Catcher in the Rye (Book) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Catcher in the Rye (Book) - Research Paper Example Some have opted to censor the book because they feel it will corrupt their children. In an instant I knew that I would never get the chance again to get out. I might have felt warm by the idea of being right there with Phoebe. â€Å"Could we get out of here already?† She asked, â€Å"Can you hear me?† The thought that we were going home and everything would get back to ‘normal’ made my skin crawl. I felt groggy, I might have passed out. I saw myself back in Pencey Prep, everyone was gawking at me. Stradlater approached me smiling and picked up one of my backpacks as we headed for the dorm. I struggled to figure out what was going on as I entered my old room. Ackley was standing in the middle of the room. It seemed he was there to receive me, pathetic. Probably everything I wanted to be was actually happening because I could not speak, I could not react, I was deaf-mute. The hell I was, they suddenly held me down, †Hey buddy, calm down!† My head was spinning so fast. I had no idea why they pinned me down. Stradlter told Ackley to help him get me to the bed.â€Å"Where is my sister?† I yelled.†Where is Phoebe?† They both looked at each other like I was crazy. I looked at them; it was not Stradtler and Ackley. The two men were in scrubs. I needed to see Phoebe. Maybe she was here with me. She couldn’t have abandoned me, not her. I had to get out. I was lying down and couldn’t move. Those bastards put me in a straight jacket. Unbelievable! Hilarious, they must have been talking to Mr. Antolini or was it Mr. Spencer? It must have been that wretched Mr. Spencer. I felt really tired and falling asleep fast. They had given me a shot. Allie was there with me although he was silent. I don’t think he knew why my parents or whoever brought me to the rest room. I wished he could talk to me. I tried to make him say something but he just stared at me, perhaps feeling sorry for me. He was the best l istener and answered me without uttering a word. I could hear Phoebe repeating the words, â€Å"Coming Thro’ the Rye,† and thought it should have been how I heard it because in that instant, I felt like I was falling off from the bed. It was on the edge of a cliff. It felt safe for I knew Allie would catch me. Memories of James Castle flashed through my mind and wondered whether I would get to see him. Was he contented where he was or was he still being bullied and could it be possible that he could have been haunting the boys that were tormenting him? Wouldn’t that be great? I missed him. The drug was wearing off, I felt much better. The world seemed different. Maybe I did need some sleep after all. Phoebe was holding my hand, stroking it. Surprisingly, it didn’t appall me. I was delighted to see her. Apparently, I had passed out while watching her go around on the carousel. My parents took me to the rest home. They must do everything right. I wondered w hether they already knew that I had been expelled and if they did, was this my punishment? It didn’t matter anymore. All that mattered was that they were there for me. Phoebe was there, so did D.B. I wished Jane was there for me as well. I hope she thought of me and regretted ever setting her eyes on Stradlter. I hope she missed me as much as I missed her. I could care less about Sally. She was attractive though looking back, I don’t know what I ever saw in her. Realizing that I don’

Organization Knowledge Essay Example for Free

Organization Knowledge Essay Managing information in today’s growing world is a tedious task. With excessive amount of data coming into systems daily, it has become imperative for knowledge organizers to follow certain guidelines if they are to ensure quick and easy retrievals later on. The purpose of this paper is to explore the different techniques using which knowledge in a public library can be organized. For this purpose, I m assuming that I have been employed by a public library and have been designated the task of organizing their knowledge. Organization of knowledge in a public library is a more delicate task than organization of knowledge at any other school or college library. Fact is that there are a greater number of users in a public library with all sorts of personalities. (ALA/PLA) Students, teachers, retirees, civilians, knowledge-seekers, tourists, etc are some of the different categories of users of a public library. Since all of these categories hold different perceptions as to the organization of knowledge and would expect a different kind of classification, it is important to use standardized organization techniques to address a maximum number of users in an appealing way. Classification of knowledge is a very ambiguous job. There are no pre-defined rules or any set criteria that govern the classification of knowledge. It is to the discretion of the librarian or the manager operating in the situation to decide by them the way of organizing their knowledge. Given the task of organizing knowledge at the public library I would begin by classifying and sorting out the different books according to the subject material they deal with. For example, books on art, literature, politics, religion, music and science can all be identified into separate groups and thus can easily be sorted. This would be the preliminary and perhaps one of the most critical steps in the entire process. Having effectively carried out a thorough classification during the first process would mean simplification and reduced errors in the oncoming steps. Organization of Knowledge) The next step is to assign labels or bar tags to these bags in an intelligent manner. Books in a library need a unique identification number that comes in hand at the time of borrowing and return. These identification numbers would be distributed on the basis of their category with no discretion within each category. Since new books would be coming into the library every now and then, the identification numbers cannot follow a rule. This is because every time new book comes in, it would require other books’ labels to be re-assigned. This would not only be an impossible task, it would also negate the integrity of the data contained in the library. Therefore, it is far more important to ensure that these books are given intelligent tags identifying their category and a corresponding number so that the identification number is a composite field made up of characters and numbers. After successful grouping or rather preliminary classification of the books in the library, I would no focus on ordering the books within each subset using the alphabetical order. Alphabetical order is a very tricky pattern to follow. There is no way a strict alphabetical order can be followed. Instead the name of the book and the author’s name are both used for alphabetical ordering. For example, a book written by P. Gerrard titled â€Å"On the Economics of War† can be classified under the â€Å"P† category or the â€Å"O† category. However, it depends on the librarian as to what is considered more important for him. I, being employed in a public library, would list this book under the â€Å"P† section due to the fact that the title of the book starts with an insignificant word, in terms of a title. The word â€Å"on† has no significant literary value when expressing a book title. Thus, listing this book under the â€Å"P† category would make life easier when it comes for searching. Similarly, placing the book titled â€Å"In the Eye of the Mist† by Pete K. Moss under the â€Å"I† category would have no intelligence associated with it. Intelligent categorization calls upon this book to be placed under the â€Å"P† category owing to the first name of the author starting with this alphabet making it easier to trace this book around the library. The discretion with which similar groupings will be done depends to a great extent upon the title of the book. Unless the title of the book opens with a relatively rare word or with a noun, the categorization will be done using the name of the author. Although, this may look to b a relatively easy task to perform, it should be noted that often there are several authors of a book or either their name does not start with a single initial. Such cases are often perplexing and it creates the problem of a uniformed strategy to follow. Ensuring uniformity in the organization of knowledge means that there would be fewer chances of not finding a book in the place it was thought to be in. (Organization of Knowledge)It also makes life easy for regular users of a library. Since public libraries serve the general public, there re several reads bound to be using the library on a routine basis. Such users get accustomed to the organization technique used within a library and after a considerable amount of time spent using the library, they themselves become equipped with the knowledge of finding a book easily. Often it has been seen that such people are there helping other naive users around the library when the librarian is not around or perhaps busy with another user. Moving on, since all of the books would by now be organized in their respective categories, it would be no longer confusing as to where a particular book should be placed. (What is Knowledge Organization? ) The next step would be to ensure that these books are all fed into a centralized system along with their shelf numbers. Inputting the identification numbers would be a time-consuming task. Normally libraries have added information about books contained in a database. Inputting such information along with the identification number would mean several days’ hard work. Thus, the general recommendation is to scan the identification numbers on the book along with their location tag. The location tag is like the identification number. It informs the reader as to which shelf this book will probably be placed on. Logically numbering the shelves and then placing the correct shelf tag on the book according to its position would eliminate a great deal of manual input. Scanned data will contain the label of the book and the location. Librarians in their free time can then update their database with additional information about these books. Thus, the final step would be to correctly place these books in the shelves that have been labeled onto them. Incorrect placement of these books will result in wasted activity during the organization of knowledge steps. Thus, it is imperative to ensure that these books are placed back in their respective shelves even after they are returned by an issuer. In conclusion, I would like to assert the fact that knowledge organization is a hefty, yet significant task when it comes to using a library. The books in a library are pretty much arranged in a very logical and orderly manner. It is this fact which makes a library usable and books accessible. Online entries of the locations of books into computers also assist librarians only because they know that the proper place of that book is the one pointed out by the computer. Librarians face a tough task ahead of them when they join public libraries and attempt to organize the knowledge there.

America Is in the Heart: A Personal History :: Carlos Bulosan

America Is in the Heart: A Personal History (Journal) Part One:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Allos was a young boy from a little province of Binalonan located on the central part of the island of Luzon in the Philippines. He lived with his dad, who farms on their own land, which is the primary source of their living. His mom, living in the town, selling goods in the market. They were among the peasants who worked very hard for the rich landlords just to feed their family. When his brother Leon came back form a war in Europe, he met a girl from another town who he liked. They got engaged and married. There was a tradition during those days that if the girl wasn’t a virgin, the man would have to return her to their village. And when the people found out that the girl deceived Leon, they tied them on a tree and started beating them. Allos’ dad stopped them and when it was over, Leon left the town with his bride and started a new life. Amado, the youngest of his four brothers, who was attending grade school in town living with his mother and the ir baby sister. His father brought him to the village to help them on their farming. His other brother, Luciano was on camp serving the United States. They all worked so hard for his brother Macario, who was attending high school at the province capital. They needed money for Macario’s education so his father sold a hectare of their four-hectare land. When they needed more, they sold more land. They gave up almost everything they owned just to make their son Macario go to school. One day when his father and his brother Amado were farming, Amado started beating up the carabao. His father stopped him and Amado told his father that he couldn’t live like this anymore. So he ran away from home, leaving Allos as his father’s only helper on the farm. When his brother Macario went home to visit, Allos was speechless. He’s not used to see an educated man. He dressed formal, talked and acted like a real gentleman. When they all gathered on house, Macario said that he needed more money to finish three more months of school. But the money wasn’t enough for three months. So their father decided that they will sell the remaining hectare of their land telling his son not to worry at all.

Industry essay: What are Web Services? -- Computer Science

Industry essay: What are Web Services? Web services have been hyped over the past year to be the most innovative improvement that has come to the Internet. It has been adopted by many companies, and has reached the forefront of applications development. So what is all the hype about? Web services can be described as an application that can be deployed or called over the Internet that allows applications to communicate with each other- regardless of the language in which they are written or which systems platform and operating system is being used. Each service is a discrete unit of code, and performs a small set of given tasks. Typically, web services make use of standard web protocols to perform its tasks- it usually follows an order: 1) find the web service requested, 2) determine how the web service is called once it is found, and 3) call the program or service requested. For the search portion, UDDI (Universal Discovery, Description, and Integration) is mainly used. It is a service that essentially is a directory of web services, and UDDI helps the user find the web service or program for which he is looking. WSDL (Web Service Definition Language) is most often used to describe how the web service or program should be called, and XML to communicate this. Finally, Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) encodes the XML data sent and received, and shares the data in messages over http. The potential power of web services can be displayed in a number of different ways. Web services are being used to integrate all sorts of data- from local programs interfacing with each other across a local area network, to large enterprise-level applications communicating across the Internet. A few examples of how web services can be utilized are listed below: * A utility pole is damaged in a remote area of Massachusetts, and a utility company has to come in and replace it. However, in order to do this, the cable, telephone, and electric utility companies have to act in a certain order in order for the damaged pole to be removed. Web services can be used to determine the status of the actions taken by the individual companies, since the order of the actions is based on which utility owns the pole. * A company wants to measure how much a particular product it has sold, which customers bought how much of the product, when the nex... ...partners." In other words, web services allow the bounds on software integration to be greatly expanded. It is now a great selling point for companies, particularly those that develop software. And at first, those companies that develop web services will benefit, but the success will eventually give way to those businesses that leverage web services in the most useful manner. INDEX Brown, Bob, in an interview with Zimon, Gene (CIO and senior vice-president of Nstar energy company), Utility IT Exec To Explore Power of Web Services, Network World, December 2, 2002 McAllister, Neil, Service Economy: Will Web Services Be the Savior of the Industry? New Artchitect, April 18, 2002 http://www.fatalexception.org/articles/2002/20020418.html Microsoft Corporation, What Are Web Services?, May 15, 2003 http://www.microsoft.com/net/basics/webservices.asp Saxby, Barbara Angius, Web Services: A Floor Wax or Dessert Topping?, March 7, 2002 http://www.goto-silicon-valley.com/articles/barbara-angius-saxby/web_services.pdf Sholler, Daniel, METAReport: What Are Web Services, Anyway?, Datamation, January 16, 2002 http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/it_res/article.php/955861

Employee Resourcing Essay

Edwards, Scott and Raju (p. 71, 2003) have defined the term recruitment as â€Å"organizational practices and policies developed for the primary purpose of motivating applicants to apply, remain in the candidate pool, and accept offers. † Recruitment has been traditionally considered to have a minor role in the hiring process. Earlier the term recruitment to the hiring managers was primarily a means to indentify and use the sources, for instance the print media, which would give the maximum output in terms of applications from promising candidates. The importance of recruitment has increased multi-fold in recent times. This has been due to trends in 1990s like the changes in market which has necessitated a need for a large work force of specialized labors, and the internet which has given a wide platform for both the recruiters and job searchers to come in contact with each other (Edwards, Scott and Raju, p. 71, 2003). As a result of these trends the organizations have come to a scenario that not many people might apply when a job is posted. Even when the organization has selected a candidate it can no longer be assumed that they would be accepting these offers. Hence, there is an increasing awareness among people who take care of a company’s recruitment that the process covers far more than merely looking out for sources where the advertisements for job openings are to be put. This report gives an overview of the recruitment trends and selection practices in recent times in UK, the factors impacting these trends and selection practices in the country. Recruitment trends in UK in recent times The recruitment practices of organizations in UK have seen a drastic change in the recent times. Various practices and conditions are seen to exist in the organizations these days, which were not present a few decades ago like provision of creches, job-sharing, part-time work, and home-working. There is also a lot of stress on gender equality by the various companies. For instance, banks are seen to be the pioneers in devising various schemes to hire and retain women. Another of these trends is also to review policies such as those which used to encourage early retirement based on various conditions (Hendry, p. 42, 1995). There have been some additional schemes like performance related pays, which brought about the appraisal management system to fore. The trends for various organizations in UK is to use systems like the 360 feedback system for performance related pays, to motivate their employees so that they stay and work with the company and see this translated to an increase in the pay packages (Anderson, p. 130, 2005). Internet boom has been seen to impact all the aspects of businesses. Recruitment is no exception, and has seen a major change in the way companies recruit people. The trend to adopt internet as a means to recruit people, has also seen in face of the increasing number of companies looking to recruit people. The ease of finding people has increased as the companies can now access databases of people living in far off places in a short time. The online recruitment activity in UK increased by 30% for August 2007, from last year August 2006 (Monster, p. 1, 2007) For the managerial vacancies, the trend is that the vacancies are filled from the internal labor market while the senior management positions are as likely filled internally as externally. This trend means that on the supply side there has been an increase in new entrants in the labor market while on the demand side the organizations have a need for new managerial recruits. Selection Practices in UK in recent times Swift and Robertson (2000) cite several surveys conducted for selection practices to point out that the employers use a wide range of selection techniques depending upon the type of jobs for which the people are being recruited. They also said that the survey showed that no one method for selection was used as a standardized or stand-alone technique in small, middle, and even large sized corporations. The most used current selection practices were found to be application forms, interviews with single interviewer, panel interviewers, personality tests, references, ability tests, selection centers, CVs, and group selection centers. Despite the many reports of unreliability and invalidity, traditional selection methods of interview, application form and references are the most popular selection practices used. Of these, personal interviews are considered to be the most widely criticized method of selection, and the third most popular toll behind reference checking and application forms. The more sophisticated techniques like the assignment centers and psychological testing are relatively less used in UK. Though there has been a rise in the number of psychometric tests used by large sized corporations while selecting new recruits, the traditional methods are still the most common tools for selection (Brewster, Mayrhofer and Morley, p. 60, 2004). Brewster, Mayrhofer and Morley (2004) also point out that there has been a rise in the flexible working practices in UK, in particular the non-standard contracts. There has been a rise in flexible contracts related to salary packages like sharing profits, introduction of performance incentive and also flexibility in the working hours. Changing environment in UK in the last few decades Organizations in UK faced the impact of the economic changes that occurred in 1980s through the 1990s. There were changes in the economic environment, labor law, government labor market policy, demographic changes and also the political climate, all of which had an impact on the organizations and hence their personnel management policies. There was a severe recession of 1980-81, followed by a period of growth till the early 1990s and again a slump in the last quarter of 1990s when the economic growth ceased (Hendry, p. 23, 1995). Due to the recession in the country there was a need for bringing in more foreign currency, hence imports became cheaper and foreign firms were drawn to the UK market. All of these brought about a collapse in the manufacturing sector which could not keep up with the measures taken by the government to bring up the recession. The industries began to restructure and this brought about the internationalization of various firms due to acquisitions and mergers (Hendry, p. 25, 1995). The trend for internationalization was present in UK but was chiefly restricted to Europe both in terms of trade and movement of capital. But the 1980s and 1990s saw the companies expand overseas in other countries to explore newer market and / or use cheaper labor due to the inherently tight labor market (Hendry, p. 27, 1995). There were other changes for instance the demographic and social changes brought about by the education system, which meant that more people were trained in higher education, and hence the labor force fell sharply through the 1980s. However, the proportion of women entering the labor market started to rise. Politically too UK saw marked changes as the Thatcher government gave way to new governments and different work related policies as well as the overall policies (Hendry, p. 40, 1995). Effects of External Environment on Labor Markets All the changes in the UK environment affected the personnel management practices by the organizations. The section above gave a brief on some of the major environment changes while this section would be giving the impact of the changes on the labor market and the next section would give the corresponding consequences in the recruitment and selection process. The collapse of the industrial segment in UK had far reaching impacts on the labor market. There was large scale unemployment which was well over 3 million for almost five years, with large regional imbalances. There were forced redundancies and many of the units were closed down. This made the companies look out for increased measures in productivity by using flexible working practices. This also led to the sharp demarcations between the various levels of employees. The slump led to internationalization in two ways. First the people in the middle class who were traditionally the labors increasingly sent their offspring to universities for higher studies. This led to an increase in the number of people qualified tor white collar and professional jobs, and the number of labors decreased. Organizations in UK hence started looking to countries in Asia and Africa for filling this labor gap. There were also direct acquisitions which led to foreign companies acquiring stakes in UK companies, which led to internationalization. The internationalization brought people from different cultures in contact with each other on regular basis. This meant that the people needed to be culturally conditioned to blend in easily with the increasingly changing work environment. The increase in the number of women in the industry at various levels brought about massive changes in the working culture of the organizations. There were issues like employee safety and newer incentives were introduced to attract employees like facilities of creches, providing pick-up and drop facilities. Effects of External Environment on Recruitment Process The labor market in UK has traditionally being tight due to the reasons outlined above. The market was affected due to two important events foot-and-mouth disease and 9/11 crisis. These events brought about crisis in the financial markets, a fall in tourism and other related activities, thus increasing the unemployment. However, in spite of these changes the labor market remains a challenge for recruiters in terms of recruitment and selection (Brewster, Mayrhofer and Morley, p. 48, 2004). The recruiters need to attract people to work in their organizations, which is the first important step. The second step is to follow a rigid but effective selection process which would ensure that the right people have been selected to work in the company. Recruitment and selection process are seen to be the most important functions of Human Resource Management process. This is because an effective recruitment and selection process ensures an efficient labor force while a poor one might have negative effects to the company’s productivity which are long lasting. The companies prefer that their employees are sources both internally and externally, so that the internal employees are motivated and fresh blood is brought into the company which is necessary for innovation. The rise in technology especially the internet has seen to it that the companies can have a diverse work force. The large companies have also used software technologies to use databases to keep track of their employees for checking their performance levels which would air the process of internal recruitment. UK companies traditionally preferred to fill their positions internally especially for managerial recruitments, though this is changing in the face of internationalization. Various organizations are also seen to improve the process of re-training and provide attractive incentives like performance related packages for recruiting and retaining employees (Brewster, Mayrhofer and Morley, p. 0, 2004). Effects of External Environment on Selection Process After potential candidates apply for the position, the selection process must ensure that the most promising candidates are selected for the positions. This is again a challenge to the recruiters because of the increasing stress laid on the employees to excel not only in their job but also added skills like team-spirit and adapting to change. Many of the positions require that the candidate must be comfortable for working in newer locations, which was traditionally limited to people in the sales and marketing department. In addition, the potential candidates must also be abreast with the fast changing technological environment, and be able to cope up with it. All these must be the elements of the selection process, which means a high burden for people designing the process to ensure only the right candidates, are selected (Brewster, Mayrhofer and Morley, p. 60, 2004). As is already mentioned above, personal interview though is the most criticized, is still the most preferred by recruiters in UK. The reason for this is probably the importance the company people give to personal judgment. With the increasing number of people coming from different regions and countries, references and applications are considered to be the most important tools in the selection process. The reference checking is done with due diligence and the responses are always recorded. In many cases, the companies also go in for reference checking by employing private agencies to check up on the potential candidate. Application forms are of course the necessary input for any further steps in the selection process (Brewster, Mayrhofer and Morley, p. 60, 2004).

Economic affects of BSE and Hoof and Mouth Disease essays

Economic affects of BSE and Hoof and Mouth Disease essays The United Kingdom and much of Europe have been suffering from the crisis of first Mad Cow Disease and then at beginning of this year, from Foot and Mouth Disease. These calamities have affected their economies and trade with other countries, not to mention the financial burden afflicting farmers. Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), more commonly known as Mad Cow Disease, is a degenerative brain disease that affects cattle. The symptoms of BSE include loss of coordination, a staggering gait, difficulty in rising, a decrease in milk production, weight loss and eventually death. Animals that have BSE also present a change in behavior such as nervousness, aggression, and a diminished interest in surroundings. The incubation period is approximately from two to eight years. In November 1986, Mad Cow Disease was first identified and by early 2001 there were more than 180,000 cases in the United Kingdom. Studies suggest that more animals had been infected but most were slaughtered before being diagnosed or symptoms developed. Cases have been confirmed in other countries within Europe, including Denmark, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Portugal, and Switzerland. There have also been reports of BSE in Oman, Canada, and the Falkland Islands, however, these cases have been confined to cows imported from Britain. The disease has not been officially established in the United States, yet in March 2001 the American government apprehended around 300 sheep from farms located in Vermont that had been imported from Belgium and The Netherlands. BSE has been linked to a form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) which is a fatal brain disease in humans. Those infected present similar symptoms as the cattle infected. There have been numerous studies since 1996 that have recognized that BSE can be transmitted to humans and cause vCJD. These studies have linked the times and locations of the epidemic i...

Definition of Export Quotas

Definition of Export Quotas Free Online Research Papers Export quotas are specific restrictions or ceilings imposed by an exporting country on the value or volume of certain exports to protect domestic producers and consumers from temporary shortages of the goods affected or to bolster their prices in world markets. (Http://en.wilipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Organisation)Some international commodity agreements explicitly indicate when producers should apply such restraints. Export quotas are also often applied in orderly marketing agreements and voluntary restraint agreements. There mentions two words: orderly marketing arrangement and voluntary restraint arrangement. As to orderly marketing arrangement, it is a bilateral arrangement whereby an exporting country (government or industry) agrees to reduce or restrict exports without the importing country having to make use of quotas, tariffs or other controls on Imports. Here, this paper will focus on export quotas. Often the word voluntary is placed in quotes because these restraints are ty pically implemented upon the insistence of the importing nations. Typically voluntary export restraint (VERs) arises when the import-competing industries seek protection from a surge of imports from particular exporting countries. VERs are then offered by the exporter to appease the importing country and to avoid the effects of possible trade restraints on the part of the importer. Thus VERs are rarely completely voluntary. Just like the â€Å"war† between America and Japan on Auto business, America adopt this way to compel Japan reduce the auto export quality to America voluntary. There is another example, Nations in Europe have determined that in order to be more competitive, they must come together as a single market in order to pool their resources. This means unification of many trading policies within Europe. One common policy that Europe did enact in order to help their industry is the export restraint on copper scrap. This regulation was enacted in order to protect the copper and brass manufacturers in Europe. The copper scrap export restraint kept the price of this raw material low. In order to reduce the price of copper and copper-alloy scrap to their brass mills, the European Community imposed export quotas on these taw materials. These quotas were set by the European Community in 1971 during a copper and copper-alloy shortage. The United Kingdom has an added restriction to this export quota. With the help of these export quotas and other restrictions, brass mills within the European Community were able to purchase scrap at relatively lower prices. T he export restraint keeps the copper and copper-alloy scrap within Europe because corporations are not able to export these materials. This causes an over abundance of copper scrap within the European Community. In order to sell these raw materials, companies must greatly reduce their prices. These restrictions have allowed the European Community to manipulate the world market to their advantage. VERs have been used since the 1930s at least, and have been applied to products ranging from textiles and footwear to steel, machine tools and automobiles. They became a popular form of protection during the 1980s, perhaps in part because they did not violate countries’ agreements under the GATT. As a result of the Uruguay round of the GATT, completed in 1994, WTO members agreed not to implement any new VERs and to phase out any existing VERs over a four year period. Exceptions can be granted for one sector in each importing country. The WTO’s stated goal is to improve the welfare of the peoples of its member countries, specifically by lowering trade barriers and providing a platform for negotiation of trade. Its main mission is â€Å"to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible†. This main mission is further specified in certain core functions serving and safeguarding five fundamental principles, which are the foundation of the multilateral trading system. Since its entry into WTO, China has become much more open and become gradually integrated into the world economy. In its most basic terms, the agreement lowers tariffs, increases access to China’s markets by foreign producers of some commodities through tariff rate quotas (TRQs), and completely removes quantitative restrictions on others. In return, China gets better access to foreign markets for its agricultural products, as well as a number of less obvious benefits. In the past, many companies in china do textiles encountered problem: trade restrictions. They knew how they would actually get the merchandise from China to the U.S. The problem was export quotas. Anyone manufacturing overseas needs to pay close attention to the details of U.S. trade deals. And thats especially true in the fashion business, because the U.S. government sets strict limits on foreign-made apparel. Once those quotas are established, manufacturers must obtain the rights to export certain amounts of certain items to the U.S. Acquiring those rights is critical because a manufacturers products cannot leave China without them. Under the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing of the WTO, from Jan. 1, 2005, quota management on global textiles trade was relinquished. At present, the total volume of Chinas textiles export accounts for one fourth of the global textiles trade volume. According to the forecast made by the WTO, the trade volume of Chinas textiles in 2005 will account for a half of that for the whole world. As indicated by the data provided by Chinas customs offices, since the cancellation of quota on Jan. 1 2005, the export of some Chinas textiles export lifting quota management has sharply increased in volume, but decreased in price. The export of Chinas global textiles increased by a margin of about 30%, mainly to the EU and the USA. While export was increased, the price fell by 30% as a contrast. The change also happened on China’s agricultural trade. Since China’s entry into WTO, its agricultural export has enjoyed a substantial growth. The exported agricultural products of China are mainly composed of gardening products, livestock products, and aquatic products, which have enjoyed different growth in export. In 2004, the export volume of the gardening products was USï ¹ ©6.10 billion, with an increase of 64.3% in comparison with that of 2001, that of vegetables was USï ¹ ©2.54 billion, that of fruits was USï ¹ ©0.92billion. The export volume of livestock products increased by 18.6% compared to the year 2001, with an export volume of USï ¹ ©3.14 billion, among which the export volume of meat was USï ¹ ©0.56 billion and that of poultry was USï ¹ ©0.14 billion (with a drastic decrease in comparison with USï ¹ ©0.59 billion in 2001). The export volume of aquatic products was USï ¹ ©6.66 billion, with an increase of 65.5% compared to 2001. The export volum of grain remained the same as that in 2001, amounted to USï ¹ ©1.56 billion. 2001 2002 2003 2004 US million % US million % US million % US million % Total Export 15,975 100 18,019 100 21,243 100 23,030 100 Grain 1,554 9.7 2,223 12.3 3,257 15.3 1,564 6.8 Horticulture 3,712 23.2 4,239 23.5 5,148 24.2 6,097 26.4 Animal Products 2,645 16.6 2,548 14.1 2,688 12.7 3,137 13.6 Aquatic products 4,022 25.2 4,506 25 5,263 24.8 6,657 28.8 Others 4,042 25.3 4,502 25 4,887 23 5,635 24.4 However, quota cancellation does not mean that exporter will usher in a free trade era. In addition to quota, there are also other non-tariff factors affecting global textiles trade, for example, tariff and green barrier. So, the cancellation of quota will not result in fundamental and revolutionary changes to the global market. As the exporter, it may face new forms of trade protectionism. Some developed and developing countries have joined forces, ready for setting up restriction on export. Once these countries link hands to impose barriers for export, exporter will suffer serious loss in its rights, while other related products will also be severely threatened, and even may have to exit from the international market as a whole. Therefore, some Governments has adopted a series of measures such as imposing export tariff to encourage export of products of high added values, thus further improving the structure of export, keeping improving the overall economic efficacy of the industry of export, as well as its international competitiveness. As the china’s Textiles export license for example, After Jan. 1 2005, there has been a serious increase in quantity and decrease in price for partial textiles exports which have been lifted quota management. If this phenomenon continues, other countries may make us e of the opportunity to implement trade protection. The measures employed by the Ministry of Commerce will greatly restrict the large volume of textiles exports, thus improving the textiles international trade environment. From Mar. 1 2005 on, the Interim Method for Automatic License of Textiles Export will be implemented, namely, an export license has to be applied for textiles export. The export license system employed by the Ministry of Commerce is to improve statistics, analysis and monitoring of textiles export, post precaution messages on fast-growing exported textiles to operators, and guide and standardize the orderly exports of the enterprises. At present, many developed countries have employed the method to achieve 24-hour monitoring of imported and exported commodities. The Interim Method for Automatic License of Textiles Export is very timely and effective in promulgation, however, it will still take time and practice for check whether it is operable and conducive to alleviating enterprises burden. There is also one thing we could use for reference from China that called Industry self discipline. China is actively adopting effective measures to avoid trade friction that may be triggered by quota cancellation and sharp increase in textiles export. According to the requirement by the Ministry of Commerce in enhancing industry coordination and self discipline, China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles has set up a coordinative commission for export of trousers, knitting shirts, men tatting shirts and underwear. At present, the management of the commission is under discussion. The commission will play an active role in coordinating the export of these sensible textiles, and prevent certain textiles export from growing too fast. The various coordinative commissions will work out detailed rules such as qualifications of export enterprises, and the lower limitation of export. The industry self discipline agreement covers the following four aspects. First, determine the categories of sensible textiles. List textiles that easily trigger trade friction and protectionism of importing countries as sensible products, and put emphasis on monitoring the export of these products. Second, set up a coordinative system for the lowest price. It requires that the enterprises involved in the self discipline agreement do not go lower than this price when exporting such commodities. Third, an industry access system will be set up for the self discipline agreement. Enterprises running counter to trade laws and regulations and disturbing the export order will be reported, or, their import and export rights will be suspended. Fourth, set up a precaution system. If a red light is on for a certain type of textile, it means that a certain country has started to limit the import of the product; if a yellow light is on, it means that the export of a certain type of textile is on tremendous increase and has caught attention of importing countries, and they may employ certain measures to restrict import of the commodity. (Developments in the Textiles and Clothing Trade: Impact of Quota Elimination, is available at the www.tdctrade.com website) After China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles posted its intention of setting up an industry self discipline system on the website, extensive attention has been aroused. Within one day, 415 textile enterprises expressed their willingness in joining the agreement. The export of the 415 enterprises accounts for over 50% of the total export volume to the U.S.A. and the EU. Many countries accession to WTO seems to represent a great leap forward in liberalization, it is clear that there are still many barriers that stand between the current situation and a significantly freer trade regime. In the long-run, the final accounting of WTO’s impact on many companies will depend on how leaders, producers, and consumers respond to the new opportunities offered by WTO and how they deal with the new challenges. Research Papers on Definition of Export QuotasAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeTwilight of the UAWPETSTEL analysis of IndiaOpen Architechture a white paperMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductAppeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2The Project Managment Office SystemCapital PunishmentGenetic EngineeringInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married Males

PHIL #5 Example

PHIL #5 Example PHIL #5 – Essay Example ï » ¿Aristotles Psychology: HylomorphismThe term hylomorphism is connected with the Aristotle’s philosophy and his ideas due to the question of existence. This philosophical theory is based on the Aristotle’s study of the soul and includes the concepts from metaphysics and natural science (Caston, 2006). Philosophical approach under consideration develops in the Western tradition and has an influence on the understanding of existence (Caston, 2006).Hylomorphism can be explained as a theory that understands being due to the two principal components. It is possible to name them as matter and form. For example, brick can be regarded as a matter for the houses and syllables as a matter for the words (Caston, 2006). Still, the most important idea that is claimed by Aristotle can be related to the living objects. The matter is that he â€Å"regards the body as the matter and the soul as the form of a living thing† (Caston, 2006). What is more, Aristotle represents the se two issues as inseparable notion that cannot exist without each other (Caston, 2006). The concepts of body and soul are regarded as â€Å"substances† or â€Å"ousiai† that both construct a third. This third is considered to be all living objects in general and humans in particular.It is important to mention that hylomorphism theory is closely connected with substance dualism philosophy. The matter is that at the center of substance dualism stays mind and body (Caston, 2006). Moreover, it is admitted that mental matter is not able to exist without the body, while body cannot cogitate and think. Also, the idea of independent existence of soul is under consideration of supporters of substance dualism theory. Therefore, it is possible to talk about parallel notions between hylomorphism and substance dualism. Still, hylomorphism concept represents the philosophical approach from the different angle. Reference List:Caston, V. (2006). Aristotle’s Psychology. In M.â €…L. Gill and P. Pellegrin (eds.), The Blackwell Companion to Ancient Philosophy. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

News Program Analysis Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

News Program Analysis - Research Paper Example This will include and analysis of this students findings. How are the three different forms of coverage portrayed and how the segment framed with regard to the presentation and the bias? X- Reports the floods in the south are historic this May 19, 2011. It crested at 57.1 feet Thursday, and the weather service predicts the crest will hold through at least Saturday morning in Vicksburg. The flood also claimed the first victim in the state. Vicksburg resident Walter Cook, who died after pulled from floodwaters, according to the Warren County coroner, who said Thursday it is not clear how Cook results in them. For some, the cresting floodwaters, which damaged hundreds of homes and displaced 2,000 Vicksburg residents, was cause for relief. For others, it was a reason to celebrate. Y reports VIDALIA, La. - Natchez, Mississippi occupies a prominent bluff overlooking the big river. Tourist attractions, the city is well off and mostly dries, reports CBS News correspondent Dean Reynolds. Just across the water, in the lowlands, lies Vidalia, Louisiana. A, working class town, is on the edge of a ruinous flood. At least 300 people are out of work and riverfront businesses there are out of commission. The convention center, the hotel, hospital, and medical building are inches from inundation and losing as much as $1 million a month. The flooding on the Mississippi River is sure to cost billions of dollars in damage and lost business and diverting floodwaters away from New Orleans may not reduce the cost of this disaster by much. How much will the flooding cost the southern-flooded areas and the rest of the U.S.? CBS News business and economics correspondent Rebecca Jarvis said on "The Early Show" Tuesday that the area affected by flooding is very significant to the national economy because of its gasoline resources. Z reports, Eddie Simmons relieved to hear that the Mississippi River crested slightly lower than expected north of him in Vicksburg LA, confident his house woul d survive the flooding that is plaguing many states. Simmons, a retired logger, is recovering from hip-replacement surgery and can barely leave his bed. Despite water swamping his front yard and creeping beneath his house in Port Gibson, he has decided to ride it out. "It's God's work. You have to deal with him. You can run to high ground, but if God wants to come there, he can come there. You might as well stay put, he said". The Mississippi River crested at more than 14 feet above flood stage in Vicksburg on Thursday, slightly lower than expected, easing worries about water potentially spilling over a nearby levee and inundating thousands more acres of farmland. Still, officials warned that the flood was by no means over. The river expected to stay at its crest for several days before beginning a long, slow retreat. It could remain above flood stage until mid-June. Television stories are subjective or objective, informal or formal to represent the TV story reporting a certain appr oach. The definition of objective and subjective: Objective/formal this statement is completely unbiased. The speaker’s previous experiences or tastes have nothing to do with the report. It is verifiable by looking up facts or performing mathematical calculations. Subjective/informal the character of the speaker or writer colors this statement. It often has a basis in reality, but reflects the perspective through with the speaker views reality. It cannot be verified using concrete facts and numbers. We use our examples listed above, X appears to have an objective point of view. This

The Crucible Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

The Crucible - Essay Example The plot involves a series of accusations about people participating in witchcraft. Reverend John Hale, an expert in witchcraft, is called from a neighboring town, to investigate the unnatural events that have recently been reported in Salem. Many people accused of witchcraft end up in court and are hanged for their supposed involvement in unnatural activities. The scenes reveal that many of those who undergo trial for involving in witchcraft are in fact innocent people accused by others for personal reasons. The Crucible features many prominent characters among them John Proctor, Abigail Williams, Mary Warren, Ann Putman, Thomas Putnam, Giles Corey, Reverend John Hale, Elizabeth Proctor, Thomas Danforth, and John Hathorne. John Proctor (Husband to Elizabeth), a humble famer, had an affaire with Abigail at the time she was working for the Proctor family as a house help. Abigail a great liar wishes to see Elizabeth dead in the belief that upon Elizabeth’s death she would be married to John (Grade Saver par. 3). In a private conversation, Abigail reveals to John Proctor that the entire witchcraft saga was a hoax. Abigail accuses Elizabeth of attempting to murder her as she feels a needle-stab while she is eating. This she does knowing fully well that Mary had made a poppet and given it to Elizabeth as a gift with a needle stuck to it. It is based on the needle and the poppet that she accuses Elizabeth. In court, Proctor denounces Abigail’s claims stating that she is a liar an d a whore. As a result of Abigail’s lies Proctor is hang, Elizabeth is imprisoned awaiting her hanging after delivering her unborn child, and Rebecca Nurse is scheduled to face the gallows. The setting of the plot is Salem, at a time when accusations of being involved in witchcraft could draw the death penalty. The author is keen enough to involve create characters with different traits so as to be able to develop a captivating plot. In the Crucible, if

Classroom Grading Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Classroom Grading - Essay Example Teachers struggle to balance achievement, effort, talent, student background, and context, and seem hesitant to make their criteria explicit and public for fear of losing the ability to individualize their grading practices. However, in their struggles to be fair to individual students and to use grades for motivational purposes, teachers may not realize that they are not holding all students to the same standards. Blanke (1999) admits "The ethics of grading begins with a determination of the educator's goals" (136). According to Marzano (2000), grades are needed for: (a) administrative purposes to control students' performance; (b) for instructional planning, (c) feedback for students; (d) "guidance to students about future course work" (e) motivational purposes (45). Concerns about consistency of grading have received the most empirical attention in large scale programs rather than in classroom assessments. Marzano (2000) explains that: "there is no right way or wrong way to design grades, there are ways that fit best with a given set of assumptions or beliefs" (47). The grades should include academic achievements of the students and their efforts during the course. The grades should evaluate thinking and reasoning skills, work completion and participation (Marzano 35).

The Mesopotamians Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Mesopotamians - Essay Example The Mesopotamians had a pessimistic view of life because of the uncertainty in their lives. They were uncertain because of how land their land was open and the rivers were difficult to control. This pessimistic view of life was reflected even in some of their art. They revealed their pessimism through hiding statues and other arts about the things they were pessimistic about in their culture.They had a pessimistic view even of their gods. They viewed them as caprious and had to constantly struggle with their whims. This affected their art and especially when designing their temples. The designing and art work of the temples were in such a way that the statues of their gods were hidden or interrupted. This way, they became distant and difficult to be seen. Other than the pessimism revealed in the art of the Mesopotamians, other features that the culture’s art reveal depend on the type of art being made. The art indicating nudity revealed that frailty and destitution of those in dividuals killed or enslaved in war. Vases on the other hand revealed that the Mesopotamians were people who presented offerings to their goddess during important ceremonies like marriages. The art also revealed that they valued and respected their rulers and leaders and this was depicted in arts of their leaders once they died.

See the details Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

See the details - Essay Example Musical Revolution: During his times, Elvis was very passionate about listening to different kind of music. As a result, he became an influencing icon who directly influenced the pop ballads and other varied array of music including, country music, gospel, and African American R&B which he grew listening to on the streets during his times (Cantor, 2005). This aspiration led him to create and develop his own kind of music. He brought a major change to the music industry and the society through his efforts and ambition. He mixed different musical influences into a network of diversity which was never experimented or created by anyone before Elvis. This led him to hold the position of the country’s first Rock and Roll idol that provided the new generation with a diversified musical creation of his own. Elvis career was faced with many highs and lows but he made a remarkable history in the world of music during two most prominent times- from 1955 to 1956 when he was credited for h is musical compositions throughout the nation and around the world. This not only gained him nationwide recognition but it also helped him to gain the international fame (Cantor, 2005). And the second period, dates back to 1970, when he finally settled himself as an icon for producing music in different genres and running successfully his tours and performances at both national and international levels (Brown and Broeske, 1997). Even today after 26 years of his death, Elvis Presley still holds an eminent position in the world of music and he can still be credited as an undisputed â€Å"diva† of Rock& Roll. Elvis never rocked the music industry with his Rock & Roll identity. He was failed to impress Sam Phillips during his recordings at Sun Records in the year 1954. He sang ballads after ballads but he failed to meet the expectations of Sam Phillips who thought of him a young talent who badly failed to compete with the stars like Johnny Ray, Eddie Fisher and many more. However , accidently during the breaks, Elvis fell on singing the unrehearsed version of â€Å"That’s All Right† by the one and only Arthur Crudups. The song is a beautiful composition which projects that how a white man sings the black-influenced tune. It highlights a unique combination of cultures and a very different kind of music that attracted Phillips. This tune as sung by Elvis held his attention. Coining His Influence on Youth and Shaping a New Pop Culture: His musical composition of the song created in 1945 to 1955 revolutionized the national musical industry. During his earliest performances, Elvis started mixing different genres with each other. For example, he added R&B to the country music and vice versa. This helped Elvis to discover a new array of musical compositions and he adapted a new style. He was also criticized for giving rise to a new genre â€Å"Rock& Roll† and eliminating the traditional yet so called pop music. By 1956, Elvis gained the fame as a national star and he was very much known for initiating the rock and roll movement (Cantor, 2005). He set himself as an example of bringing in the change for the youth of his times. Elvis was a new icon for a new generation. He provided the youth of 1950’s with new highly rich musical melodies which were very different from the traditional music or the music of their parents. He coined his own style and sound. He was often called as rebellious, lewd or a revolutionist in a negative

The Mesopotamians Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Mesopotamians - Essay Example The Mesopotamians had a pessimistic view of life because of the uncertainty in their lives. They were uncertain because of how land their land was open and the rivers were difficult to control. This pessimistic view of life was reflected even in some of their art. They revealed their pessimism through hiding statues and other arts about the things they were pessimistic about in their culture.They had a pessimistic view even of their gods. They viewed them as caprious and had to constantly struggle with their whims. This affected their art and especially when designing their temples. The designing and art work of the temples were in such a way that the statues of their gods were hidden or interrupted. This way, they became distant and difficult to be seen. Other than the pessimism revealed in the art of the Mesopotamians, other features that the culture’s art reveal depend on the type of art being made. The art indicating nudity revealed that frailty and destitution of those in dividuals killed or enslaved in war. Vases on the other hand revealed that the Mesopotamians were people who presented offerings to their goddess during important ceremonies like marriages. The art also revealed that they valued and respected their rulers and leaders and this was depicted in arts of their leaders once they died.

Nus 170 assignment 1 zhong Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Nus 170 1 zhong - Assignment Example Jack does not consume any whole grains contrary to the requirements of the dietary table at > 5 OZ while he is over consuming on refined grains at 8 OZ. On vegetables, jack doesn’t consume any contrary to the dietary requirements of 3.5 cups while he consumes  ¼ cup dairy which is below the bar set by the dietary table of 3 cups. Fruit consumption is insignificant as he does not consume any in contrary to dietary requirements of 2  ½ cups. Generally, jack’s consumption does not conform to the dietary table requirements as most food groups are under consumed as compared to is required to be consumed. Jack under consumes 73.63% of all the foods groups. He is not keen in keeping the dietary requirements and this is hazardous to the body health. He efficiently utilizes 21.05% of the food groups while he over utilizes 5.32% of the food groups. It is alarming in the case that jack does not put into consideration health issues arising from food consumption as the report shows some instances where food group consumption is close to zero and indication of not taking serious his set targets. (5pts) Jack has been experiencing symptoms of GERD lately. He would like to try some dietary solutions. In addition to the above, using your textbook as a reference, write a brief dietary recommendation for Jack that may alleviate his GERD symptoms. Use your textbook for guidance, write at least 200 words and be specific. Gastro esophageal reflux disease is as a result of a defect in the relaxation of lower esophageal sphincter that allows contents of the stomach to jump back to the lining of the esophagus that is unprotected. This is brought about by the consumption of oily and spicy foods, onions, chocolate, caffeine and carbonated beverages. Jack should opt to taking tea instead of coffee to reduce the caffeine content in the body and at the same time avoid carbonated beverages

Financial accounting and Managerial use Essay Example for Free

Financial accounting and Managerial use Essay Background LJB Company , a small business local distributor who understands to go public in the future, the company should be in accordance with the law and may need to take more stringent internal control principles. At the request of the president, an independent internal evaluation of internal controls was conducted to evaluate the direction of strength and weakness. Objective The objectives of this report should evaluate the existing controls and make recommendations that will ensure the companies assets and help get the most accurate financial information. Based on a system of internal checks and balances will be just in my recommendations to the president of the company, since most of the internal control systems provide for independent internal control; This principle involves the review of data prepared by employees. To get the maximum benefit from an independent internal control : Control values and Integrity from the top make it clear that it is unethical activities will not be accepted, and set the tone for the companys culture . There are several principles of management : 1. Establishment of responsibility: management is most effective when a single source may be responsible for the problem, including the authorization and approval of transactions. Weakness: LJB has only one accountant who serves as treasurer and controller , which can optimize the processes , but it creates an inherent risk . Cashier handled informally . Accountant is so busy that the company handles the checkout bit differently . All employees have access to the petty cash drawer and just put a note asking if they use any of the cash. Recommendation: * Align the specific obligations of employees to limit access to authorized employees so that the buyer is not the same person who authorizes the payment without the approval of the head at least . Otherwise , a person may make payments that are made to yourself. * Use unique passwords per employee to protect the purchasing system to provide adequate documents and records management. * Assign petty cash custodian. 2 . Segregation of duties : After one employee should , without duplication of effort , provide a sound basis for evaluating the work of another employee. 2 * Strength: Accountant receives the checks and completes the monthly bank reconciliation. This force , as the bank and the company maintain independent records , which may not always agree on what may be a simple mistake of either party. To maintain maximum benefits , a worker who has no other duties associated with cash should prepare a reconciliation. * Weakness: The same accountant all purchases of supplies and pays for these purchases per hour is a dual role . Petty cash handled all . * Recommendation: 1. Divide the purchase task to avoid the temptation of possible abuse. Keeper of the petty cash fund makes payments , but the reviews accountant to recharge . 2 . Require the authorization of the buyer and payment of employees on vacation at different times of the year. 3 . Documentation and procedures to provide evidence that the transactions and events occurred * Strength: Accountant recently started using pre- numbered invoices. * Weaknesses: Unclear procedures for shipping requirements , invoices and time signatures in developing accounting documents . All employees are required only to leave a note in the box , not supply a receipt. * Recommendation: * Delivery document indicates well have been shipped, invoice sales means that the client has been announced. Use remittance advice (mail receipts ) , cash register tapes, and deposit slips . * Require signature to identify the person responsible for the activity . * If possible , the user pre- numbered documents . It also helps to ensure that the transaction is no recorded several times or not at all . * Require time when documents should be sent in accounting for timely accounting. * Require receipts for most, if not all operations on a small number of dollars. Note: accountant wants to buy an indelible ink machine to print their checks. I would recommend the purchase of this equipment , depending on the cost-benefit analysis . Keep blank checks in safes with limited access will  be my first suggestion to cut spending immediately , with no additional costs. | 4 . Physical control can be mechanical and electronic asset protection . * Strength: Before leaving for the weekend accountant , accountant will move checks in a safe in his office . * Weakness: For salaries , checks selected accountant and left in his office for pick-up . Cashier box is not locked. * Recommendation: * Closed storage inventory and records management and control at all times, and not just for the weekend . * Alarm to prevent tampering if appropriate cost benefit * Closed petty cash . 5 . Independent internal verification includes an overview and comparison of the data to reconcile * Strength: Does not work . * Weaknesses: Unclear procedures requirements signatures , such as small cash transactions. Accountant is so busy that the company handles the checkout bit differently . All employees have access to the petty cash drawer and just put a note asking if they use any of the cash. * Recommendation: 1. Require an accountant to examine receipts and documents to verify costs to replenish funds. 2 . Surprise internal audits 6. Office of Human Resources * Strength: Employees seem to stay with the company for a long time and seems to be loyal . * Weakness: The President is still quite embarrassed because he was forced to fire one of their employees for viewing pornography on a company computer. He later learned that this man was a convicted felon who served time for molesting children. The Company had a hard time getting the employee to admit that this is it, because the company does not assign individual passwords. The President expressed his disappointment because he and an accountant and an interview and approve all new employees. * Recommendation: 1. Perform back ground checks and verify education credentials 2 . Check references , but never used the figures provided a reference sheet 3 . Employees bonds that deal cash 4 . Assign unique passwords for employees Conclusion: There are limitations of internal control , but they must provide reasonable assurance that assets are protected and accounting are accurate. Currently, as a small company LJB can not have a very complicated system of internal control , but must recognize the reality of the law for trading companies with the public are held at a higher level of compliance . LJB Company does some things right , but there are several areas for improvement . Literature : http://map.ais.ucla.edu/go/1002631 Paul D. Kimmel , Jerry J. Weygandt, Donald Kieso 2010 Business Economics http://www.macomb.edu/About+Macomb/College+Policies/Policies/Guidelines+for+Purchasing+Activities.htm https://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance//fin106c07.pdf http://www.brockport.edu/intcontrol/questions.html

Oral And Written Feedback To Improve Writing English Language Essay

Oral And Written Feedback To Improve Writing English Language Essay This study is an investigation of the perceptions about effectiveness of oral and written feedback on writing of thirty-seven Cambodian English-major students at the National University of Management (NUM). Two instruments were used to collect data from the oral feedback group (N=19) and the written feedback group (N=18) before and after the two-month treatment: questionnaires and student paragraphs. Results indicate that the two groups equally delivered better performance on holistic writing although oral feedback was viewed as preferable to written feedback. While the former positively impacted on both the micro-aspects (i.e. grammar, vocabulary, and mechanics and spelling) and the macro-aspects (i.e. content and organization), the latter encouraged revision only in language and organization. The study suggests that student writing improve, regardless of feedback method; that preference may not associate with revision; that reading be integrated into L2 writing classes; and that re vision may correlate with feedback intake which depends on learner-focus and teacher-student interaction. Introduction Since the late 1950s, attitudes towards the role of corrective feedback have changed along with the evolution of language teaching methodologies grounded on theories of both educational psychology and second language acquisition with the aim of enabling learners to acquire the target language effectively. In the late 1950s and 1960s, the Audiolingual Method (ALM), based on behaviorism and structuralism, was very popular in second and foreign language classrooms. Error correction was seen as helping learners to form good habits by giving correct responses instead of making structural mistakes. In the 1970s and 1980s, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), developed from nativism, was commonly practised to equip learners with communicative competence in terms of function over form or comprehensibility over grammaticality. It infers that formal correction should be discontinued since it was deemed as interfering rather than facilitating the acquisition of the target language. In the ear ly 1990s, the Interaction Approach (IAA) emerged, and it entailed such three dimensional phases as learning through input, production of language, and corrective feedback that comes as a result of interaction that arises authentically. Since the mid-1990s, the position of feedback, with the dominance of CLT, has been debated among the theorists, researchers, and practitioners in the fields of second language writing and second language acquisition. In 1996, Truscott, for example, claimed that feedback on student writing should be discarded because it is ineffective and harmful. Ferris (1997), on the other hand, argued that feedback is virtuous as it enables L2 students to revise their own writing and assists them to acquire correct English. Because research evidence was scarce in support of feedback, both Ferris and Truscott called for further research into questions about the impact and provision of feedback on L2 student writing (Bitchener Knoch, 2009). Accordingly, a great body of research has been conducted with a look into teacher written feedback: correction strategies (e.g., Bitchener, Young, Cameron, 2005; Ferris, 1997; Ferris Roberts, 2001; Lee, 1997; Sugita, 2006), feedback forms (e.g., Hyland Hyland, 2001; Silver Lee, 2007; Treglia, 2008), feedback foci (e.g., Ashwell, 2000; Ellis, Sheen, Murakami, Takashima, 2008; Sheen, Wright, Moldawa, 2009), students attitudes toward feedback (e.g., Alamis, 2010; Lee, 2004, 2008a; Saito, 1994; Treglia, 2008; Weaver, 2006), and teachers beliefs about feedback (e.g., Lee, 2004, 2008b). These studies suggested that feedback plays a pivotal role in helping L2 students improve the accuracy and quality of their writing. This finding is in line with the Vygotskyan model o f Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) which claims that learners need to be provided with scaffolding to be capable of reaching a stage of autonomy and accuracy (Patthey-Chavez Ferris, 1997). However, many of the studies have design flaws in terms of the small sample size or of not having a control group. Other studies explored the effectiveness of other feedback techniques: oral feedback or teacher-student conferencing (e.g., Hedgcock Lefkowitz, 1992; Hyland, 2003; Marefat, 2005; Sheen, 2010a, 2010b), peer feedback (e.g., Kamimura, 2006; Rollinson, 2005; Tsui Ng, 2000), reformulation (e.g., Hyland, 2003; Santos, Lopez-Serrano, and Manchon, 2010), audio-recorded feedback (e.g., Huang, 2000; Jordon, 2004), and computer-mediated commentary (e.g., Ferris, 2003; Hyland, 2003; Hyland Hyland, 2006). However, most of the studies failed to examine which feedback mode was more effective in improving student writing. Even though some of them were comparative in nature, the studies were conducted solely with a group of English-as-a-second-language (ESL) learners. As a result, conclusion is hard to be drawn with regard to the effectiveness of each feedback strategy when it is applied in another classroom setting where English is in the Kachrus (1985) expanding circle or where English is taught as a foreign language. As Ferris (2003) put it, What is preferable cannot be equated with what is effective, and what is effective for one student in one setting might be less so in another context (p. 107). In light of the aforesaid insightful and encouraging premise, this current quasi-experimental research attempts to compare teacher oral and written feedback in terms of perceptions and efficacy among Cambodian English-major students at the National University of Management (NUM henceforth). Definition of Terms: Oral Feedback and Written Feedback According to Rinvolucri (1994), the term [feedback] originates in biology and refers to the message that comes back to an organism that has acted on its environment. In biology it describes a neutral process, a link in the chain of action and reaction. (p. 287) In second language writing, feedback can be defined as input from a reader to a writer with the effect of providing information to the writer for revision (Keh, 1990, p. 294). Simply put, the teacher suggests changes that will make the text easier for the audience to read, or that help the writer to be more aware of and sensitive to his/her reader. When the writer of any piece of writing gets the perspective of the reader, then that writer is able to see more clearly where any points of confusion exist. As Keh (1990) elaborates, The writer learns where he or she has misled or confused the reader by not supplying enough information, illogical organization, lack of development of ideas, or something like inappropriate word-choice or tense (p. 295). In this study, feedback can be operationalized in terms of oral and written feedback (Berg, Admiraal, Pilot, 2006; Hedgcock Lefkowitz, 1992; Hyland, 2003; Hyland Hyland, 2006; Patthey-Chavez Ferris, 1997; Sheen, 2010a, 2010b). Oral feedb ack (OF) refers to the provision of feedback on errors and weaknesses in content, organization, and language (i.e. grammar, vocabulary, mechanics and spelling) through face-to-face conferencing lasting about five minutes for each student-writer. In so doing, the teacher gives comments (in the forms of questions, imperatives, praises, and suggestions), provides correct forms or structures in faulty sentences, tells the location of errors, makes recasts, and gives prompts in the forms of elicitation, clarification requests, and repetition of errors. Written feedback (WF), on the other hand, refers to the correction of errors and weaknesses in content, organization, and language through writing on student paragraphs. In this regard, the teacher makes use of direct versus indirect correction, coded versus uncoded feedback, and marginal versus end comments, in the forms of corrections, questions, imperatives, praises, and suggestions. Literature Review Written feedback A number of studies have been done to examine what to be commented on for substantive revision. For example, Ellis (1994), reviewing several studies on what effect formal corrections have on language acquisition, concluded that the learners whose errors are corrected improve the accuracy of producing existential structures (i.e. There is/are). However, the Ellis-reviewed studies entail only focused feedback, meaning that only one linguistic feature is targeted. Kepner (1991), in a comparative study of feedback on content and grammar, found that students who receive content feedback produce writing that has better content than those who receive grammar feedback. He also found that students who receive formal feedback do not produce fewer errors than the uncorrected group. In another study, Leki (1991) asked 100 ESL freshmen to complete questionnaires to examine how effective feedback was and how they reacted to the positive and negative comments on both form and content. He found that correcting errors in both form and content is beneficial since good writing is viewed as equated with error-free writing. Moving a step away from what to be commented on, several studies have been carried out to investigate how errors should be corrected to improve student writing. According to Ellis (1994), formal feedback is helpful to L2 acquisition only if problems are corrected implicitly or only if the errors are induced and then corrected. In a similar vein, Weaver (2006) explored how 44 students in the Faculty of Business, Art and Design perceived written feedback and if the feedback that they received showed a student-centered approach to learning. In light of interviews, questionnaires, and feedback content, he found that teacher comments are useful only if they are specific and clear, give sufficient guidance, focus on positive points, and are related to assessment criteria. Ferris (1997), examining over 1,600 marginal and end comments written on 110 first drafts by 47 university ESL students, found that marginal comments are more immediate and easier for students to locate errors and revise, whereas end comments can be more useful for writing development since they summarize major problems. Marginal comments are also deemed to be more motivating since the reader is actively engaged with the writers text (Goldstein, 2004, as cited in Hyland Hyland, 2006). In a related vein, much research has focused on whether comment types influence revisions and which of them are more, if not the most, effective. In so doing, Sugita (2006) analyzed 115 revised papers by 75 EFL students at a private university in Japan. He found that imperatives are more effective than statements and questions. In contrast, Conrad and Goldstein (1990, as cited in Hyland Hyland, 2006) found that imperatives, declaratives, or questions were less effective than the type of problem in the feedback. They further explained that problems related with facts and details were successfully revised by 50%, while those dealing with argumentation and analysis were successfully revised only by 10%. Treglia (2008) interviewed two teachers and fourteen students in a community college in the United States to examine how the students reacted to the feedback given by the teachers in the forms of mitigation and unmitigation. This study showed that the students saw both mitigated and dir ective comments easy to revise, but they liked the feedback in the forms of acknowledgements, suggestions, and choices. Alamis (2010) investigated the reactions and responses of 141 students at the Faculty of Arts and Letters of the University of Santo Tomas towards teacher written feedback. In light of questionnaires and student essays, Alamis found that praises are superior to criticisms and that content feedback should entail suggestions rather than questions, direct corrections, and indirect corrections. However, this study is a result of opinion-based responses, so it may be hard to conclude that its findings were valid. Many other researchers have moved farther to find out the extent to which teacher written feedback should be made explicit and sufficient in order to encourage comprehension and revision. In so doing, Enginarlar (1993) used 20-item questionnaires to examine the attitudes of 47 freshmen at Middle East Technical University to coded feedback and brief comment in English Composition I class. This study revealed that the participants like the two feedback types, seeing review work as a type of co-operative learning in which the amount of work and responsibility is shared by students and teachers. Ferris and Roberts (2001) also explored how explicit error feedback should be to help students to self-revise their papers. By analyzing papers written by 72 university ESL students, they found that the treatment groups outdo the control group in relation to self-revision, but the coded feedback group is not statistically different from the uncoded feedback group. Ferris and Roberts also conclude d that less explicit feedback seems to facilitate self-revision just as well as corrections coded by error type. Ferris (2003), in her review of three key studies, suggested that comprehensive feedback (i.e. all errors marked) is preferable to selective one (i.e. only some errors marked) and that indirect correction (i.e. coded and uncoded errors) is more effective than direct one (i.e. teachers making the corrections for students). Lee (2004) analyzed teacher error correction tasks and used questionnaires to and follow-up interviews with teachers and students to examine their perspectives on error correction practices in the Hong Kong secondary writing classroom. Like Ferriss (2003) reviewed studies, this research showed that comprehensive error feedback encourages substantive revision and that students depend on teachers to correct their errors. Oral feedback The effectiveness of oral feedback for improving student writing has still got very few answers (Hyland Hyland, 2006). As such, several studies have been done to examine teacher-student dialogue, and they found that successful conferencing rests on the interactive nature. For example, Hyland (2003) claimed that conferencing is fruitful when students are actively involved, asking questions, clarifying meaning, and arguing instead of accepting advice. Johnson (1993, as cited in Gulley, 2010) did a qualitative study and concluded that the question, a tool often used by teachers and tutors during a writing conference, can be ineffective in eliciting a meaningful response from students (p. 13). By contrast, Carnicelli (1980, as cited in Gulley, 2010), in his qualitative study among English-major students at the University of New Hampshire, showed that conferencing is more preferable to in-class teaching. He also noted that conference might fail if the teacher does not listen to the student, if the student feels insecure, or if the student does not remember the teachers comments (p. 13). However, this study has a design flaw in terms of not having a control group, so it is hard to conclude if such a preference is a result of conferencing, instruction, or practice. In his response to Carnicelli, Keh (1990) did his article review and pointed out that conferencing fails when the teachers take an authoritarian role, dominate the conversation, and pay no attention to what their students ask during the dialogue. He also noted that teacher-students conferencing is more effective than teacher-student conferencing since the former allows them to learn ideas and problems from one anot her. Moving a step away from the teacher-student interaction, several studies have been conducted, focusing on students-related variables that may affect the substantive revision of student writing. In so doing, Marefat (2005) examined the perception about the efficacy of oral feedback on the improvement of writing among 17 male and female Iranian students of English as a foreign language. He found that males could write paragraphs better than females, whereas females outperformed males in essay writing. He concluded that the students can produce pieces of writing with better quality, regardless of the feedback technique. Patthey-Chavez and Ferris (1997, as cited in Hyland Hyland, 2006) investigated how four writing teachers did conferencing with poorer and better students. They found that however useful teacher suggestions were for revision, the poorer students seemed to use advice more often than their counterparts. Better students were more self-confident, and they often used teacher suggestions as a base to revise their own writing. The co-researchers suggest that in the case of less capable students, conferences may be harmful if they entail appropriation rather than intervention. In another study, Goldstein and Conrad (1990, as cited in Hyland Hyland, 2006) noted that the L2 learners having cultural or social inhibitions about engaging informally with teachers are most likely to passively and unreflectively use teacher advice to revise their writing. The co-researchers found that only students negotiating meaning well in conferences were able to perform revision more successfully. This finding was similar to that of Williams (2004, as cited in Hyland Hyland, 2006), claiming that students were successful in using advice when teacher-suggestions were direct, when students actively engaged in negotiating meaning, and when they took notes of teacher comments, during the dialogues. Williams also added that negotiation is a precondition for revising higher-level texts, although her research suggested that conferencing has greater impact on correcting local errors (as cited in Hyland Hyland, 2006). However, the findings of all the four studies are based on the sm all sample size, so it is unclear if conferencing strategies and other contextual factors play a part in improving student writing. In line with the studies grounded on L2 writing theory, a number of studies have been done based on the theories of second language acquisition to investigate the impacts of indirect and direct corrective feedback, focusing on single linguistic structures. For example, Ellis, Loewen, and Erlam (2006, as cited in Sheen, 2010b) did an experimental study to examine whether implicit or explicit feedback is more helpful for adult ESL learners to acquire regular past tense. They put the students into three groups: the group with implicit recasts, the group with explicit metalinguistic feedback, and the group without any corrective feedback. The findings showed that both implicit and explicit feedback does not have any impact on the immediate posttests, but the latter is more effective than the former on the delayed posttests. In another study, Sheen (2007, as cited in Sheen, 2010b) found that explicit corrective feedback is superior to implicit corrective feedback in terms of formal acquis ition in both the immediate and delay posttests when the former is provided in the form of metalanguage and the latter in the form of recasts. Several other studies have also been done to compare input-providing feedback in the form of recasts with output-prompting feedback in the forms of elicitation, clarification requests, repetition of error, and metalinguistic clues. Lyster (2004, as cited in Sheen, 2010b) did a study with a group of fifth-grade French learners to examine whether recasts or output-prompting feedback methods encourage more accuracy of using articles agreeing with the gender of nouns. The study revealed that the output-prompting group alone outdid the control group on all eight measures of acquisition. Ammar and Spada (2006, as cited in Sheen, 2010b) investigated if recasts are more effective than prompts on the acquisition of possessive pronouns among six-grade learners in intensive ESL classes. They found that prompts were more helpful only for students with pretest scores below 50 percent, whereas recasts and prompts together were less effective for those whose scores were below 50 percent. However, t hese studies entail only focused corrective feedback, meaning that only one linguistic feature was targeted. Therefore, the results are hard to be generalized since the effects of recasts and prompts might be different if multiple-linguistic features are corrected. Research Questions As can be seen, no research had been conducted before to explore the comparative effectiveness of oral and written feedback in improving student writing in the context where English is in the Kachrus (1985) expanding circle. Accordingly, the present study sets out to look for answers to the following two research questions: How do Cambodian English-major students at NUM perceive oral and written feedback? Which feedback strategy, oral or written, is more effective in improving student writing as measured by writing performance? Methodology Participants Thirty-seven students participated in the present study, 19 of whom were males and 18 were females, with an average age of 22.59 (SD=.62) years. They were English-major students at NUM, and they had been learning English since Grade 7 of Cambodian Secondary Education (G7CSE) under the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports (MoEYS). The subjects were selected from each English class of the university based on the pre-treatment scores of 150-word paragraph writing. Based on this criterion, 19 of them were put into the oral feedback (OF) group, and 18 were filtered into the written feedback (WF) group. A control group was excluded from this study for two main reasons. First, it is believed that feedback is an essential element, so to get student to write without feedback would be unfair to them. Second, it is claimed that one of the things that students expect from teachers is feedback, so to deny them feedback would be unethical. Instruments Two instruments employed in this study were questionnaires and student paragraphs, both of which were used for data triangulation. The questionnaire, so-called Affective and Effective Response Feedback (AERF), consists of three sections with a total of 22 items: Section A (A1-4 for Demographic Data), Section B (B1-9 for Effective Responses), and Section C (C1-8 for Affective Responses). A five-point Likert scale (1=Strongly Disagree, 5=Strongly Agree) was utilized for the 17 items in the latter two sections (B1-9 and C1-8), and several items thereof (i.e. B1, B3, B5, B8, C2, C5, and C8) were reverse-ordered to reduce response set bias. A statistical validity analysis showed that EARF was reasonably reliable with the Cronbachs Alpha value of .853. The student paragraphs were collected before and after the two-month treatment, and they were inter-rated by three well-trained teachers each with more than four-year experience of teaching writing skills to English-major university students. The scoring was performed based on the researcher-formulated criteria divided into content, organization, grammar, vocabulary, mechanics and spelling, each of which earns equal marks (1=Very Poor, 5=Excellent), with the total score of 25. The reliability of the inter-rated scores employed by the present study was .789 for the pre-treatment scores and .806 for the post-treatment scores, using Cronbachs Alpha coefficient of internal consistency. Procedures Before this study, letters were sent to the Chair of Foreign Languages Center (FLC) of NUM, where it was conducted, and finally to the Rector of the university as well. Once approval letters were received, the researcher went on to select classes for both groups (OF and WF) and sent out informed consent forms. There were informative meetings with both groups of participants to let them know about the study and to receive signed informed consent forms. It was also made clear to the subjects that this study would not affect their course grades. They responded to the questionnaires anonymously, and those who mastered more than 80 percent of the total scores in paragraph writing would be awarded with Certificate of Recognition in order to motivate them to write and incorporate the feedback they had received from one week to another into their revision process. Data collection was conducted in the following steps. First of all, the students were asked to write a 150-word paragraph about the person whom I admire in my life. The paragraphs were then collected and inter-rated by three well-trained lecturers who had been teaching writing skills for more than four years. Based on the results, the participants were divided into two groups of similar size (OF=19, WF=18) and overall equivalent writing competence. An independent-samples t-test revealed that the overall mean score of the oral feedback group constituted 16.47 (SD=3.042) and that of the written feedback group was 16.46 (SD=3.045). Then, the treatment was conducted for two months with single-draft feedback provided on each of the three paragraph types taught during this experimental period: narrative, process, and compare-contrast. The topics included my happy story, how to make a nice cup of coffee, and rural life and city life. The feedback on each topic was comprehensive and targeted all aspects of writing: content, organization, grammar, vocabulary, mechanics and spelling. In this regard, various feedback strategies of each commentary mode were employed to ensure that both groups would receive similar treatment condition and that they would provide more authentic responses to the research questions. It is worth noting that the treatment (i.e. the delivery of feedback) was undertaken with specific reference to the operationalized terms at the very beginning of this study (Please refer to pages 3-4.). Soon after the two-month study, the participants were again asked to write a 150-word paragraph about one of the three topics (i.e. my bedroom, my house, or my favorite place), complete the questionnaires consisting of both close- and open-ended items. Finally, the data obtained from the questionnaires and student paragraphs were coded and input into SPSS 19.0 with the utilization of one-sample t-test, independent-samples t-test, and paired-samples t-test for data analysis, using the test value of 3.5 and the significant level of .05. Findings and Discussion Research question 1: How do Cambodian English-major students at NUM perceive oral and written feedback? A one-sample t-test was employed to provide descriptive statistics by comparing the mean scores and standard deviations of the oral feedback group and the written feedback group with the test value of 3.5 rather than with those of the written feedback group and the oral feedback group, respectively (i.e. oral feedback group vs. written feedback group, and vice versa). Table 1 shows that the students had highly positive attitudes towards oral feedback in the forms of detailed correction (M=4.42, SD=.838, p=.000), comprehensive suggestion (M=4.26, SD=.806, p=.001), and sincere praise (M=4.00, SD=.816, p=.016), which thus enabled them to write with increased confidence (M=4.26, SD=.452, p=.000). This preference was due to the fact that oral feedback was perceived as the cornerstone of building closer bonds (M=4.16, SD=.765, p=.001) between the student and the teacher who always paid special attention during each dialogue (M=4.58, SD=.507, p=.000). However, no statistical differences wer e significant in motivation (C5. It encouraged me to work harder on my revision) and sufficiency (C8. It was helpful enough for my revision), the p-values of which constituted .137 and .497, respectively. Table 1 Descriptive statistics for affective responses of OF group M SD t df p C1. It made me feel I had a more personal and human relationship with my teacher. 4.16 .765 3.750 18 .001 C2. I did not feel more confident about my writing. (Reverse-ordered) 4.26 .452 7.353 18 .000 C3. It gave more details about the errors in my writing. 4.42 .838 4.793 18 .000 C4. It gave more details about how I can improve my writing. 4.26 .806 4.129 18 .001 C5. It discouraged me from working harder on my revision. (Reverse-ordered) 3.84 .958 1.556 18 .137* C6. Praise was helpful for my revision. 4.00 .816 2.669 18 .016 C7. I got special attention from my teacher. 4.58 .507 9.271 18 .000 C8. It was not helpful enough for my revision. (Reverse-ordered) 3.68 1.157 .694 18 .497* * p > .05 (not significant) As can be seen in Table 2, students preferred written feedback in the forms of comprehensive correction (M=4.39, SD=.698, p=.000), detailed suggestion (M=4.39, SD=.608, p=.000), and sincere praise (M=4.22, SD=.647, p=.000), to make them feel more confident about their writing (M=4.00, SD=.594, p=.002). A one-sample t-test also indicates that statistical differences were significant in attention (C7) [M=4.22, SD=.808, p=.001], but not in relationship (C1, p=.655), encouragement (C5, p=.055), and sufficiency (C8, p=.080). Taken Tables 1 and 2 together, oral feedback, unlike written feedback, builds closer bonds between the teacher and the student because the former tends to be more interpersonal in terms of reciprocal attention during the dialogue. While written feedback, if it includes encouragement and personal, text-specific comments, can also strengthen teacher-student relationships, it is not the same experience as sitting down face-to-face for negotiation and questions. Table 2 Descriptive statistics for affective responses of WF group M SD t df p C1. It made me feel I had a more personal and human relationship with my teacher. 3.61 1.037 .455 17 .655* C2. I did not feel more confident about my writing. (Reverse-ordered) 4.00 .594 3.571 17 .002 C3. It gave more details about the errors in my writing. 4.39 .698 5.404 17 .000 C4. It gave more details about how I can improve my writing. 4.39 .608 6.206 17 .000 C5. It discouraged me from working harder on my revision. (Reverse-ordered) 4.00 1.029 2.062 17 .055* C6. Praise was helpful for my revision. 4.22 .647 4.738 17 .000 C7. I got special attention from my teacher. 4.22 .808 3.790 17 .001 C8. It was not helpful enough for my revision. (Reverse-ordered) 3.00 1.138 -1.87 17 .080* * p > .05 (not significant) Table 3 presents the descriptive statistics of the perceptions about the impact of oral feedback on improving student writing. A one-sample t-test was performed with the test value of 3.5 and the p-value of .05. The results show that oral feedback was viewed as effective in encouraging substantive revision of organization (B4) [M=4.32, SD=.671, p=.000], clarity (B1) [M=4.05, SD=.780, p=.006], content (B5) [M=4.00, SD=.577, p=.001], and grammar (B2) [M=3.95, SD=.705, p=.013]. Significantly, oral feedback was also seen as enabling students to use specific linguistic features in conformity to different genres or text-types (M=3.95, SD=.705, p=.013). Such an improvement was strongly confirmed by the