Young Offenders Should Not Have Harsher Consequences Essay Example for Free

Young Offenders Should Not Have Harsher Consequences Essay Do you know about the YCJA? If so, do you agree with the way it goes about doing things? The Youth Criminal Justice Act passed in 2003 by parliament allows young offenders to be treated differently than adult offenders. The conservatives want to introduce a bill to treat offenders more harshly. I strongly disagree with this. Young offenders should not be given harsher consequences. The YCJA is stable. It has many goals to accomplish. Also instead of just looking at the crime it goes deeper into the situation by examining the person’s background. The YCJA has helped young offenders. They attempt to rehabilitate the person in a way that is not harsh. They also reintegrate them into society which is giving them a chance at a new life. I think that guidance is what the young offenders need, not to be treated harshly. The need to be shown which â€Å"path† to take. Whether it is from just the YCJA or maybe even a sentencing circle. The YCJA is stable. Its main goals consist of the points stated next. They attempt to stop crime from happening again by addressing the situation underlying a young person’s offending behaviour. Examples of this goal in action are counselling or helping a family deal with a situation. The second goal is to rehabilitate and reintegrate young offenders. The third goal is to ensure that a young person has meaningful consequences for the offence that the young offender committed. The YCJA wants long-term protection of society. In my opinion if a consequence is meaningful it is more effective than a consequence that is harsh. The fourth and final goal is to make sure that young people are separated from adults. We have to realize that they have a reduce level of maturity. The YCJA is helping young offenders. One way it is doing this is by rehabilitating and reintegrating young offenders. I want to touch on this point again because it is a very important part of the YCJA. When the YCJA attempts to rehabilitate a young offender it goes about doing it in this way. They give the young offenders the skills to make good choices further on in life. They also want to help find good ways for them to participate in their community. Examples of this are joining a sport team or a YMCA club. Guidance will help these children not harsh punishments. Teens need to be protected from harsher consequences. Why? Well because teenagers have a lower-level of maturity. They also have a rapid fluctuation in hormones which is usually accompanied by irritability, recklessness, aggression and depression. All of these things could have been a starting point for the crime the young offender has committed. We cannot be harsh on them for something they cannot control. Teens are also rebellious. Statistics for boys show that teenage criminal behaviour tends to begin around 13 and reach its highest point at age 17 and then almost disappear in early adulthood. Teenagers have not developed the ability to think things through this is also known as their brain’s late development. The late brain development is a big contributor to all the risks teens take so how can we turn around and blame the whole thing on them by giving the harsher consequences? I believe that the YCJA is doing everything that needs to be done. By helping the teen they are improving their decisions. Therefore lessening the chance of having the teen be a repeat offender. I would like to state once again that harsher consequences will not do anything for these teen offenders. GUIDANCE IS THE WAY TO GO!

Self Efficacy And The Social Cognitive Theory Education Essay

Self Efficacy And The Social Cognitive Theory Education Essay This chapter is divided into four parts. The first part initially discusses the construct of self-efficacy in the social cognitive theory. Then, definitions and properties of self-efficacy, characteristics of high and low self-efficacious individuals, the sources of self-efficacy and the difference between this construct and other similar constructs are discussed. Moreover, the last section of the first part is devoted to the role of self-efficacy in second/foreign language achievement and proficiency in general and in specific skills. The second part is devoted to the definitions of language learning strategies and their classifications. Moreover, the role of language learning strategies in second/foreign language proficiency and achievement and the relationship between language learning strategies and self-efficacy are discussed in this part, too. The third part is devoted to the construct of anxiety in general and foreign language anxiety in particular. In this part, definitions a nd classifications of anxiety, the role of anxiety in second/foreign language achievement and proficiency and the relationship between foreign language anxiety and self-efficacy are discussed. The last part discusses the concept of listening comprehension and how it is related to the three constructs of self-efficacy, language learning strategies, and foreign language anxiety. 2.1 Self-efficacy and the social cognitive theory To understand the concept of self-efficacy better, one must consider the theoretical framework of social cognitive theory. Bandura (1986, 1997) considers the social cognitive theory as a theory of human functioning. Based on this theory, human functioning can be explained through the operation of three factors that interact with each other. One factor is what Chomsky refers to as cognition, and Bandura in the social cognitive theory refers to as personal factors. Another factor is what Skinner referred to as environment and the third factor is what Bandura refers to as behavior. Bandura (1986) believed in the concept of triadic reciprocality in the social cognitive theory. This refers to the interaction among personal, behavioral and environmental factors. Moreover, an individuals behavior is determined by the interaction of the above mentioned factors. In this theory, individuals are considered as proactive, self-regulating, self-organizing and self-reflecting rather than reactive o nes and controlled by biological or environmental forces. Based on the social cognitive theory, individuals have a system of self-belief or a self-system that enables them to control their actions, feelings, thoughts, and motivation (Bandura, 1986; Pajares, 1997). This self-system makes it possible for individuals to make choices, choose their courses of actions, self-examine the adequacy of their behavior, interpret the outcomes, develop beliefs about their capabilities, and store this information to be used as a guide for future behavior (Bandura, 1986). Bandura (1997) considered the practice of self-reflection as the most influential mediator of human functioning and among the most arbiters of self-reflection are perceptions of self-efficacy. 2.1.1 Self-efficacy and its definitions Bandura (1986) considers self-efficacy as the main feature in the social cognitive theory. Based on the social cognitive theory, self-efficacy is the primary determinant of an individuals motivation to act. Bandura (1986) defines self-efficacy as peoples judgment of their capabilities to organize and execute courses of action required to attain designated types of performances. It is not concerned with the skills one has but with the judgment of what can one do with whatever skills one possesses (p. 391). Besides Bandura, many researchers have provided different definitions of self-efficacy but most of them are based on Banduras definition. Delcourt and Kinzie (1993) stated that self-efficacy reflects an individuals confidence in his or her ability to perform the behavior required to produce specific outcomes (p. 36). Huang and Shanmao (1996) defined self-efficacy expectations as the beliefs about ones ability to perform a given task or behavior successfully (p. 3). Schunk (2001) considers self-efficacy as beliefs about ones capabilities to learn or perform behaviors at designated levels (p. 126). Moreover; Baron and Byrne (2004) identified three kinds of self-efficacy: Social self-efficacy, self-regulatory self-efficacy and academic self-efficacy. They considered social self-efficacy as the ability to maintain relationships, engage in social activities, and become assertive. They referred to the self-regulatory self-efficacy as the ability to be curious, think carefully, and avoid hi gh-risk activities. Finally, they considered academic self-efficacy as the ability to take part in learning activities, regulate the learning activities and meet expectations. 2.1.2 Self-efficacy and its properties Self-efficacy beliefs are not dependent on ones abilities but instead on what one believes may be accomplished with ones personal skills. Moreover, Bandura (1997) believed that there is a major difference between possessing skills and being able to use them in different situations. And that is why, different people with similar skills or the same person on different occasions may perform differently. Bandura (1997) mentioned that self-efficacy beliefs are distinguished from the skills one possesses, although they may be influenced by the acquisition of skills. That is why he assumed that self-efficacy beliefs are often better predictors of success than prior accomplishments, skills, or knowledge. For example, in educational settings, students self-efficacy mediates between the several determinants of competence (e.g., skills, knowledge, ability, or previous achievements) and their subsequent performances (Bandura, 2006; Schunk Pajares, 2001). Bandura (1997) mentioned that optimistic efficacy beliefs maintain and enhance motivation, and boost performance. Optimistic self-efficacy beliefs are instrumental to the successful completion of challenging tasks. These beliefs may increase effort and persistence and promote accomplishment in challenging circumstances. In academic settings, these beliefs seem to be necessary for attempting novel tasks or for learning new materials. He also stated that innovativeness requires an unshakable sense of efficacy to persist in creative endeavors when they demand prolonged investment of time and effort (Bandura, 1997, p. 239). Self-efficacy is not a fixed ability that individuals have or dont have in their repertoire of behaviors. But it is a generative capability in which cognitive, social, emotional and behavioral sub-skills must be organized and effectively orchestrated to serve innumerable purposes (Bandura, 1997, p.36). Bandura (1997) believed that the sense of self-efficacy influences individuals motivations, the goal they set, the effort they expend to achieve their goals and their willingness to persist in the face of difficulties and failures. For example, in an educational setting, students who have the sense of self-efficacy in their academic skills expect high marks on exams and expect the quality of their work to gain benefits for them. Another feature of self-efficacy is that it is task and domain specific. In other words, it refers to specific judgment of a specific situation and it is not a context-free disposition. A high sense of efficacy in one domain does not necessarily mean high sense of self-efficacy in another domain. And this is why measures of self-efficacy must determine the domains of action. In educational settings, self-efficacy beliefs are more specific and situational judgments of capabilities (Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, Pastorelli, 1996; Bong, 2006; Pajares, 1997). In academic settings, according to Bandura (1986), self-efficacy refers to judgment of confidence to perform academic tasks or succeed in academic activities. Self-efficacy beliefs are also hypothesized to mediate the influence of other determinants of academic outcomes such as skills or past performance on subsequent actions. Efficacy beliefs also act in concert with other common mechanisms of personal agency such as self-concept beliefs, anxiety, and self-regulatory practices in influencing and predicting academic outcomes. Also, Bandura (1997) mentioned that in such settings self-efficacy affects students aspirations, their level of interest in academic work and accomplishments and how well they prepare themselves for future careers. He identified two types of efficacy in such settings: One refers to achievement in specific subject area such as language or science and the second refers to self-regulated learning and the extent to which an individual feels successful on tasks that generalize across academic domains. 2.1.3 High and low sense of self-efficacy Bandura (1997) stated that people usually tend to become involved in and perform activities that they judge themselves capable of managing, but they tend to avoid those situations that are threatening and they believe exceed their skills and abilities. In an educational setting, a learner is more likely to exert effort to engage in an assigned learning task when he or she sees him/herself capable of accomplishing it. When facing with difficult situations, those who have a stronger sense of self-efficacy tend to make greater efforts to deal with challenges. But those who have a lower sense of efficacy are likely to avoid engaging in a difficult task or even not try hard enough to accomplish the task. Avoiding difficult tasks leads to lower success and this, in itself, leads to even lower sense of self-efficacy. Based on the researches done in the area of self-efficacy, there are major differences between those with high and low sense of self-efficacy. High self-efficacious people exert more attention, effort and persistence in the case of difficulties than people with lower sense of self-efficacy. Those with high sense of efficacy work harder than their low self-efficacy peers. When those with low sense of self-efficacy fail, they often put the blame for their failure on everything except their own shortcoming. High self-efficacious people set more challenging goals for themselves than low self-efficacious ones. People with high sense of self-efficacy outperform those with low sense of self-efficacy and they employ more strategies to accomplish their goals (Bandura Locke, 2003; Latham, 2004; Locke Latham, 1990). Pajares (2006) reported that students with high sense of self-efficacy, regardless of previous successes or abilities, persist in the face of adversity. Moreover, these students are more optimistic and have lower stress levels and achieve more. Pajares and Schunk (2001) stated that the higher the sense of efficacy, the more energy and effort are used to keep trying tasks or situations that may be more difficult and challenging in nature. They believed that in educational settings, a self-efficacious student takes academic risks, sets goals for him/herself, compares him/herself to other peers, maintains routines, and keeps track of what works well and what doesnt regarding academic and social progress. A self-efficacious person may not have the highest grades in the class, but he/sh e believes in his or her own abilities to accomplish tasks, to find the right answer, to meet goals and often to surpass other peers. Schunk (1983) stated that a heightened sense of efficacy sustains task involvement and results in greater achievement and lower perceptions of efficacy lead to less persistence and lower achievement. Regarding the difference between high and low sense of self-efficacy, Bandura (1997) stated that self-efficacy beliefs influence individuals pursued courses of action, effort expended in given endeavors, persistence in the confrontation of obstacles, and resilience to adversity. Self-efficacious individuals will, therefore, approach challenges with the intention and anticipation of mastery, intensifying their efforts and persistence accordingly. These individuals rapidly recover their lowered sense of self-efficacy after enduring failure or difficulty, and attribute failure to insufficient effort or deficient knowledge. Students with a high level of self-efficacy perceive tough tasks as challenges. They also have higher motivation to conquer the difficulties and more confidence to accomplish demanding tasks. On the contrary, students with low sense of self-efficacy regard things as harder than they really are; they do not perceive their efforts can lead to better results, so they hav e less motivation to devote time to demanding tasks. He also stated that self-efficacy is a factor that can differentiate successful learners from unsuccessful ones. Eggen and Kauchak (2004) mentioned that students who have high self-efficacy are more willing to accept a challenging task, work harder, have a calmer disposition despite experiencing failure in the beginning, practice effective learning strategies, and generally generate better performance than students who have low self-efficacy, even if they have the same ability and skill. Finally, Bandura (1997) describes the feature of self-efficacious learners as follow: self-efficacious learners feel confident about solving a problem because they have developed an approach to problem solving that has worked in the past. They attribute their success mainly to their own efforts and strategies, believe that their own abilities will improve as they learn more, and recognize that errors are part of learning. Students with low self-efficacy believe that they have inherent low ability, choose less demanding tasks and do not try hard because they believe that any effort will reveal their own lack of ability (p. 3). 2.1.4 Self-efficacy and its sources People get their self-efficacy information from four different sources: Mastery experiences, vicarious (observational) experiences, verbal persuasions, and physiological reactions or states (Alderman, 2004; Bandura, 1997; Ormrod, 2003; Pajares, 2003; Pintrich Schunk, 2002; Zimmerman, 2001). The first source of self-efficacy is a mastery experience which is, according to Bandura (1997), the most influential source of efficacy information. Mastery experiences are prior performances that may be interpreted positively or negatively. Successful performances strengthen personal efficacy beliefs while failed performances undermine ones sense of self-efficacy. Successful performances lead to the anticipation of future success. Therefore, the information which is gathered from mastery experiences provides a reliable base from which one can evaluate self-efficacy and predict successful performance of future tasks. According to Palmer (2006), mastery experiences are the most powerful sources of creating a strong sense of efficacy because they provide students authentic evidence that they have the capability to succeed at the task. In educational settings or academic contexts, the previous success of a learner is the most influential source of self-efficacy beliefs. The second source of information for self-efficacy is vicarious experiences. It refers to the appraisal of ones own capabilities in relation to the accomplishment of peers. One can manage a task and foster the belief that he/she might possess similar capabilities by observing the success of comparable peers. Also, observation of the failure of a comparable peer can undermine an individuals perception of the ability to succeed. So, vicarious experience may affect efficacy positively or negatively. The third source of self-efficacy comes from verbal persuasion. It refers to the peoples judgments of others ability to accomplish a given task. Verbal persuasion is a weaker source of efficacy information in comparison to mastery or vicarious experiences. Verbal persuasion can be in the form of performance feedback or encouragement in overcoming obstacles. Positive verbal messages can lead to successful performances in future. On the other hand, negative persuasion can hinder the development of stronger sense of self-efficacy. The last source of self-efficacy information is physiological or emotional states of people such as stress, anxiety, or fatigue in judging their capabilities. Physiological and emotional states can lead both to an expectation for failure or enhancing beliefs for future success. According to Bandura (1997), high emotional arousal can undermine performance and people are more likely to expect success when they are not troubled by aversive arousal than when they are tense and emotionally agitated. Finally, it should be mentioned that self-efficacy beliefs do not come from a single source of the above mentioned information, but it is through the selection, integration and interpretation of information from these diverse sources that ones sense of self-efficacy is formed (Bandura, 1997). 2.1.5 Self-efficacy and similar constructs There are some constructs such as self-esteem, self-concept, and confidence that have fuzzy boundaries with self-efficacy or seem to constitute a conceptual overlap with it. The common feature of all these constructs is that they all refer to beliefs about perceived ability but what distinguishes self-efficacy from them is the idea that it refers to specific types of performance and explicit desired goals or results (Pajares, 1996). The main difference between self-esteem and self-efficacy is that self-esteem is a personal trait while self-efficacy is not. Self-esteem is a more emotional response to self while self-efficacy applies to specific fields of human behavior. Self-efficacy is the assessment of ones capabilities while self-esteem is the assessment of ones self-worth (Epstein Morling, 1995; Maddux, 1995). According to Zimmerman and Cleary (2006), self-esteem is an affective reaction indicating how a person feels about him or herself whereas self-efficacy involves cognitive judgments of personal capacity. They stated that self-esteem is not a predictor of academic performance while self-efficacy is. The main difference between confidence and self-efficacy is that self-efficacy is the belief in ones power to achieve certain levels of performances while confidence does not involve the persons power or ability to perform at a certain level (Epstein Morling, 1995). According to Pajares and Schunk (2001), an individuals self-concept involves evaluation of self-worth and it takes the cultural and social values into consideration. Self-concept has an indirect influence on performance while self-efficacy due to its task-specific nature can predict performance more easily than generalized measures of self-esteem, self-concept or anxiety (Zimmerman Cleary, 2006). Bong and Skaalvik (2003) argued that self-efficacy can be seen as providing a basis for the development of self-concept. Moreover, Pajares (2003) stated that writing self-efficacy is a significant predictor of achievement in writing while writing self-concept beliefs are not. 2.1.6 Self-efficacy and its role in achievement and proficiency Based on the properties of self-efficacy mentioned above, it seems that it plays a great role in determining individuals behavior in their daily lives and especially in educational and academic settings. In this part the role of self-efficacy in individuals achievement and proficiency will be elaborated and some major relevant studies will be reviewed. Some of these studies focus on the predictive power of self-efficacy in individuals achievement. Bandura (1986) assumed self-efficacy to be a much more consistent predictor of behavior than any other closely related variables. He mentioned that many students have difficulty not because they are incapable of performing successfully, but because they are incapable of believing that they can perform successfully, that they have learned to see themselves as incapable of handling academic skills(p. 390). Some researchers (e.g., Bandura, 1997; Pajares, 1997; Schunk, 1989; Zimmerman, 1995) assumed that self-efficacy, which is an individuals judgment about his or her abilities to perform a given task can be a better predictor of success than his/her actual abilities because they considered self-efficacy a critical determinant of behaviors. Some studies that have been done in the educational settings (e.g, Berry, 1987; Schunk, 1989) have shown that when learners have the same skills or they are at the same level of cognitive skill development, their performance can be different depending on their self-efficacy beliefs. That is why, Pajares (1997) stated that peoples prior accomplishments or actual abilities are not always good predictors of their subsequent success because the beliefs they hold about their abilities influence their subsequent behavior. But some researchers (e.g, Carmichael Taylor, 2005; Mills, 2004) warned that measuring self-efficacy in educational settings before the target skills are acquired cannot be considered as a good predictor of achievement. For example, in Mills (2004) study, self-efficacy was measured at the beginning of a semester when the participants had not acquired the required skills to perform the tasks. So, the result revealed that self-efficacy did not predict the final grade. According to Zimmerman and Kitsantas (2005), self-efficacy can better predict or explain subsequent performance when the students are familiar with the necessary skills to perform the task being measured. Schunk (1999) also warned that high self-efficacy beliefs will not produce competent performance if students lack necessary skills. For example, Chen (2003) found that the impact of students self-efficacy beliefs on their math performance was greater when they possessed underlying math skills. Multon, Brown, and Lent (1991) after doing a meta-analysis of self-efficacy research found a positive and significant relationship between self-efficacy beliefs and academic performance. Moreover, they indicated that self-efficacy was strongly related to student performance in a variety of subject matters. They reported that self-efficacy beliefs accounted for approximately 14% of the variance in students academic performance. Graham and Weiner (1996) found that self-efficacy beliefs more consistently predicted academic performance than other motivational constructs. Recently, several researchers (e.g, Maddux Gosselin, 2003; Skaalvik Bong, 2003) have shown that students academic self-efficacy is predictive of their study behavior as well as academic outcomes. Self-efficacy has consistently been shown to be positively associated with general academic achievement (e.g., Jackson, 2002; Lane Lane, 2001) and with performance in several specific domains, including math (Pajares Miller, 1995), and writing (Pajares, 2003; Pajares, Britner, Valiante, 2000). Some recent studies have found a consistent link between having a high sense of self-efficacy and achievement and the fact that efficacy beliefs are one of the most important predictors of motivation and performance (Bong, 2002; Pajares, 1996; Robbins, et al., 2004; Schunk Pajares, 2001). Also, Mills, et al. (2006) found that a stronger sense of self-efficacy leads to higher levels of achievement, greater willingness to face challenges and to exert effort. Many researchers indicated that self-efficacy has a stronger effect on academic performance than other motivational beliefs and it is found to have critical effects on various types of academic learning (Gibson, Randel, Earley, 2000; Linnenbrink Pintrich, 2002; Pintrich Schunk, 2002). Yazici, Seyis, and Altur (2011) found that self-efficacy beliefs are the most powerful predictors of academic achievements. Yang (2004) and Wong (2005) stated that students learning outcome is influenced by their perceived sense of self-efficacy. Moreover, Yang (2004) asserted that students learning attitudes, learning behaviors or even learning performances are affected by their sense of self-efficacy. Wong (2005) has shown that students performance can be facilitated by the enhancement of their sense of self-efficacy. Pajares (2002) mentioned that students academic self-efficacy influence their academic achievements in several ways. It influences the choices students make and the courses of action they pursue. In situations that students have free choices, they tend to engage in tasks about which they feel confident and avoid those in which they dont. It also helps to determine how much effort students will expend on an activity, how long they will persevere when facing obstacles and how resilient they will be in the face of adverse situations. Although considerable research has been done to study self-efficacy in educational and academic settings, most of these studies have been restricted to the domain of mathematical problem solving and languages other than English. For example, (Britner Pajares, 2001; Pajares Graham, 1999) found that perceived self-efficacy of the students mediate between their abilities and their academic performance in mathematics and science. Collins (1982) found that across ability levels, students whose self-efficacy is higher are more accurate in their mathematics computation and show greater persistence on difficult items than do students whose self-efficacy beliefs are low. Pajares and Graham (1999) aimed to determine whether mathematic self-efficacy makes an independent contribution to the prediction of mathematic performance when other motivational variables and previous achievements are controlled. They found that mathematic self-efficacy was the only motivational variable to predict mathem atic performance. Ayotola and Adedeji (2009) examined the relationship between mathematics self-efficacy and mathematics achievement. The result revealed that there was a strong positive relationship between mathematics self-efficacy and achievement in mathematics. The researchers concluded that self-efficacy beliefs are important components of motivation and of academic achievement. Jaafar and Ayub (2010) also found a positive relationship between mathematics self-efficacy and mathematics performance. In the case of languages other than English, McCollum (2003) found that the German language self-efficacy was a significant predictor of the semester final grade. In a similar study, Mills (2004) investigated the relationship between French self-efficacy in reading and listening and proficiency in reading and listening. The result of the analysis indicated that French reading self-efficacy was a predictor of French reading proficiency but French listening self-efficacy was not a predictor of proficiency in listening. Mills (2004) assumed that the failure of French listening self-efficacy to predict French listening proficiency may have been partly due to the fact that the critical task measure in the study-that is, listening proficiency test-possessed psychometric flaws. Recently many researchers have investigated the role of self-efficacy in foreign language settings and the role it plays in the achievement and proficiency in foreign languages specially English. Hsieh and Schallert (2008) examined the relationship between self-efficacy and attribution in a foreign language setting. In their study attribution referred to the explanations individuals give for their success or failure in a particular performance. The result indicated that despite failure in performing the given tasks, students reported the same level of self-efficacy as successful students when they attributed their failure to lack of effort. The researchers concluded that even when students reported having low self-efficacy, helping them view success and failure as an outcome that they can control may increase their expectancy for success and lead to successful experiences. Wang and Wu (2008) adopted the social cognitive model to investigate the role of self-efficacy on behavioral influences such as feedback behaviors and learning strategies and on environmental influences such as achievement. In the case of behavioral influences, the result indicated that self-efficacy was significantly related to students elaborated feedback behaviors and use of learning strategies. However, the results indicated that self-efficacy was not related to students academic performance. The researchers argued that this may be due to the domain specific nature of self-efficacy. They assumed that students who lack performance information or experience in the academic domain may form inaccurate estimation of self-efficacy and this may have been the reason why self-efficacy did not predict students achievement in this study. With regard to learning English, Huang and Shanmao (1996) found a relationship between self-efficacy of ESL students and their scores on the reading and writing sections of the TOEFL test. In a similar study, Templin (1999) divided the EFL participants into high and low self-efficacy groups and found a significant difference between the English proficiency of the two groups. 2.1.7 Self-efficacy and its role in achievement and proficiency in specific skills Some researchers studied the role of efficacy in specific skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing in English. Pajares (2003) in reviewing the predictive power of self-efficacy in writing found that writing self-efficacy makes an independent contribution to the prediction of writing outcomes and plays a meditational role that social cognitive theorists hypothesized. Moreover, he suggested that instruction in self-regulatory strategies such as goal setting, self-recording progress, revision strategies, and self-evaluating progress may increase both self-efficacy and writing skills. Shang (2010) investigated the impact of EFL self-efficacy in reading and reading proficiency. He found a correlation between EFL learners self-efficacy in reading and their reading proficiency. Recently, Sioson (2011) aimed to determine among the subscales of language learning strategies, beliefs about language learning and anxiety which one is the strongest predictor of performance in an academic speaking context. The result of multiple regression analysis revealed that only the motivation and expectation subscale of beliefs about language learning was the significant predictor of speaking performance. Woodrow (2011) indicated that self-efficacy is a powerful predictor of writing performance than anxiety. According to the finding of his study, highly self-efficacious students performed well in their English writing and showed desirable learning attributes such as exerting effort. Ghonsooly and Elahi (2010) found a positive relationship between the Iranian EFL learners self-efficacy in reading comprehension and their reading achievements. The researchers indicated that high self-efficacious learners performed better than low self-efficacious learners in reading achievements. They concluded that EFL learners self-efficacy is an important factor in the achievement of high scores in English language skills such as reading comprehension. Rahemi (2010) studied the self-efficacy of Iranian high school students. The result indicated that students majoring in humanities had a very weak English self-efficacy and held certain negative beliefs about their academic ability as EFL learners. Moreover, a strong correlation was found between their English achievement and sense of self-efficacy. Rahimi and Abedini (2009) explored the role of self-efficacy in listening comprehension of Iranian EFL learners and their listening comprehension test performance. According to the res ults of the study, there was a significant difference between high and low self-efficacious students in terms of listening comprehension. Moreover, self-efficacy in listening was significantly related to listening proficiency. In another study, Graham (2006) studied the role of efficacy in the development of listening skills and

Poverty and Charity in Jane Eyre Essay -- Jane Eyre Essays

Poverty and Charity in Jane Eyre When Jane Eyre resided at Gateshead Hall, under the care of her aunt, Mrs. Reed, she yearned for a change. The treatment that she received at Gateshead Hall was cruel, unjust, and most importantly, lacked nurture. Jane wanted to escape Gateshead Hall and enter into a school. The school that was imposed upon Jane was Lowood Institution. Through her eight year stay at Lowood, Jane learned how to control her frustrations and how to submit to authority. After leaving Lowood Institution and taking the occupation as governess at Thornfield Hall, Jane realized that her experiences at Gateshead Hall and Lowood Institution had deeply rooted themselves into her personality. After departing Thornfield Hall, Jane wandered about as a vagabond. Arriving at Whitcross, Jane was starving, cold, and in need of help. It is St. John Rivers who aids in helping Jane back to health. Through her experiences at Gateshead Hall, Lowood Institution, and Whitcross, Jane Eyre becomes the recipient of the positive and negative aspects of the New Poor Law depicted by Charlotte Bronte in nineteenth-century England. Under the care of Mrs. Reed, Jane's aunt, Jane is treated as though she is a "wicked and abandoned child" (60; ch. 4). Her "father had been a poor clergyman" (58; ch. 3) and both her parents died from typhus fever. She was given to her motherà ­'s sister-in-law in "promise of Mrs. Reed that she would rear and maintain her as one of her own children" (48; ch. 2). Jane is treated just the opposite. She entered into Gateshead Hall, the residence of the Reeds, in hopes of being brought up a civil and well-nurtured child. Instead, Jane is treated as a subservient child who is abused not only by Mrs. Reed, but also by h... ...cation at Lowood, she still "desired liberty" (117; ch. 10). After searching for a job, Jane realized she was once "an outcast, a beggar, and a vagrant" (387; ch. 31). She becomes grateful for the charity and job as a teacher that Mr. St. John Rivers bestowed upon her. The charity that Mr. Rivers showed towards Jane exemplified the kind of philanthropy that Charlotte Bronte depicted as being genuine; on the other hand, the kinds of treatment that Jane received at Gateshead Hall and Lowood Institution were the types of charity that were governed by the New Poor Law administrators. In Charlotte Bronte's novel, Jane Eyre, she clearly illustrated how she viewed charity and philanthropy under the ruling of the New Poor Law. Works Cited: Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. London, Penguin Books Ltd.: 1996. (Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Michael Mason).

Rabies Symptoms :: Medical Disease

Rabies Symptoms Rabies is an extremely old disease. Some speculate that it is as old as humankind itself. Rabies belongs to a family of viruses called lyssa. Lyssa is the Greek word for rabies, which is derived from the root â€Å"lud†, which means violent. The first case of rabies was described in the 23rd century BC in the Eshuma Code of Babylon. Generally, the virus is transmitted to humans by other animals or humans who are already infected. Rabies is an extremely deadly disease, and if left untreated, it has a mortality rate greater than 99 percent. In fact, there has only been one documented case of a human that has survived this deadly disease. The course that the disease takes is often violent. (fas) Picture a dog coming down the street, madly dashing this way and that with no apparent goal other than biting anything and everything. Everything about this dog has changed. He no longer remembers his friends, and he no longer wishes o eat or drink, in fact he is hydrophobic. This lack of nutrients brings an end to the dog’s yelps of pain after a few hours or days. The cries become weak and harsh, fatigue sets in, and the animal seizes and eventually dies. This series of events is commonly known as â€Å"mad dog†. (Webster 3) The term â€Å"mad dog† may be more familiar to most people than the term â€Å"rabies† is, but they mean the same thing. The disease is usually, but not always, transmitted to humans by a bite. As the disease progresses, the sanity of the affected animal or human gradually deteriorates. By the time an individual displays the symptoms described, it has already lost its battle with the rabies virus. Rabies is a disease that must be caught as early as possible; the longer it takes to diagnose, the less chance of survival there is. The earliest sign of infection is a change in disposition. The victim may develop a troubled or 1 distracted look, which is followed by lack of desire to recognize or be friendly with others. However, in other cases an individual may become more gentle and friendly. (Webster 4-5) There are two general forms of rabies; furious rabies and dumb rabies. Frequencies of furious and dumb rabies are approximately equal in both the laboratory and in the field. Furious rabies is the more stereotypic form of rabies. Individuals often wander about, followed by signs of excessive excitability or irritability.

Red Serpent - Fiction :: Papers

Red Serpent - Fiction Something stirred in the gloomy shadows that seemed to lurk everywhere in this town. She reached into her jacket and withdrew a small black pistol. It fitted snugly into her hand and with a feeling of safety, she loaded it. With four quick strides she reached the end of the alley where she looked round and returned the pistol to its holster. The wind howled round the corner, almost knocking her to the floor. In the process she stooped low enough for the light from a nearby streetlight to shine onto her bare left shoulder. Etched into the back of it was a tattoo of an elaborate red serpent. After bracing herself for what was to come, she stepped out into the street. Two shots echoed down the alley and struck the attacker flat in the back of the head. She had dark brown hair, parted only a little enough to let the deadly bullet part her from her existence. The victim did not falter and she did not show any pain from the metal projectile that had shattered her fragile existence. Instead she stood lifeless as though hanging in the balance between what her life had been before and what was inevitably to come. Paul Harris was about six foot three with short cut, blonde hair and eyes that his friends informed him could pierce through anyone he interrogated, something that came in handy in his line of work. "They sure make these simulations realistic, don't they?" "They sure do. I still can't believe they're not real myself and I'm supposed to be running the place!" said Willis, the Armourer. "The director wants to see you right away" Harris followed Willis towards the director's office. "See you next week," said Harris before striding off down the corridor. "I'll be waiting," muttered Willis under his breath as he set off back towards the door that he had come from. "Sit down," ordered the Director. The Director's office was expensively, but sparsely furnished. The

How does Sushi reflect Japanese culture? Essay

Japanese people show great pride in their heritage and they use their food as a form of expression in order to show their cultural heritage. The Japanese focus on the small things in their cuisine that helps make such a large impact in the quality of the food. The country takes pride in their food and uses it for various symbolic reasons. Sushi and pride both have a large correlation in Japanese culture. Their attention to detail is also used as an advantage in order to show people all around the world as to why they are known for their wonderful cuisine. Sushi is pivotal in showing the identity of the Japanese people. Various factors play a role in sushi, such as; the geographical location of the country, the country’s history, its own culture, the aesthetics of the cuisine, and the global economy as a whole. The geographical location is a large reason as to why the country uses sushi in such a large amount of its fine cuisine. The country is largely surrounded by water and their main export also happens to be fish. Japan takes advantage of its geographical location by using its surroundings, the ocean, to the fullest. The geographical location of Japan also highly contributes to the countries own economy. Their main exports are agriculture and fish. Their rice fields and the use of the seaside help Japan’s economy tremendously. The country always manages to have a great harvest for their rice fields which increases the overall value of the rice, thus increasing the economy. Not only does this mean that the economy increases, but for the rice that they do hold on to, has excellent quality and will be applied to their cuisine. Applying better than average quality rice into their cuisine will also increase tourism to the country. Japan’s quality of food is known throughout the entire world and helps represent the Japanese culture as a whole. The history of Japanese cuisine also plays a large role in Japanese identity. The countries fish has a high value in the world market and are constantly able to receive fresh fish from their waters. The countries history has always consisted of sushi. Earlier ancestors use to dislike the taste of only the fish and wanted something to add onto the fish, thus  adding rice. This is very similar in how other various countries use bread as a way to help combat their meals as well. Throughout the country’s history, sushi began to appear in the west. As more sushi began to appear in other countries, the higher the demand became. As a result of high demand, tourism significantly increased and so did the export of fish. Other countries began to implement fish into their own cuisines and Japanese identity/culture began to spread all over the world. The late 20th century saw sushi gaining in popularity all over the world. The culture of the Japanese helped introduce sushi into Japan. Their religious affiliations, which were Buddhism, prevented them from eating meant. They saw animals as sacred beings with souls just like them. As a result, they refused to kill animals. The Japanese viewed fish as an alternative method because they were not allowed to harm other animals dude to their religious affiliation. Not only did fish become the staple of Japanese identity, so did rice. Rice has been around since the beginning of Japanese culture and still remains a staple of Japanese identity to this day. The combination of the two most consumed food in Japan led to sushi, which quickly spread to western countries. To this day Japanese identity/culture has a lot to do with the introduction of sushi in its history. The aesthetics of sushi also plays a large role in Japanese identity. No other countries have been able to create the quality of food as the Japanese do. The quality of the fish and the simplicity of the presentation of the product are like no other. The quality of ingredients plays a large role in their food, as it takes days to weeks in order to properly marinate their fish. The cooks refuse to distribute the food until they believe it is presentable in their eyes. The beauty of the presentation helps bring a unique style to sushi. The various colors, shapes, and texture help bring a unique element. The overall presentation of sushi is just beautiful, something that is hard to mimic. The overall eating experience of Japanese cuisine is a relaxed, almost spiritual experience, something that very few cultures have. Sushi overall is a true art. The presentation, taste, and experience as a whole help bring sushi to life, something that cannot be  replicated. Sushi today is the foundation of Japanese culture/identity and will always exist in the Japanese lifestyle. Sushi is not only a major export, but also something that the Japanese take great pride in. Japanese people show great pride in their heritage and they use their food as a form of expression in order to show their cultural heritage. It represents symbolism in the Japanese lifestyle and will continue to flourish in the future. Work Cited Allison, Anne 1991 Japanese Mothers and Bentos: The Lunch Box as Ideological State Apparatus. Anthropological Quarterly 64(4):195-208. Bestor, Theodore C. 2001. Supply-Side Sushi: Commodity, Market, and the Global City. American Anthropologist Volume 103 (1): 76-95. Jstor, www.jstor.org, November 22, 2010. Bestor (2001) Supply-Side Sushi Commodity Market and the Global City Bestor, Theodore C. 2005 How Sushi Went Global. In Cultural politics of Food and Eating; A Reader, edited by James L. Watson and Melissa L. Caldwell, pp.13-20. Blackwell, Oxford. Bestor, Theodore C. 2006 Kaiten –zushi and Konbini: Japanese Food Culture in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. In Fast Food/Slow Food: The Cultural Economy of the Global Food System, edited by Richard R. Wilk, pp.115-130. Altamira Press, Maryland. Casal, U. A. 1957 The Five Sacred Festivals of Ancient Japan: their symbolism and historical development. Sophia University, Tokyo Ceccarini, Rossella 2010 Food Studies and Sociology: A Review Focusing on Japan. AGLOS: Journal of Area-Based Global Studies 1:1-17. Durrenberger, E. Paul and Gà ­sli Pà ¡lsson 1987 Ownership at Sea: Fishing Territories and Access to Sea Resources. American Ethnologist. 14(3):508-522. Jstor 1993 Rice as self: Japanese identities through time. http://books.google.com/ accessed November 20. 2010. Goldburg, Rebecca and Rosamond Naylor 2005 Future Seascapes, Fishing, and Fish Farming. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 3(1):21-28. Jstor, http://jstor.org 1983 Microbiology of Oriental Fermented Foods. http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.mi.37.100183.003043 accessed November 21 Kasulis, Thomas P. 1995 Sushi, Science, and Spirituality: Modern Japanese Philosophy and Its Views of Western Science. Philosophy East and West Volume 45(2): 227-248. Jstor. www.Jstor.org, November 22, 2010. Kegan, Paul 2001The History and Culture of Japanese food. New York. Routledge. Kegan, Paul. Loveday, Leo, and Satomi, Chiba 1998 Partaking with the Divine and Symbolizing the Societal: The Semiotics of Japanese Food and Drink. Semiotica 56(1-2):115-132. Google Scholar, http://scholar.google.com Magnuson, John J.; Carl Safina and Michael P. Sissenwine 2001 Whose Fish Are They Anyway?. Science. 293(5533):1267-1268. Jstor, http://jstor.org/ Mansfield, Becky

Private Wealth Management Internship Sample Writing Paper Essay

I am a business and economics major interested in interning in a Private Wealth Management institution in Washington. I plan to have a career in Private Wealth/Asset Management also known as Private Banking. Private Banks can either be a department in a larger bank or independent investment firms. In the past, they solely served wealth individuals. However, now former middle class entertainment stars, politicians, writers are now turning affluent overnight. They will need the services of a Private Banker to oversee. This is a crucial branch of the financial industry. In view of the current crisis rocking the financial and real estate markets, most property owners want to spend less and save more in case there is a recession. Therefore, Private Bankers are necessary to guide the high net worth individual to design and implement a beneficial financial portfolio for both parties. Private Bankers assist in the management of personal and business properties. First, they protect and preserve already existing assets by applying all the business or economic competencies, accounting skills and law knowledge that they acquired through education or experience, to ensure that the client’s portfolio does not diminish in value. Alternatively, they can work jointly with other professional such as lawyers and government agencies e.g. The Trust Department. Second, Private Bankers invest their client’s properties and monies in diverse investment vehicles to grow their clients’ portfolios while reducing the risks of losses and maximizing profits. Third, these Private Wealth Managers balance the investments of their’ clients with a view to finding them fair tax regimes creating enough income to cater for expenses.   Fourth, they advise clientele on personal finance decisions including the purchases of real estate, insurance etc. Fifth, some offer distinctive services such as: planned donations for charity; transfer and running of agricultural real estate; purchase, valuation, sale and administration of art collections; assessment of intellectual properties; and liquidation of royalties accrued from book or movie sales. ( Martinez and Martinez, 1-43) Initially, I want to get an internship as a Private Wealth Management Trainee in any of the major private Asset Management firms in Washington, then later move up the ladder and open up my own firm one day. Private Wealth Management is not just about multiplying dollars, but it also has a personal side, which is why I was attracted to it in the first place. It is remnant of the banking industry of the Wild West banking style when your banker was your friend and involved himself completely in the financial activities of his customers. I prefer Private Banking because of three reasons which have nothing to do with money. One is the personal service offered to the client. The Private Banker will interact intimately with his client. They share a cordial relationship based on trust. Finances are one of the most important issues in anyone’s life. Money is vital for survival. A client should be able to know who is handling this precious commodity by face and why this private banker makes those decisions for him. Two, the investment strategies are tailored to satisfy the needs of the customer. In private banking, the managers take into account the different backgrounds and goals of their clientele. Ultimately, the client is the own who determines what path his investments will take. This is because he shares his financial dreams with the private banker who designs financial plans based on these thoughts, invest the money and adjust the portfolio accordingly. Three, there is a degree of independence. The Private Banker does not work under the same time-space constraints as banker. They deal with their clients at different locations and may work in different deadline and schedules from a corporate or retail banker. They conduct business in different environments and are not confined to offices. This freedom of movement and spontaneity is very attractive to me.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As much as Private Banking is personal, the principal in private management is making profit. I know how to calculate figures and combine varied investment media in such a way as to maximize on the benefits of the market. I make an excellent Private Banker because I already have the qualities for this career. I am patient, possess great people skills, have sound business and economic training and I am not afraid of dealing with large sums of money, prime property. My greatest asset is my good rapport with people. A Private Banker needs to have a convivial relationship with his clients and that description describes to a tee.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   While in Washington I plan to research on the diverse communication and relational methods that Private Bankers employ to attract, attain, and retain clientele. This is because the emphasis of Private Banking to me is based on not just portfolio management but client management.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In conclusion, Private Banking is an area of the finance industry that has lived for many years with the unfair tag of snobbery. However, I believe that Private Banking is the way of future. I predict in 10 years time Private Bankers will be in high demand as the financial market grows in complexity and the public becomes more educated about the importance and relevance of asset or wealth management to assure their current financial freedom and that of their loved ones. Bibliography Martinez, Mike. and Michael, Martinez. Vault Career Guide to Private Wealth Management. Vault Inc. 2007.