar areas, and taking student constructions of meaning seriously. The upside to taking on such a challenging role is the improved relations with students in these classrooms.By placing students at the center of all learning endeavors, these teachers tend to have fewer curricular conflicts and classroom management issues. (Beane 1997) Curriculum integration is clearly far from taking the easy road, but it may well be worth it. Curriculum integration can be described as an approach to teaching and learning that is based on both philosophy and practicality. It can generally be defined as a curriculum approach that purposefully draws together knowledge, skills, attitudes and values from within or across subject areas to develop a more powerful understanding of key ideas.Curriculum integration occurs when components of the curriculum are connected and related in meaningful ways by both the students and teachers. Curriculum integration is more than a clustering of related learning outcomes. The selection of learning experiences should be based on the extent to which they promote progress or broaden and confirm understanding. There is no one best way to integrate the curriculum; however, the following key requirements should be met for successful integration.

Non-Profit Marketing- Problems and Future Challenges

Marketing is being blamed for creating materialism in society and also for creating unnecessary demand for Products and Services, which the customer would not have asked for. It is because of marketing that the suppressed desires of the materialistic world take over the moral man and loads into being a hedonist.But people also feel that marketing is responsible for what has happened to the world over the years and what will happen in the future. People belonging to their school of thought are of the opinion that marketing creates surplus in the form of profit and profit making organization in turn, spend their returns on designing and development product and services, which enhanced the standard of living of people and deliver desired value to consumers.The latter school is guided by Adam Smith’s principles of ‘Invisible Hand: Both the schools of thought try to rationalize the existence of marketing as an economic process, either to create and distribute value or to deli ver value to consumers. The scope of business was confined to economic transactions between the producer and marketers. Though each of them part of the social Institutions and operated under social framework and structure, it was realized very late that marketing can also be used to address social issues.In a traditional sense, marketing is broadly defined as process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of Ideas products and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals. A broader definition of marketing delved into the process of social exchange in which both producers and marketers looked into the effects of product conception development, design, distribution and delivery of products from social point of view.Marketers also started viewing marketing tools and strategy as vehicles for application in the context of non-business enterprises like government, public sector and charities. Here onwards marketing wa s looked as a change vehicle and potent weapon for bringing desired effects on responsible corporate social behavior use of marketing tools in the social context started in the middle of the last century when organization with and without profit motives started mass campaigns for a cause or an idea.A successful social information campaign should have a high level of monopoly so that there should not be any contradicting messages to the objective of the campaign. However, many of the social campaigns in a free society have complementary or alternate campaign, which do not allow them to have certain level of monopoly. Let us take an example of an anti-smoking campaign. Though the message, â€Å"smoking causes cancer† is evident everywhere and firms marketing tobacco-related products mention this line over their products, but there are campaigns on cigarettes and liquor that promote lifestyle patterns.Mass and information-oriented campaigns depend on the favorable public attitud e. Pre-existing attitudes are easier to reinforce than to change. Non – Business Marketing The Non- business Marketing involves marketing activities carried out by individuals and organizations to achieves some goals other than normal business goals explained in the form of returns on investments, growth or increase in the profit. We can classify non –business marketing as social marketing and non – profit marketing Types of Non-Business Marketing Social Marketing Concept for Non-Profit Organization [NPO]Non-profit organizations work the motto of sub serving social interests. They may or may not charge for the services offered. The defined principal of social marketing makes it essential that the organizations where the conceptualization process is to switch on place social interests at the top of the agenda. The policy and strategic decisions of non-profit organizations while conceptualizing marketing focuses on satisfaction of consumers irrespective of the fac t that they pay for the services offered or are offered free of cost services .Social marketing is an activity of the non-profit organization. We find social marketing employing the use of the marketing concept in an effort to persuade consumers to accept social ideas beneficial to society at large. These organizations vary from the trade and professional associations to community, national and international organizations. We find non-profit organization dealing with two basic market segments – Donors and Clients. They subscribe to the objectives that cannot be measured in financial terms. They are concerned with the people, places and ideas as well as product and services.The donors may or may not necessarily receive any products to note services in exchange for donations/contributions. It is also significant that non-profit organizations offer products/services to those in need and even may not be able to absorb the cost of the product/services. For example the services off ered by an educational and health institutions occupy a place of outstanding significance and it is against this background that citizens of a country have a right users of services can’t be uniform and therefore they are supposed to work with the motto of serving the society without making profit.Because we find these services , of late , depending upon the supporting infrastructural facilities known as inputs, these service institutions engaged in offering the aid have a to generate surpluses so that the expansion, development, modernization programmes are practiced to activate the process of qualitative –cum- quantitative transformation. It is in this context that we find these institutions working as a non-profit organization. More over we can’t neglect the instrumentally of health services for the survival and growth of human beings.The basic medical aid is considered to be a fundamental right of all citizens of the country. It is but natural that all segme nts of society are not in a position to afford the medical services if we find hospitals making profits. Of course, they need time honored development which requires infrastructural support. In other hand it is responsibility of non-profit organizations and the governments create awareness on blind beliefs, safe sex, cotangential diseases and social evils. Social organizations bear the responsibility of regulating the government policies, these institutions are come forward and safeguard the social interest.They are extended multi-dimensional support through different categories of organizations for that very purpose. If they start making profits, the social interests would not be protected. Thus, we find Social Welfare Organizations is working as a Non-Profit Organizations because they don’t have a legitimate right to make profit. Non- Profit Organizations- Marketing [NPO-Marketing] We are well aware of instrumentality of non-profit organizations in sub serving social intere sts. This draws our attention on the professional excellence of people managing such organization.Because we find marketing a managerial process, it is essential that professional managing the affairs is made aware of the positive contribution of nonprofit organizations and develop marketing resources in the face of evolving changes. The formulation of a sound marketing mix becomes significant when we think of conceptualizing and implementing modern marketing principles in non-profit organizations. A professionally sound manager bears the efficiency of developing marketing resources in tune with the changing levels of expectations and therefore the task of satisfying the users become easier.We also find marketing a social process to be more specific while managing the non-profit organizations. It is right to mention that social marketing governs marketing of non-profit organizations because policy decision makers are supposed to formulate such a policy as to safeguard social interes ts. The professionals responsible for conceptualization and implementation bear the responsibility of formulating a strategy opening new vistas for social transformation.The marketers, while promoting the interests of users, need to make sure that directly or indirectly, the policies or strategies are not to obstruct the process of social welfare. Of course they also need to protect organizational interests because we can’t think of raising the contributions of non-profit organization to the process of social transformation unless they are financially sound. So, it is essential that marketers managing the affairs are well aware of the avenues for the mobilization of financial resources.EXISTANCE PROBLEMS BEFORE NON-PROFIT SECTOR A majority of the non-profit organizations are today facing image problems of high magnitude. They are facing the problem of professional deficiency. Financial crunch has made them potentially insolvent. The infrastructural constraints, managerial def iciency, lack of dedicated and committed people, decreasing contributions towards social transformation, increasing domination of social climbers, increasing insensitivity among different segments of society, large scale misuse of funds have fuelled the process of egeneration and the situations are found explosive. We find different types of non-profit organizations, viz. , organizations such as Religious, Social Cultural, Knowledge, Protective, and Philanthropic, Political and Social today facing critical problems, not only in India but also in the globe. While we realize the outstanding contributions of non-profit organizations in the welfare activities, we find them in poor condition. The management legends feel that whatever problems we notice can be resolved if professionals take part in the innovation process.They strongly advocate in favors of developing the non-business sector with the help of world-class professionals. As of today, the multi-faceted challenges have made the m potentially weak. 1. Problem of Professional Deficiency Professional excellence will help in bringing the derailed systems back on its track. Of late most of the non-profit organizations face the problem of managerial deficiency. Financial resources are inadequate and whatever is generated is being mismanaged and misused. The traditionally managed units are facing strategically and tactical problems.They are controlled and dominated by social climbers. Bureaucrats dominate the management and control processes with ulterior motives and mission. Virtually a majority of them are at a collapsing stage needing a special care of the professionals. The world class professionals may contribute significantly to the development processes and the non-profit organizations may witness qualitative improvements. 2. Infrastructural constraints The non-profit organizations have been facing the problem of infrastructural constraints. Since they are not making profits, the infrastructural facilities are minimal.The government or infrastructural industries do not extend to them adequate support. Of late, infrastructural facilities have been playing a lead role in improving the quality of services but due to inadequacy of infrastructure, they find it difficult to generate funds. This naturally has adversely affected the quality of their services and aggravating the image problem. They are unable to offer even key core services. 3. Lack of dedicated and committed people A majority of the non-profit organizations are facing the problem of nadequacy of quality people when they are not professionally sound, how we can expect from them personal commitment and value orientation. The development is a natural phenomenon. Education and training facilities should be of world class otherwise there can be no question of making available to the various sectors quality people without which all out efforts prove to be the effective. An organization dominated by non-performers can’t surv ive. The NPOs, of course, do not realize the instrumentality of quality people in the process of qualitative or quantitative transformation. 4.Increasing domination of social climbers It is unfortunate that social climbers are dominating the management and control of a majority of the non-profit organizations. If professionals replace social climbers the present and future of an organization can be positive. Degeneration in the working of political organizations has led to this sorry state. The mafias, antisocial elements, criminals have started handling the political organizations who are responsible for formulating sound policies. The policy and strategic decisions made by the anti-social elements have thrown the organizations in the reverse gear.Political parties, non-government organizations, trade unions, educational institutions and the police department have failed in the discharge of their duties since they are dominated by the vested interests like social climbers and mafia s. 5. Increasing insensitivity among masses The most significant reason aggravating the magnitude of the problem is increasing in sensitivity among different segments of the society. Nobody considers it significant to perceive the problems correctly. All of us find it difficult to confront the mafias and anti-social elements. So, they are dominating a majority of the organizations.How we can forecast the future of non-profit organizations. Non-profit organization can contribute substantially to the process of social welfare, if masses are sensitive to the issues as otherwise all the development processes will receive only Luke-warm or even negative response. Mass-participation is an effective prescription to resolve the problems of the society. 6. Large-scale misuse of funds Willingly or unwillingly, we have to accept that a majority of the non-profit organizations are involved in promoting misuse of funds. This is because they are dominated by the social climbers.Fraudulent and unf air practices, unregulated, unproductive expenses are aggravating the problem of financial crunch which is instrumental in the formation of a vicious circle. Since they misuse funds, the donors and potential donors are reluctant to come forward with donations. The mobilization of donors is now complicated and the most important reason is the rampant misuse of funds by the Non-profit Organizations. 7. Decreasing contributions to the society A number of non-profit organizations have not made any significant contributions to the development process.The task of social transformation is their responsibility but they are not to increase their contributions. This has made it difficult for them to get public recognition. Contribution of an individual or an organization is closely related to their potentials and if they are potentially bankrupt, we cannot expect anything concrete from them. This problem indicates that the non-profit or non-business sector is facing numerous problems. We find different types of NPOs and in the Indian context by and large most of them are sailing in the same boat.In the coming years, the magnitude of problem is likely to aggregate because nobody seems interested in resolving the issues. The non-profit organizations thus need an effective prescription, based on a big push theory, in which aggressive marketing practices can be effective. Since it is a social problem, social participation is a must. Mass-participation for mass-welfare will be helpful in different ways. FUTURE CHLENGES OF NON-PROFIT ORGANISATIONS [NPOs] IN INDIA NPOs are facing several problems and this delays their redressed are and even there is no bright future.In the Indian context where the people are depending on the contributions of non-profit organizations, rational solutions alone can improve their functioning. Against this background, the non-profit organizations should resort to innovative marketing practices. If we look into some of the important non-profit organ izations, their performance results are very disappointing. ?Non-Government Organizations [NGOs] What Do Non-governmental Organizations Do? Nongovernmental organizations are one group of players who are active in the efforts of international development and increasing the welfare of poor people in poor countries.Nongovernmental organizations are largely staffed by altruistic employees and volunteers working towards ideological, rather than financial, ends. Their founders are often intense, creative individuals who sometimes come up with a new product to deliver or a better way to deliver existing goods and services. They are funded by donors, many of them poor or anonymous. Yet these attributes should not be unfamiliar to economists. Development NGOs, like domestic nonprofits, can be understood in the framework of not-for-profit contracting.It is easy to conjure up a glowing vision of how the efforts of NGOs could focus on problem solving without getting bogged down in corruption or bureaucracy. But the strengths of the NGO model have some corresponding weaknesses—in agenda setting, decision making, and resource allocation. We highlight three factors in explaining the increased presence of NGOs in the last few decades: a trend towards more outsourcing of government services; new ventures by would-be not-for-profit â€Å"entrepreneurs†; and the increasing professionalization of existing NGOs.The prime responsibility of a government is to promote social welfare so that weaker segment and neglected region of the country get an opportunity to develop; but in the large and high populated courtiers it is not possible to the government to look after all the sections of the society and the government endorsed some of the welfare programes to the trusted and registered NGOs. In India, we observed that the large numbers of NGOs are involving different type’s welfare programmes in different areas in the country.The objective of any mission is to prom ote social interests by offering a number of services to various segments of society in the country. In this process, they get financial aid and other incentives from government, foreign donors, international and national agencies. Of late, there is negative trend since a majority of the NGOs work with different motives. The domination of social climbers in according and approving grants has virtually changed the scenario. A good number of international and national NGOs i. e.UNDP, CARE-India, World Vision, Action Aid, Plan International, YMCA, CHAI, States Lively Hood Projects, RASS-Tirupathi, ARTIC-Srikakulam, THREAD-Orissa, BASIX-Hyderabad, Ajim Preamjee Foundation and BCT-Visakhapatnam only exist on papers. With the support of political leaders and bureaucrats, they succeed in transforming even the profit-making bodies in the NGOs. The recent report of CAPART bears testimony to this almost all the states, the NGOs have proved to be liability because except a very few cases, almo st all of them are engaged in maturing malpractices.The unfair practices promoted by the social climbers and a few the bureaucrats lead to unhealthy development. The sanction and approval of the projects are seldom based on the potentials of persons to promote and manage the project but on the pressure and influence they can wield. No one is opposed to the development of NGOs since this help the downtrodden communities, women & Child, HIV/AIDS and neglected regions; but the unfair practices should be eliminated. Against this background, there are cases in favor of conceptualizing social marketing by the NGOs.The NGOs have no legal right to make profits. Therefore, the professionals, with innovative marketing practices, should try to improve their working conditions so that they can contribute significantly to the development process and succeed in removing the image problem. The marketing professionals involved in the process will be able to achieve qualitative improvements with the help of an innovative service mix. Currently, the NGOs are facing numerous problems.The increasing influence of social climbers and wrong people in the power corridors should be minimized and this is possible only when we assign due weight age to the approval and sanction process. The professionals, policy makers, promoters, social reformist and activists have to determine the priority areas for future success. ?Educational Institutions In the category of non-profit organizations, we find educational institutions playing an outstanding role. At almost all the levels, educational institutions experience numerous problems. The state policy makers should herefore think over the problem on a priority basis. At the primary, secondary and higher levels, the educational institutions are in a depleted condition. How can we talk about the government managed institutions when a majority of the private institutions present a very gloomy picture? On the one hand, there is a change in the educa tion system because in today’s conditions, expensive infrastructural facilities play an important role in improving the quality of education but because of paucity of fund, they find it is difficult to develop even the basic infrastructural facilities.The libraries, labs, supporting infrastructural facilities and the quality of faculty play an important role in improving the quality of education, but a majority of the government managed educational institutions find it difficult to promote the quality of their service mix, party, on account of financial crunch and partly because of professional deficiency. With an increasing pressure of population, the demand is increasing. The users and potential users have high expectations since they witness their counterparts elsewhere in the world available of world class educational facilities which are denied to them.Weaker sections of the society and the illiterate segments need educational assistance as they cannot afford the expensi ve educational facilities offered by some of the privately managed schools and colleges. The universities also present the same picture. Right from the primary to the higher, almost all the centers are in a poor condition and two important reasons obstructing them are inadequacy of finance and lack of professional excellence. The syllabi of the traditionally managed educational institutions are not in tune with the emerging trends and evolving developments.There is no corresponding relation between the formal and informal education, leading to a number of allied problems. The public fail to get informal education and this obstructs the process of developing quality people. The limited number of people getting education in the world class institutions may be professionally sound but a majority of them lack informal education. They are totally unaware of traffic and civic sense and aesthetic values which keep them ignorant of work culture, conviction and commitment.So, it is necessary that educational institutions in general make ensure that both the streams of imparting educational assistance, formal and informal, are given due importance. A majority of the problems are due to inadequacy of finance and the process of mobilization of financial resources is difficult. The image problem is obstructing their professionalized efforts. They find it difficult to raise the fee structure and the donors and potential donors are disinterested in their problems. The grants from government or other agencies have shrunk.Thus they are facing a number of problems on the financial front. There appears to be no way for an improvement in their financial position. It is against this background that we recommend the urgency of conceptualizing social marketing principles by these educational institutions. Professionalize services open the doors for multi-dimensional improvements. The marketing professionals using innovative marketing strategy will be able to improve their position. Of late there has been an attitudinal change as the parents in general are quite interested in quality education.In a majority of the cases they prefer to avail of quality services even if the fee structure is high. Of late expenditure on education is considered a productive investment and this has led to a qualitative transformation. Financial institutions and commercial banks are now evincing interest in resolving the problems of the weaker sections of the society who are not unable to afford expensive quality services. Where the educational institutions are performing well and playing a positive role in the development of quality people, it is quite natural that people develop a positive attitude towards them.This will also motivate the donors and potential donors since they witness productive use of their money. This broadens the avenues for the mobilization of financial resources. Since they have been making positive contributions to the process of development, the government w ould also evince interest in providing adequate grants. Then the social welfare organizations too would come forward to solve their financial problems. The marketing professionals, with the help of a sound service mix, will be successful in improving the quality of the core and peripheral services.The core services can help them in regaining the lost image, while the peripheral services will add additional attractions to their service-mix. When the educational institutions find themselves financially sound, development requirements will be conveniently fulfilled. The marketing professionals will find it easier to promote since they have made positive contributions. The public will become aware of the outstanding performance of the educational institutions leading to a better mage. The fee structure should be made optimal to improve the financial health of the educational institutions. The users will not hesitate to invest because they find justifications for the same. The infrastruc tural facilities can be enriched and the development of faculty would get due attention Thus, the marketing professionals can play a positive role and the educational institutions would emerge as an industry contributing significantly to the process of developing quality people.The mission will then be achieved since the vision has changed. The organizational goals of improving the quality, satisfying the users, developing the educational institution and increasing the number of satisfied group of users can conveniently be accomplished with the removal of image problem and the educational institutions will start contributing significantly to the process of human capital formation vis-a-vis socio-economic transformation. ConclusionTo strengthening the Non-profit/Not-for-Profit/NGOs sector through a radical restructuring of the government machinery, a radical change in the prevailing mindset of policy makers and corporative giants and a radical reallocation of resources in order to ma ke the people themselves the principal authors of their own future. They must be provided easy access to economic advantages they frequently are not entitled to benefit. They must not be treated as beggars/slavers and dependent downtrodden segments of society but as equal partners.Such a dramatic change requires a vigorous, broad-based participatory dialogue and committed leadership- leadership with clear vision and daunting courage.References: 1. Marketing Management –Second Edition-Tapan K Panda-Excel Books, New Delhi 2. Marketing Non-Profit Organizations –First Edition- S. M. Jha-Himalaya Publishing, Mumbai 3. Educational Marketing- Services Marketing -2002- S. M. Jha-Himalaya Publishing House, Mumbai 4. Marketing for Non-Profit Organizations- 2004-P. kotler-PHI 5. CAPART Reporting – Floating NGO is Good Business-TOI/23/10/01

White Collar Crime Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

White Collar Crime - Essay Example White collar crimes are a major threat to economic development in any country or society, as they are much more difficult to track and prevent. This is due to the fact that they are perpetrated by men and women of high social status and integrity, who use positions entrusted to them to facilitate criminal activities either for personal or corporate gains. Such crimes include and not limited to corruption, identity theft, tax evasion and embezzlement among others such as money laundering (Simon & Eitzen, 2000). This paper is a critical evaluation of white collar crimes as compared to conventional crimes. White Collar Crimes White-collar crime is a terminology which was first used by Edwin Sutherland to define criminal activities perpetrated by men and women of high social status, whose occupations facilitate them with an avenue to commit crime (Friedrichs, 2003). In this context, these people use their positions and influence to attain financial gains at the expense of their employers . For example, a government minister may use his position to influence the awarding of tenders in his or her ministry, so as to favor certain individuals who would be willing to reward the minister for doing so. This may be done at the expense of other more deserving and experienced contractors. In such a circumstance, the minister will have committed a serious white-collar crime punishable by law i.e. corruption. One of the major characteristics of this type of crime is that it is nonviolent. This is due to the fact that it occurs in a legitimate environment in which the perpetrator will seem to be conducting normal business (Pontell, 2002). For example, a traffic police officer carries out the duties of ensuring that road users obey and observe traffic rules. In the course of performing his duties, he may be forced to arrest a driver for breaking one of the rules. In this context, the officer by virtue of his position as a law enforcer has two choices which he can make i.e. either to arrest and detain the driver or to come to an agreement which may entail accepting money in exchange with the driver’s freedom i.e. accepting bribery. This is as opposed to conventional crimes, such as robbery, murder, rape among others, which are committed with a sense of violence in them. This is due to the fact that in such crimes, perpetrators have to contest with their victims so as to benefit from the process. A bank robber for example will have to use a gun so as to scare his victims and if he feels threatened, he may be forced to shoot. The same case happens to rapists and carjackers, who must use force so as to subdue their victims. Based on these issues, it becomes much easier for these crimes to be detected as they will always involve witnesses, who in turn will report to the authorities (Reiman, 1998). On the contrary, white collar crimes are difficult to detect and therefore will mostly go unreported maybe until when it is too late. For example, a person may not have to appear physically in a bank so as to commit robbery. In this computer era, one may use his technical knowledge to access accounts online by the way of hacking, mostly on credit cards, and make purchases without the knowledge of the card holder (Newman & Clarke, 2003). This makes it difficult for the police to arrest the culprits unlike when they are confronted with a hostage situation. In this context, white collar crimes are perpetrated by people with opportunity and technical knowhow, thus making them much more complex as compared to other conventional crimes. As the rate of white collar crimes continue to increase, the society at large continues to suffer the consequences. For example, it is estimated that the US government loses more than $300 billion, on annual basis, to these crimes, which include tax evasion by wealthy individuals (Pontell, 2002). Such money could be used to improve the lives of

Support of President Obama's Jobs Bill Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Support of President Obama's Jobs Bill - Essay Example While touring the nation in the recent weeks, President Obama had repeatedly demanded that Congress passing the bill intact; thus, the Senate’s vote to impede the measure signified a serious setback and occurred after leaders of his own party had modified the measure to comprise surtax on revenue of not less than $1 million to summarize additional Democratic votes. Following this setback, the president condemned the Republicans fro shying away from a measure, which entailed ideas they had previously supported (DeMint 65). In a statement before the vote, the president told the Senate that the vote did not signify the end of this fight since days were coming when members of Congress will be required to take a stand about the bill after carefully analyzing the benefits it brings especially to those who are poorly paid like teachers, policemen and firefighters (DeMint 46). According to Senate Democratic aides, votes on parts of the bill could start this month, or even as early as next week; with party leaders saying that they required to consult their conclave before deciding on the timing or choosing the conditions to be reflected on separately (DeMint 38). There were a number of Democratic senators who asserted they might connect with a few Republicans in looking for job-creation proposals, which might achieve bipartisan support; this is an alarming contest in a chamber whereby comity appears to worsen weekly. On the other hand, House Republican leaders have asserted that they have no intentions of taking the president’s bill in its entirety; rather, they accept the sign from the White House, which indicates that the administration might be ready for a piecemeal effort (Kent). Eric Cantor, who is the House majority leader, as well as the Republican of Virginia, alleged that he was hoping that the president would dismiss his all-or-nothing methodology and start working with the Congress on issues of commonality, comprising of initiatives, which could uphold hiring along with economic growth. Mr. Cantor added, â€Å"We are willing to take up the things we can agree on.† This job’s bill is a combination of public works expending, as well as temporary tax cuts, whose intention are to counter what Mr. Obama refers to as an economic disaster and an emergency. Senate Democrats attempted to make the president’s bill more acceptable by attaching a surtax of 5.6 percent, beginning in 2013, on revenue in surplus of $1 million. As the Senate headed for the vote, Mr. Reid was overheard making allegations that Republicans were in opposition of the president’s jobs bill due to political reasons since they desired for the economy to continue being in poor shape. Mr. Reid claimed that Republicans thought that if the economy gets better, then this might assist President Obama, and that is why they campaign for the economy to fail by opposing every effort of improving it (DeMint 30). Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who i s the Senate Republican leader, replied in saying that Democrats had prepared this bill for failure, hoping that anyone voting against it will be perceived as a bad person; and that the exercise in its entirety is only a charade, which is meant to offer Democrats with a political edge in the forthcoming

See the instruction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

See the instruction - Essay Example Basically, negligence can be described as the act of doing something a reasonable man would not do and a plaintiff must prove in such a case that the defendant owes a duty of care (Donoghue V. Stevenson, 1932). The factual problem is that W.R Grace and Riley Leather contaminated Woburn water supply site resulting sickness and death at Woburn. These companies have a duty care to protect environment while conducting the production activities. However, they breached their duty by disposing hazardous waste that led to death and illness among the citizens in this area. The death of 12 people of which 8 are kids can be attributed to approximate cause. These companies dumped barrels that contained TCE (Trichlorethylene) carcinogens onto the land and it sipped underground and contaminated the river which negatively affected the health of Woburn people since they use the river as their main source of water supply. For example, Anna Anderson’s son, Jimmy dies because of Leukemia and also another parent lost his son to the same disease on their way to the hospital. Moreover, one of the employees Palino developed lung cancer among other people who suffer from immune system diseases. These insta nces support the claim that W.R. Grace and Riley Leather acted in a negligent way since their action negatively impacted on Woburn people’s health. Besides negatively impacting on the health of people, W.R. Grace and Riley Leather also commit other legal case. For instance, they do not allow their employees to say the truth since they are given money or other benefits to remain silent. The workers risk losing their jobs if they reveal any information related to the dumping activities by these companies. For example, Al is afraid of becoming a whistleblower because he is afraid of losing his job. Additionally, Cheeseman gives him pressure after he reveals some facts about the

IKEA Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

IKEA - Assignment Example It came into existence in the year 1943 and within a very small time frame it attained a renowned brand image due to its modern architectural designs and eco-friendly nature. Due to which its revenue and operating income enhanced by â‚ ¬27.628 billion and â‚ ¬3.482 billion by the end of 2012 as compared to other rivals in the market. This marked the success of the organization of IKEA and so it expanded in many other parts of the world like Germany, Norway and Denmark (Inter IKEA Systems B.V, 2012). IKEA’S History IKEA is established in the year 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, a young entrepreneur residing in Smaland of Southern Sweden. The name of the organization IKEA is derived from the initial letters of Ingvar Kamprad, i.e. I and K along with the first letters of his hometown, Elmtaryd and Agunnaryd. Ingvar Kamprad started his career in business by selling matches, pen, pencils, fishes, seeds and many others. However, slowly and gradually, he started offering high-level of concentration over IKEA and so presented varied types of advertisements in local newspapers to attract wide range of customers. Moreover, in order to make it a branded furniture retailing house, he presented varied types of attractive and stylish furniture’s such as beds, chairs, tables, home appliances and many others at a quite lowest price. This proved quite effective for the organization and helped Ingvar Kamprad to open his first store in Norway in the year 1963 and in Denmark in 1969 (Inter IKEA Systems B.V, 2013). After that, within a small time frame, IKEA expanded to other parts of Europe, Switzerland, Australia, Hong Kong, Canada, Germany, UK and many others. Therefore, by the end of 2009, IKEA group became successful to operate in more than 332 stores in 40 countries. Hence, IKEA took more than six decades to mark its position in the segment of trendy furniture’s among other retailers. IKEA Today Inspite of extreme economic downturn, IKEA maintained its popu larity and brand image in the market in a quite stable condition due to its objective to present qualitative products at a competitive price. Due to which, the leading leader of home furniture enhanced its total sales by ?2.15 billion and net income by ? 3.51 billion by the end of 31st August 2013. Along with this, the market share also increased from 7.3% in 2012 to 8.5% in 2013 in the market of UK. This became possible only due to its wide expansion into 332 stores in more than 40 countries in the entire globe (Inter IKEA Systems B.V, 2012). Other than this, the annual sales figure and sales per region is presented in the below graphs. Therefore, from the graph, it might be clearly depicted that the rate of sales of the furniture’s of IKEA is very high as compared to others. This enhanced the equity and profit margin to a significant extent among other retailers (Inter IKEA Systems B.V, 2013). 2. Macro-environment of IKEA In order to analyse the external environment of the market of UK, one of the most renowned technique is used. It is named as PESTEL analysis. Political Factors- the political scenario of UK is quite cacophonous due to the presence of inefficient bureaucracy and corruption. Other than this, the instable government policies and regulations also acted as a curse that hampered the growth of the organization of IKEA. Not only this, shaky coalition of the government of UK hampered the business scenario to a

Synopsis on the Broadway Musical Wicked Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Synopsis on the Broadway Musical Wicked - Essay Example She tells Elphaba that she may meet the Wizard of OZ, a great honor. Elphaba insists that Madame Morrible include Galinda in the Sorcery classes. This act touches Galinda and she declares Elphaba her best friend. Galinda falls in love with Fiyero, a handsome prince. Fiyero, however, encounters Elphaba and falls in love with her instead. Elphaba involves herself in fighting for the rights of animals in OZ. She eventually meets the Wizard of OZ and realizes he is behind the oppression of the animals. Madame Morrible, who works for the wizard, pronounces Elphaba wicked when she refuses to join forces with the Wizard. Elphaba flies to the West as a manhunt is launched for her. Years later, Elphaba returns to OZ. She laments that everyone she ever cared about is dead because of her. Galinda, now Glinda the Good, tries to save Elphaba from the mob, but Elphaba resists. She asks Glinda to tell the true story of her life, as she is doomed to be seen as evil by society. Dorothy bursts in and melts Elphaba with water. In the Emerald City, the wizard realizes he is Elphaba’s father when Glinda gives him Elphaba’s bottle, which is similar to his. It is revealed that the floor where Elphaba melted was a trapdoor beneath which she hid. Elphaba and Fiyero escape from OZ and live happily ever

Methodology Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 7500 words

Methodology - Research Paper Example he similarities and differences between qualitative and quantitative research will be discussed to provide a clear understanding of the research method used for the study. The main objectives of the research are derived from the literature review is to examine: â€Å"Change Management and Leadership in the context of implementing a Positive Behaviour and Support model in a School environment.† The main aim of this research is to study the effects of the PBIS action plan on the secondary students of Al Amanah College. The research tries to strike a balance between the benefits of implementing PBIS, and its overall impact on the school as a whole. The study enables the researcher to gain the perspective of both the students and the parents on the benefits of implementing the PBIS systems within the school. This chapter further discusses how this balance will be struck and how the research provides a clear understanding of the effects of the PBIS action plan on the secondary students of Al Amanah College. Action research is the methodology used for this research. â€Å"Action research...aims to contribute both to the practical concerns of people in an immediate problematic situation and to further the goals of social science simultaneously.   Thus, there is a dual commitment in action research to study a system and concurrently to collaborate with members of the system in changing it in what is together regarded as a desirable direction.   Accomplishing this twin goal requires the active collaboration of researcher and client, and thus it stresses the importance of co-learning as a primary aspect of the research process† (O’Brien, 1998). The main aim of action research is to ensure complete accuracy and focusing on the data collected to ensure validity and reliability. Significant tends to be spent on â€Å"refining the methodological tools to suit the exigencies of the situation, and on collecting, analyzing, and presenting data on an ongoing, cyclical basis†

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.