Beloved Interpretation

Music, rhyme and rhythm combine together as a means to fortify the impact of words and poetry. In Beloved the poet is able to genuinely express their longing for a lover through the passing of time, and specifically that of seasons.He uses grey, white and dull imagery to portray the lack-lustre of his life in winter due to the deficiency of figurative color as a result of missing his â€Å"Beloved. † It almost seems as if the speaker’s every moment is spent waiting and hoping. Evidently, the love is reciprocated and is extremely deep.The speaker’s use of seasons is a metaphor for time spent with his lover and away from his lover. Everyday life seems monotonous and dull like winter. He has become numb, lost all physical and emotional sensation. On the other hand, being together with his lover is a â€Å"warm wind† and â€Å"no heights could keep [them] from their reach. † The poet’s image of wings, clouds and the sky is another metaphor for en dless possibilities, uncertainties and the hope to achieve unfulfilled aspirations and dreams.Being together allows both of the lovers to live up to their full potential, inspire each other as well as connect on a strong emotional and spiritual level. Time is a recurring and significant element throughout the poem. Time appears to have slowed down significantly because every second, every minute is spent in longing.The fact that â€Å"eternity awaits† indicates that even though being together and in love may be extremely difficult, it is well worth the wait. I chose this poem because it is packed with raw emotion and talks about powerful love that is able to overcome difficult boundaries and circumstances.These lyrics are relatable and invoke a sense of hope within the reader. People tend to look towards books, words, songs and even movies for emotional strength and encouragement.The speaker tells a very personal story and reaches out to not only his lover but also to the rea ders and listeners. The elusive component of time is alluring and appealing; it manages to draw you in. In a way you hope the lovers and reunited. Overall, the poem is whimsical and sincere, making it unique and pleasant to read, and probably even better when set to a tune.

Differences in Competencies between ADN vs. BSN Essay

According to the society of Human Resources Management, competency means the knowledge and skills required to perform a job, which all contributes a positive outcome. Even though the competency among ADN and BSN are almost similar, there are slight variations based on the departments where the nurse work, such as management level of care and neonatal department. Good start of an introduction. Consider a topic sentence here that states: this paper will describe†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. An Associate Degree Nurse is one who completed the 2 year program or 3 year diploma this is not true, these 2 are different course by a school of nursing, community, or junior college. They demonstrate competencies in various aspect of patient care. ADNs are competent to perform assessment by collection of patient’s health history, including past medical and surgical history. They perform the physical assessment by gathering information, such as height and weight, vital signs, and head to foot assessment, including all body system. They are also competent to perform cognitive, psychosocial, spiritual, and functional level assessment. After assessing the patient, they find out the nursing diagnosis using their knowledge, skills, and experience. The ADN analyzes the patient’s condition using their age, cultural diversity, and risk factor. He/she then formulates and plans the care by prioritizing the patient’s need based on Maslow’s hierarchy needs, in which patient’s safety is the first importance. They formulate the plan of care by critical thinking, reflection, and problem solving skills. Before they implement the treatment regimen, they let the patient make health care choices by providing accurate and reliable information. The ADN are competent to delegate the patient care to other authorized health care personnel by giving relevant instructions and supervisions. They implement the treatment within his/her accepted professional nursing practice in a different clinical setting. They also make sure to give teaching about the treatment, which includes the effects and side effects of drugs and expected outcome. These all help the patient to alleviate their anxiety about the health status. Finally, they evaluate the outcome and effectiveness by reassessing and continuous monitoring. Moreover, ADNs provide physical competencies like gross and motor skills, strength, and mobility by moving and positioning the patient by using proper body mechanism. Their sensory perception provides a safe environment. They are competent in life saving practices, such as cardiac monitoring and airway management. They provide patient care by giving I.V, oral medications, blood transfusions and wound care. They demonstrate care and respectful behavior towards the patient, family, and other co-workers. Need to reference data within the text Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing is a 4 year bachelor program accredited by a college or university. A BSN has the same medicalbedside nursing skills of an ADN. He/she provides the same patient care by assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation. They also have physical competencies and sensory perception. Apart from that, they do their clinical judgment by using their critical and analytic thinking, which they earned through researches and evidence based practices. They have sufficient emotional stability to be responsible and accountable during a highly stressful event. They know how to deal with unexpected and changing environment. They show interpersonal skills and communication skills by interacting positively with patient, family, and large communities both in verbal and written form. Their logical and analytic thinking in patient management will help them to acquire higher education. Moreover, they creatively respond to continuously changing health system. Good review of BSN competencies. Again, need to reference within the text. An ADN acquired knowledge and skills from years of experience in clinical practice. They work with patients in a relatively short time. However, a BSN has knowledge and skills based on their researches, evidence based practice, leadership, and management. Their skills help them to provide a better patient care in a short time period. For an ADN, the nursing is a job and have little commitment to the work. Without considering the long term results, they move from one job to another. However, BSN is a career, which is a life time dedication that requires development and on-going learning. They can function at high intellectual levels and carry a strong professional identity and follow code of ethics. They are more accountable, independent, and responsible. Nursing care and approaches to decision-making are different based upon the educational preparations. For example, we had a 50 year old patient in our floor that came with left hip fracture. The patient underwent an open reduction and internal fixation of left hip. After 4 hours of post anesthesia care, the patient came to the floor. The ADN, who is the primary care nurse, assesses the patient and carried out all post-op orders. The patient was drowsy and was on morphine PCA. After 2 hours, the patient suddenly woke-up with pain in the left hip. The ADN gave more pain medicine and monitored the respiratory status. All of a sudden patient complained of shortness of breath. The nurse found the patient’s oxygen saturation dropped to 82 percent. She stopped the PCA pump and put the patient on 2 liters of oxygen yet the patient was complaining about severe pain in her hip. Apparently, the patient continued to complained of chest pain and her oxygen level continued the same. The RN called the charge nurse, who is a BSN. She assessed the patient and went through the patient history. Suddenly, she called the rapid response team; meanwhile, she ordered a stat chest x-ray by thinking that patient had a pulmonary embolism and transferred the patient to ICU. Later, we came to know the patient had pulmonary embolism. In this situation, the RN gave the basic treatments according to the knowledge from her experience. On the other hand, the BSN treated the patient from her critical thinking and high level of knowledge, which saved the patient’s life. Good patient care scenario The ADN can handle the critical patient situation very minimally by using her basic knowledge, skills, and experience with the help of other person. However, the BSN can handle the same situation independently with his/her critical thinking. Different level nurses have different roles in a hospital, even though they have same preliminary education about providing forthe patient care. The job expectations, patient interactions and contact are different in perspective of the RN’s and BSN’s duty. Good conclusion . . References Catalano, J.T. (2003).Nursing now: Today’s issues, tomorrow’s trends. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis. Need to put title into italics Competencies and Performance Standards Essential for Nursing Practice.( 2011) St Louis University. Retrieved from http://www.slu.edu/x19905.xml Hollis, Forster, RN (2011) ADN vs. BSN Retrieved from need to include date of retrieval http://nursinglink.monster.com/education/articles/3842-adn-vs-bsn

Lincoln Electric Essay

Lincoln Electric’s CEO Massaro was correct in his assessment that, markets in developing countries would grow faster and yield a higher return. This strategy was critical and in alignment with the organization’s goal to reach 50% foreign sales revenue. As president of Lincoln Asia, Mike Gillespie faces a great challenge with his decision to enter the Indonesian market. If Mr. Gillespie does decide to enter Indonesia, he must also decide whether to do it alone or through a joint venture, and how to structure employee compensation. It looks like Gillespie conducted enough corporate anthropology research to identify viable consumer product needs that Lincoln Electric will be able to provide (stick consumables vs. automatic consumables segments). I understand that investing in Indonesia offers many benefits to the organization, mostly towards increased profit margins and market share of consumable products (for further information regarding the strategic planning for entering Indonesia see Exhibit 1). However, in my opinion, Gillespie does not have enough data to make an informed decision regarding this move. Fear of a rekindled Civil War, unstable inflation rates, and other activities in the country revealed both economic and political instability. Other issues to be considered include labor issues of Indonesia 1. I would recommend further market and cultural analysis to aid his decision-making. If Gillespie decides to enter Indonesia, it is my recommendation to enter with a partner. I support this recommendation because, through his own market analysis and consultation it was identified that due to the political structure a local partner with in-depth knowledge, and political connections would be essential for success. I understand that a joint venture will decrease Lincoln Electric’s profit margins, but in my opinion, the joint venture will minimize investment risk, especially if a partner is able to provide capital towards the cost of building a facility. Gillespie’s choice in partners should be based off of a predefined set of criteria. These criteria should include current relations/contracts with Lincoln Electric, current market share, knowledge of local market and culture, political and business contacts. The partner should also have the ability to withstand any financial risk toward this investment. See table 2 for a breakdown of both potential partners and how they compare to the criteria. I would recommend a joint venture with both companies (Tira and SSHJ). The reason for this recommendation is due to the diverse benefits, which both companies can bring to the venture. However, I have concerns regarding the loyalty of either partner to the Lincoln Electric brand. If we apply the social exchange theory to this situation, one could speculate that when more than one partner is included in a business relationship, the loyalty of each business partner may decreases due to competition and fear of favoritism 2. It is Gillespie’s intention to implement a piecework compensation structure and I support this decision. It is also the intent of Lincoln Electric to exceed minimum wage requirements and prevailing rates. Gillespie has concerns regarding the ability for all employees to meet minimum wage using piecework compensation. It is my recommendation to set the minimum daily quota at the minimum wage rate. I would also implement an aggressive performance bonus paying out monthly vs. annual. I would highly recommend further cultural analysis with a focus on time perceptions and labor perceptions of the local culture. The compensation structure should be adjusted as time goes on and favorable trends in compensation are identified.

Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains

This one of the famous paintings In Chinese history has highly long shape and this painting has influenced on later ages. Characteristic in his painting makes viewers to confuse as they feel reality. In painting, there are similar geographical features. For example, similar shape of landscape appears repeatedly such as mountains shape on the enormous river and the shape of the coastlines. For these reasons, a viewer would be able to feel sitting on opposite sides of a hill. In this sense, Huang Gongwang had a gift for making his art look very realistic On the other hand, if looking closely, each part of the painting has very unique brushstroke method. For instance, the mountains located on the left side and the right side of painting were painted by using light paint and not detailed comparing to the other mountains. In other words, the brushstroke method applied in the middle of this painting is drier, detailed and non-washed by comparison with other parts of this painting. The painter may intend for viewer to focus on the middle part of ‘Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains’. A close look, however, detailed description such as trees and rocks especially were not made by using one-touch brush strokes. These things which require a lot of works were not made by simple stroke. In order to make cubic and lifelike effect, the painter painted darker paint on the lighter ones. This painting was very carefully designed in this sense. The overall atmosphere of this painting is very peaceful, calm and restfulness. The reason why this masterpiece looks serene is not only peaceful scenery but also low-key human presence. As viewers can see, the painter tried to restrain to show the existence of human and he could be the focus on natural beauty. Besides, this painting was made for a friend of Huang Gongwang and took 3 years to complete all of his works. For this reason, Huang Gongwang would design this picture as if he would like to show this peaceful scene to his friend. This is probably why not showy, austere mood could be felt on the painting. As viewers can see, there are lots of inscription on the painting. Huang inscribed ‘Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains’ at its end. He stated that he sketched the entire composition in one sitting, then from time to time would add a little when he was in the mood. All told, it took him three years to finish the painting. All things considered, this inscription would be for his friend to let his friend know, how much he exerted himself to draw this masterpiece and how much he wanted to share of this beautiful scenery with his friend. The style of this painting is greatly naturalistic and overall visual effect is so austere. As painter didn’t do to excess, he calmly expressed beautiful scenery without using fancy technique and exaggeration. Therefore, it wouldn’t be looked as a pleasant and engaging work. However, wouldn’t it be difficult for painter to draw a very normal painting which will be remembered as a famous masterpiece?

Stepping Out of the Comfort Zone

Stepping Out of the Comfort Zone Communications break boundaries and bring connections between people. In â€Å"Some Friends and I Started Talking: Conversation and Social Change,† Margaret J. Wheatley describes communication as â€Å"a timeless and reliable way for humans to think together† (312). As human, communication is an essential need for everyday survival. It also brings people closer as they have a better understanding of each other through communication.For many cases, it takes people a lot of courage to step out of their own comfort zone and start conversations with others. When I came to the United States, the language barrier was keeping me from communicating with everyone around me. I barely spoke any English at the time. I would avoid talking to everybody. In class, I would sit by myself, putting my head down during lectures and avoid to be called on. But being so quite didn’t mean I was invisible to the bullies. During 8h grade, I was bullied by a group of Hispanic boys.They would throw my books into trashcans, made fun of my accent and pushed me as I walk through hallways. I was so afraid to come to school. My grades were dropping as the semester went by. I knew I needed to talk to somebody about it. Stepped out of my comfort zone, I seek my counselor Jane for help. Our conversation lasted for about two hours, but it changed my life completely. Wheatley mentions, â€Å"a simple conversation gave birth to actions that can change lives,†(312) in her essay.I soon found myself confronting the bullies and stopped them from bullying other people that were just like me. My grades also improved as my social life improved. This proves how communication is a â€Å"powerful tool in society† (Wheatley 313). Communication opens up new points of views and changes life for those who take courage and effort to begin a conversation. â€Å"We are hungry for a chance to talk. People want to tell their stories and willing to li sten to yours†(Wheatley 312). Communication is also the key to friendship and relationships.

Police future and using of new Technologies Essay

Police future and using of new Technologies - Essay Example Local law enforcement agencies are part of the overall DHS team, even while taking care of local issues, as they are also at street level and most likely to gather information from neighborhood contacts (Peak 2012). Many of the tools devised by the military are now being used by the law enforcement communities to help overcome issues of restricted manpower and availability on the streets. Tools used by the FBI and the NSA, particularly within the surveillance realm, are being used, such as advanced electronic apparatus that will pick up any phone and texting messages being sent in any given area that is being monitored by the Stingray (Sabalow 2013). This mobile device picks up the transmissions from a close-by tower and relays it back to the mobile device’s antenna and is then downloaded to a laptop. By all formal accounts, actual phone conversations and text messages are not picked up in real time. The point is to determine those suspected phone numbers, which link people being watched, with others who may yet be unknown to the police, until that linkage occurs. Location of the phone call or message is recorded by location and time, perhaps placing certain suspicious people close to so me event that has occurred, or is likely to occur, such as a bombing. The next step for law enforcement is to get a warrant that can be applied to the tower’s carrier and thus, be able to get more information from the carrier on the suspected people involved. However, there is always room for abuse in determining just when the original information was gathered, thus necessitating that warrant, or if one was even obtained. Not only are suspected people under surveillance, so are those people who just happen to be in that area where the tower is located (Sabalow 2013). It would be ideal if law enforcement could come up with fine-tuned technology that could just follow the suspicious phone numbers and text messages by setting up a technological code on the

Career Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Career Development - Essay Example There are numerous causes behind the cognitive development that ultimately affects self-efficacy. A growing body of research has shown that there is a significant positive relationship between the self-efficacy beliefs of students and their academic performance. Self-efficacy influences the activities that students select, the amount of effort they put in, persistence in difficult times as well as difficulty in set goals. Therefore, the goal of this task is to increase own self-efficacy and check the accomplishment after specified period of time. It must be borne in mind that people having low self-efficacy tend to avoid the task while those having high self-efficacy not only attempt the task but work harder and persist longer in times of difficulties. The personal development plan provided above has been constructed in order to enhance own self-efficacy skills. It is required to enhance self-efficacy skills in three areas including academic performance, self-confidence, and employability skills. Certain activities are needed to be performed in order to improve in each of the mentioned areas. For instance, in order to perform better in academics one needs to alleviate the impact of past failures. Past performance has huge impact on the beliefs of getting success or failure in the future. Therefore, the impact of previous failures must be minimized. Also, strategies for achieving good grades must be situational that is, urgent tasks need to be done first. Along with that, learning must be acquired through every possible source. Apart from course books, newspapers, magazines, documentaries, and informational apps contribute a great deal in improving the learning process. In addition, instead of receiving rewards on final success, sm all rewards must be given to own self after accomplishing small goals. Self-confidence has a lot to do with self-efficacy so it is required to enhance self-confidence

Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 15

Management - Essay Example Shangri-La thus can look to set forth in the new market of Vietnam with all positivity by undertaking Greenfield Venture Strategy along with differentiation. Shangri-La Resorts and Hotels is a Hong Kong based luxury hotel group. It is not only Asia Pacific’s but also one of the world’s premium hotel management and ownership companies. The hotels and resorts under this group are globally renowned for its service and serenity. They have at present 69 resorts and hotels globally in areas such as Asia Pacific, the Middle East and North America, comprising of rooms inventory of more than 30,000. They are also on a growth spree globally with hotel being developed in various places of the world like United Kingdom, India, and Mainland China among others1. This report is intended towards the senior management of Shangri-La who are planning to expand its global operations in Vietnam. The report will analyze the feasibility of Vietnam as a probable location of global expansion. The report will also look into the existing market scenarios of Vietnam along with its hotel industry and economy to provide an idea regarding the feasibility of this proposed expansion. The aims and objectives of expansion in Vietnam is to strengthen their stranglehold in the Asia Pacific region as Vietnam is one of the few countries in which they are yet to set their foothold. Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts have become a recognized and admired brand globally especially in the Asia Pacific region by undertaking strategies such as global expansion and offering their legendary services to the consumers. Shangri-La in recent years is predominantly following a rapid expansion strategy. Their strategies included expansion in high-wage economic regions like North America and Europe, expansion in China taking into consideration the scenario related to poaching of staffs and increase in

Response Paper Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Response Paper - Coursework Example Up to date a lot of research still show that railroad transport still remains as an imperative of the growth of many economies for example the when you follow the economic history of the in transport, you find that railroads transport has a lot of influence on the American development since most of the industrial developments, agriculture and even the settlement of the West would have not been possible without it. The problem with the viewpoint is that it gives imperative ideas that only demonstrate the associations that exists between the growth of the railroad network and the growth of the economy but fails to give an establishment of the causal relationship that exist between the railroad and the reorganization of the trade in various regions, the changes that are seen in the structure of the outputs or even other strategic changes that characterize the economy of America such as the rise in the per capita income. It also fails to establish the prima face that justifies the railroad as necessary conditions for any form of developments. The building and construction of such big network of transportation require a large starting capital that may take the form of large volumes of goods such as finances, iron, lumber and even other transport equipment. The particular relevance of the Morris Raphael was not only to the novelty of his viewpoint but on how he summarized the conclusion on for both who lived in the period of railroad revolution and those people who later analyzed it through the lens of past times. It means that it is cheaper to use the railroad means to transport freights that to use the canals or water since railroad can carry five times more than what the canals can carry. Though they provide the same service but railroad provides it at a lower cost to the buyers. The decisive advantage of the railroad over canals and

Cold War Consensus Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Cold War Consensus - Essay Example This led to the capture of the invaders. Kennedy also approved the assassination of Fidel Castro and other key Cuban political leaders. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Kennedy never considered the option of doing nothing, he considered full scale invasion of Cuba on short notice as not feasible and air strikes as impossible (Goldfield et al. 803). Kennedy, rather, demanded removal of the missiles and imposed a blockade for the arrival of more missiles. The missiles were removal but on condition that US does not invade Cuba (Goldfield et al. 805). US pledge not to invade Cuba and also promised to remove missiles from Turkey. Kennedy responded to the Berlin issue by increasing military spending and considering attack on West Berlin as an attack on the US. This he demonstrated by adding $3.25 billion to the defense budget and recruiting 200,000 troops to the military. He initially ignores the building of the Berlin Wall as long as free access from West to East Berlin continued. Ken nedy, indeed, preferred the â€Å"wall† to war (Goldfield et al. 803). However, he shows his commitment to supporting West Berliners by sending in convoy, V.P. Johnson and other military personnel, through West Germany. Kennedy exploited US entanglement in South Vietnam to assert US’s firm commitment to containment.

Report to the Board of Directors - 3M Company Coursework

Report to the Board of Directors - 3M Company - Coursework Example In case of determination of impairment of assets, the management has adopted separate measurement techniques of evaluating the different units by categorizing them as profit making or loss making. The price-earnings ratio method has been used for profit-making units, the discounted cash flow method has been used for the loss-making units and the relative fair value method has been used for the changes in products offerings of the different units (Sofat and Hiro, 2008, p.84). The influence of the institutional context and the social context on the measurement choices for accounting treatment have been considered in the process of financial reporting. The necessary changes in the accounting treatment of the company to comply and align with the norms under IFRS have been suggested to improve the process of accounting and financial reporting. ... The contingent assets are also considered for PPE valuation. The management takes into account the historical experiences in evaluating the property, plant and equipment of 3M Company (Khan, 2004, p.49). Based on the past experience and reasonable justification of the related factors, the PPE valuation is carried out by the management. The management, however, believes that the accounting of PPE and the reporting of PPE valuation may differ from the actual value of the total property, plant and equipment. The determination of the value of property, plant and equipment takes into account, the related losses and depreciation of the assets. The valuation of the asset includes the cost of purchase and the cost of installation and other expenses incurred in bring the fixed asset to the location of usage. The cost of maintenance and losses if incurred are also adjusted to determine the value of PPE (Baker and  Powell, 2009, p.68). Apart from the cost or risks, the management also takes i nto consideration the expected flow of money from the use of fixed assets. The reward or the benefits of the assets are also taken into consideration for the purpose of PPE valuation. Evaluation of selected measurement model 2: Differences permitted in Asset Impairment methods and accounting treatment The asset impairment is recognized by the management of 3M Company when the reported value of the assets of the company is greater than the intrinsic values of the assets. The impairment method includes the determination of fair value of assets of the individual units of 3M Company and then comparing with the reported value of the assets of the individual units. The method

Summary & Critical Response Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Summary & Critical Response - Assignment Example The last argument of the author is that money students get for their work is spent carelessly. There are some students who save money for their college education. There are also some hard-working teenagers who need to work to help their families to make both ends meet. The majority of students, however, spend their earnings on fashionable clothing and entertainments. Overall, Etzioni comes to the conclusion that money quest should not be the most important thing in students’ life; they need to pay more attention to their education to find appropriate jobs in their later lives. Etzioni uses a lot of logical arguments to support his point of view, but it is not reasonable to claim that part-time jobs have no use for students at all. Together with all negative outcomes listed by Etzioni, they bring many relevant skills not only for future employment, but for life in general. Etzioni addresses this article to parents, while he forgets to mention many benefits students get when they work part-time. First of all, any work teaches students to organize their time in order to do everything they need during the day. Any work requires knowledge of time management to structure the day properly. Students who have to combine work and per-time jobs are often more organized and effective in their future lives. The second benefit of part-time jobs is the experience of socialization in totally different environment. Students are school have totally different interests and aim in their lives. People at work often have many things in common. Communicating with people at work can bring new ideas and insights to students. Moreover, they can switch the activity from intellectual to physical, which is also good to add some diversity to their lives. It is difficult not to agree with Etzioni that work at fast food chains is not a decent work. However, every work experience is life experience. Students who never work during their high school face

Research Methodology for Matrix management Thesis

Research Methodology for Matrix management - Thesis Example The findings of the research would provide insight on how companies apply the principle of matrix structure to properly implement the roles of the employees in order to maintain smooth operations due to efficient coordination of function. The right choice of research design to be employed in a study is an important factor to consider because the appropriate instruments or tools as well as strategies to undertake greatly depend on it. Hence, in general the research methodology utilized for this research study is a mixed research. Since it both involved qualitative and quantitative research, this also involved various combinations of research instruments which are significant in gathering needed data and information. Therefore, for better understanding, a brief overview to mixed research as well as to qualitative and quantitative research will be provided in the succeeding part. Mixed research is considered as the third form of research design used in research studies. It is described as a type of research which involved more than one method such combination of qualitative and quantitative method, a mix of quantitative, or a mix of qualitative method. Since its evolution it becomes preferred for use by several researchers because it allows them to collect, analyze, and integrate/mix both the quantitative and qualitative data in a single study or in multiple/series of studies in a sustained program of inquiry. In addition, the advantages of this method outnumbered its disadvantages and even provide opportunities as long as the research is conducted properly. There are two types of mixed research method: the mixed model research and the mixed method research. 3.2.1.1 The mixed model research The mixed model research is commonly utilized by researchers when he/she wants to mixed within or across the stages the quantitative and qualitative approaches in the research process (South Alabama University, 2011). Mixed within This mixed model is so called when the research er combined or mixed the qualitative and quantitative approaches in one or more stages of the research. For instance, the researcher employed two different research instruments to separately gather qualitative and quantitative data. Like close-ended or checklist questionnaire for the quantitative and open-ended interview for qualitative data (SAU, 2011) Mixed across In like manner, the mixed across model are more suitable when the researcher utilized only one approach to obtain both quantitative and qualitative data. For this method, the most applicable research instrument to be employed is open-ended interviews wherein the quantitative data would be obtain through grouping the responses and counting the number of times they occur in the interview. Likewise, the narrative result of the interview will served as the source for the needed qualitative data

Social Science Essay How do Humans Relate to each other

Social Science How do Humans Relate to each other - Essay Example Seeking to find something that they can distinctly understand, or even identify with, as it comes to their overall formation of an opinion. To be able to do this enables a clearer idea, or connection, to not just the person for whom a connection is sought, but also that which they are actually saying themselves. In the end, when all is said and done, how humans interact with each other comes down to finding that which we can identify with in another person and seeking to understand such a realization as it comes to a situation(s) which would have occurred in our own lives. Throughout the history of mankind, situations have arisen that have in return shaped not just the physical, but also ideological mindset that in turn translates into what the mind constructs as thoughts, feelings and ultimately the opinions that are had about things at any given moment. While each situation can be quite different as it comes to a given person, at the root of it can be found an underlying thread of similarity in which another person may find solace in the notion that, to some degree, that which was experienced by them does not isolate them from the rest of humanity, but to some degree, would have been felt by someone else as well. In this instance, a connection would be found and people who may have been complete strangers prior to their introduction, would ultimately find their interaction forever changed by this uniform event that would have held some form of significance to all involved. â€Å"Many people believe that creating the opportunity for personal contact fosters positive attitudes toward members of other groups. Indeed, this assumption provides the rationale for numerous international exchange programs for high school and college students. There are also international â€Å"sister city† programs, wherein a U.S. City pairs itself with a city in another country and encourages the

Marketing planning Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Marketing planning - Assignment Example The shop has established more than 290 shops across the globe but United Kingdom is the core business market for the company (Pret A Manger, 2013b). Schwartz (2004) has rightly pointed out that in previous occasions, companies establish marketing plan on the basis of its allocated budget but now companies decide marketing plan on the basis of its strategic objectives. Schwartz (2004) has also pointed out that modern marketers are emphasizing more on customer satisfaction and customizing the product offering as part of marketing plan. Sheth and Sisodia (2006) have also pointed out that changing pattern of marketing planning includes the marketer’s willingness to incorporate psychological, economic and informational shift of customers as integrated element of market planning. Pret A Manger (2013b) has reported that it earns annual revenue of 380 million pounds from its global business operation, and the company has reported that it has sufficient liquid asset to finance its stra tegic decisions. For example, recently Pret A Manger had struck a deal with by investing more than 1 million pound with Vitrue which is a social media management platform in order to target local youngsters who frequently use social networking sites (NMA Staff, 2012). Digital marketing strategy of the company has also helped them to achieve $280,000 increased in store operational revenue. Such examples are showing that Pret A Manger has sufficient capabilities in order implement new marketing plan which can be recalibrated in accordance with the customer demand. â€Å"Examine the marketing environment and analyse the internal factors and external factors (such as PEST) assessing the strengths/weaknesses and opportunities/threats in order to conduct a marketing audit† Ans.1b- As UK is the major business interest for Pret A Manger hence the researcher has decided to conduct a strategic audit of the coffee business of the company in context to UK business environment. Letâ€℠¢s try to shed light the coffee industry of UK in order to understand why companies including both restaurants like Starbucks, Pret A Manger etc and retail sellers like Nestle and Green Mountain etc are changing their marketing plan to cater to the demand of Britons. Market Value Market Value Forecast Market Volume Market Volume Forecast Market Share More than $2,500 million with growth rate of 4.8%. The sales volume coffee selling through retail channels and franchisee based restaurants will touch $3,000 million within next three years. 140.7 million kg with growth rate of 0.7%. The market volume will touch 150 million kg mark within next couple of years. Tata Global Beverages Limited and Starbucks are the market leader with consolidated market share of more than 29%. (Marketline, 2012a) It is evident from the above statistics that there is ample opportunity exist for Pret A Manger in order to penetrate more in UK coffee industry but they need to create a sustainable marketing plan to achieve a niche position. Now, the researcher will try to understand the business environment for Pret A Manger by considering both internal and external factors. PEST will be used to external environment analysis and Porter Five force will used for internal market audit. Table 1: PEST External Environment Characteristics Opportunity for Pret

Cultural Competency in Health Promotion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cultural Competency in Health Promotion - Essay Example In this way, communication during health care is limited because the patient has no obligation to communicate his/her feelings. Lack of health education in our culture has led to poor medical care hence the inadequacy in the knowledge about the health services being offered. Some cultural groups have a poor decision leader who must be available for a decision to be arrived at. To overcome the above problems, there must be a development of culturally competent practices that involve self analysis and change of attitude in various cultures. Health care providers should expand their knowledge and not only focus on culture differences while striving to understand the cultural dynamics affecting medical practice and healthcare in general. They should learn about cultures they sever through, they ought to know patients assessment techniques, readings and community activities. Medical practitioners should improve on the cross-cultural communication by being aware of the difference in social norms and knowledge of different languages and lifestyles. The use of assessing health literacy, interpreters and the bilingual patient education materials in educating the community on health matters (Spector, 2009) can play an important role especially from the training period of the medics. Involvement of the community in health matters through health fairs, ethnic festival participation and constant communication with cultural decision makers. These leaders help in providing cultural competent care by strengthening communication ties. It is important for nursing practitioners to work towards cultural competency through provision of culturally competent patient care. Nurses should therefore, be sensitive and open-minded to avoid being compromised by the cultural differences in perception of illness. While communication skills should be used in the best interest of the patient, limits must be set to ensure that the patient does not manipulate the treatment required. Nurses can de velop cultural competency by understanding individual and organizational views of different cultures. Acquisition of background knowledge about a patient on the cultural views can help in decision making. Having collective communication skills will then enable one to get the real meaning of words even if the patient is from a different culture. There should be strong ties between the nurse and the community. However, nurses must be aware of national and professional priorities for caring of cross culturally populations. Responses from 3 families from different cultures The three families interviewed were from middle-class status of life. The families interviewed were an African family, a Latino family, and a white American family. The interviews were contacted at the community hospital. It was to understand their take on cultural differences in medication and modern treatment. Health maintenance The African family did not have better ways to maintain their health compared to other f amilies. They only look for health services when they are sick. It was the responsibility of the family to take the sick person to the hospital when other alternatives have failed. Latinos families have an average medical attention towards maintaining their health. They rely very much on health centers for the services. The white American fa

How far Has the Modern Conservative Party Departed from the Coursework

How far Has the Modern Conservative Party Departed from the Thatcherite Agenda - Coursework Example The departure of Cameron’s â€Å"Big Society† from Thatcher’s â€Å"New Right† is more on the semantics but many of the principles of its predecessor remain the same. First, Thatcher’s â€Å"there is no such thing as society† did not mean the dissolution of social ties that composed society. She herself clarified that the original intent of the statement was distorted beyond recognition. What she meant by â€Å"there is no such thing as society† is to diminish dependency on welfare and to encourage individual members of society to help themselves. In effect, it lessens the burden on public expenditures which contributed to the inflation that beset UK’s economy. Thatcher may have just put it in the wrong way but the intent and purpose of her statement was to strengthen industry by enabling society’s individual members. In effect, Cameron’s â€Å"Big Society† is just the same with Thatcherism when it intends c ut back public expenditures (though explaining that he is just returning it to 2007 level). It only differs in a way that it encouraged public engagement and volunteerism and by putting up a Big Society fund of ?200M to enhance societal capability (Channel4.com 2011). With regard to the economy, Cameron also adopts the free market system which is precisely what Thatcher asserted despite public criticism during her time. Cameron’s economic policy pronouncements also do not subscribe to Keynesian inflationary measure of pump priming the economy through increased public expenditure. It is only his method that differs from Thatcher because he intends to cut public expenditure which Thatcher was opulent during her term. II. The Conservative party and its ideology The Conservative Party used to be known as Tories that dated back in 1678. It only assumed its present name Conservative Unionist Party in 1912 after it allied with the Liberal Party. Its dominant ideology in the early 20 th century was One Nation Conservatism, which was to unite the varying sectors of society (Heywood 2007). Among the esteemed ideologues of the Party was Edmund Burke. Burke was a follower of Adam Smith and his market economy whom Thatcher herself acknowledged to have influenced her liberal economic policy. During the late 19th century, the Conservative Party agreed for a greater representation of the middle class in the parliament. This was contained in the Tamworth Manifesto which was the fundamental political belief of the new Conservative Party. Business also supported the Conservative Party with its coalition with the Liberal Party which made the Party of industry and commerce (Ingle 2008). III. The Thatcherite Agenda: The New Right (1979-1990) Before Margaret Thatcher assumed as the Prime Minister of UK in 1979, UK had been experiencing high unemployment rate under a series of trade union strikes which the media dubbed the â€Å"Winter of Discontent† because the Labour l ed government implemented a freeze on the pay increase of the workers to control the lingering inflation of 20% (Hall and Jacques 1983). Upon assumption of office, Margaret Thatcher implemented her policy programs which are popularly known as â€Å"The New Right†. The Thatcherite Agenda was characterised by neo-liberal policy of a market oriented economy and neoconservative policy which emphasises the traditional Tory values of One Nation Conser

Immigration and Asylum Law Master Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Immigration and Asylum Law Master - Essay Example As with all statutes, the process of refinement and adjustment is continuous the most recent of which is the Immigration and Asylum (Treatment of Claimants) Act 2004. Claiming as a victim of persecution as a result of fighting for the rights of a tribe belonging to northern Uganda, Frank (rather an odd name for an Ugandan) is now battling for asylum in the United Kingdom. His case, however, is complicated with the fact that he has HIV, entered the United Kingdom thru Belgium and that he has relatives (a sister and a brother) already residing in the UK. According to the 1951 United Nations Convention on Refugees to which the UK is a signatory, an asylum-seeker is someone of any age who has fled his or her home country to find a safe place elsewhere. Anyone with the claim of persecution is entitled to seek an asylum but the contention is that the applicant must be able to demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution in their country of origin for reasons of political opinion, religion, ethnicity, race/ nationality, or membership of a particular social group and that he is unable to obtain any protection or assistance from their own national autho rities. Since April 2003, a person who does not qualify for refugee status may instead be appeal under Humanitarian Protection grounds. This criterion is a leave to remain granted to a person who would, if removed, face in the country of return a serious risk to life or person arising from a death penalty, unlawful killing, or torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. This is to comply with Article 2 or the right to life and Article 3 or the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights, especially Article 2, the right to life and Article 3, the prohibition on torture and inhuman or degrading treatment and is codified in the 1998 Human Rights Act. The burden of evidence still lies in the asylum seeker unless there is obvious and publicized threat to the person. After the 30th of August 2005 amendment to the Immigration and Asylum act, the permission for people to stay due to Humanitarian Protection grounds have been extended for 5 years instead of the previous 3 years leave. However, during this period the leave is subject to review and if ever it was found that the asylum seeker purposely deceived the Home Office (the agency dedicated to these issues) and that the persecution did not exist, the leave is revoked. Leaves may also be subject to review because the genuine persecution no longer exists. If Frank does not succeed in pursuing asylum due to persecution, he may resort to family reunion reasons especially that he already has siblings in the United Kingdom. However, the statures existing in the UK provides no automatic right to family reunion until a person has refugee status. Only under compelling compassionate circumstances other than refugee status will applications be considered such as the imminent death of a lone parent working in the UK. Only the immediate family ( spouse and dependent children under the age of 18) can apply for entry clearance to join their spouse/parent in the UK once the refugee status has been granted. Certain documents will be needed such as Birth and Marriage certificates. If this unavailable or is deemed questionable, a DNA test could be conducted with the discretion of the

Issues of grandparents raising grandchildren Essay Example for Free

Issues of grandparents raising grandchildren Essay Abstract This paper explores research regarding the impacts on grandparents and grandchildren when the grandparent assumes the parental role because of some type of parental fall through. The articles find that the financial aspect of raising grandchildren in your later years is quite costly as well is the negative health problems the stress of the situation can cause. This paper mainly looks at Baldocks (2007) research on the affects of every aspect of the new situation on the grandparents and grandchildren. Baldock (2007) and the other research used for this paper all suggest that there are multiple struggles that the grandparents will endure when raising their grandchildren. Issues of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren The clichà © life of a grandparent is usually thought of as taking the grandchildren to the zoo, baking cookies, and making crafts. Grandparents are also around to share their wisdom and experiences with the younger generation, however in todays society the amount of grandparents having to take in their grandchildren due to an issue in the biological parents lives has been on the increase for years (Baldock, 2007, p. 70). This change of role for the grandparents can have various affects on not only the grandparents but the grandchildren as well. There are many reasons as to why grandparents come into the situation where they need to take their grandchildren into their care such as teenage pregnancy, parental abuse, and parental drug and alcohol abuse. No matter how the grandparents come into obtaining their grandchildren each family have their own types of struggles they will have to deal with. Both the grandparents and grandchildren can go through multiple financial, health, and behavioral issues that can either bring the family out on top or hurt them, but many are choosing to overcome the difficulties and persevere through them. Literature Review There are many troubles in todays society with drugs, alcohol, and violence, all which are just a few of the reasons that many parents become unable to properly care for their children. These and many other circumstances are which have led to â€Å"approximately 2.4 million grandparents [being] responsible for raising their grandchildren, many in households without the parents present.† (Poehlmann et al., 2008, 165) The decision to undertake the responsibility of raising your grandchildren is a big one to make, however many times there is no decision to make because the children would end up in the foster care system if it werent for the grandparents. In a study completed in Australia about grandparent run homes, â€Å"of the 31,000 children living with their grandparents, 28,700 childrens biological parents lived elsewhere.† (Baldock, 2007, p. 71) This can make the strain of raising your grandchild even more difficult because of the emotional and financial burdens it may cause. Health Quality of Custodial Grandparents There have been various studies in which they have found that grandparents who take care of their grandchildren have mental and physical aspects of themselves that are in a disarray (Neely-Barnes, Graft, Washington, 2010, p. 87). The role of being a custodial grandparent is difficult not only because it is a new situation which they need to adjust to, but it can also cause physical and mental problems. The situation cause a lot of new emotions and stressors that â€Å"numerous studies have documented elevated rates of depression, parenting stress, health problem, and economic hardship among custodial grandparents.† (Poehlmann et al., 2008, p. 168) Many grandparents are well in their sixtys and so â€Å"when the children arrive, grandparents are unlikely to be prepared for the dramatic and often sudden changes caused by unplanned parenthood.† (Baldock, 2007, p. 73) The grandparents generally see an increase in health related problems because they are put into a situation where they need to focus on the care of their grandchildren which leads to the grandparents health and well-being coming second and in which â€Å"custodial grandparents report worse self-assessed health than noncaregiving grandparents, particularly in the areas of physical functioning, bodily pain, role functioning, social functioning, and general health perception.† (Neely-Barnes et al., 2010, p. 88) Not only are the grandparents not being able to properly maintain their own health, but â€Å"among custodial grandparents, higher levels of depression have been found among unmarried grandparents who were not working.† (p. 88) This new parenting role that the grandparents are put into also effects their social life; â€Å"in one study, half of custodial grandparents reported that they felt isolated from friends in their age group due to their caregiving responsibilities.† (p. 88) Grandparents usually feel worn out by the amount of extra responsibilities they have come to take on which can make them feel worried when they think about having many more years of having to take care of their grandchildren. This type of constant worrying and stress can become quite a negative thing both for the grandparent and grandchild because â€Å"grandparents who are stressed are more likely to become depressed.† (Baldock, 2007, p. 73) Financials When grandparents are put into the situation of bringing their grandchildren into their care, one of the most difficult issues they have to deal with is the financial aspect of raising the children. The financial aspect of raising the grandchildren can be so hard to handle because many of the grandparents are older and even retired which means limited income. â€Å"In around one third of grandparent families (34%), one of both grandparents were employed, while 62% received a government pension, allowance or other benefit as their primary income.† (Baldock, 2007, p. 71) Children are expensive to raise because of the extra clothing, food, and home resources that are used. The grandparents are used to and comfortable with their current lifestyle and then when the unexpected young grandchildren are brought into the picture this can make the once sufficient income turn into financial instability. Grandparents going through legal proceedings can also be another reason finances are put into a bind when the need to take in your grandchildren is needed because â€Å"grandparents are commonly ineligible for legal aid and consequently face disadvantage in proceedings† (Baldock, 2007, p. 72). One way that is used to try to gain some type of extra income for the grandchildren is by â€Å"formalising their parenting role through legal proceedings [which] can be the only way grandparents are able to access financial support.† (p. 72) The cost of providing for their grandchildren and all of the court related procedures needed to be done becomes such a burden that â€Å"some grandparents have mortgaged their homes to undertake legal proceedings.† (p. 72) Impacts on the Family The result of custodial grandparents not only effects just the grandparents and grandchildren, but the whole family. The strain of raising grandchildren can be felt in the children of the grandparents â€Å"some felt resentful that their parents energy was going into raising their grandchildren and their own children missed out on a relationship with their grandparents.† (Baldock, 2007, p. 72) In many families the reason that the grandparents need to raise their grandchildren is due to some type of addiction from the birth parents. This drug use can cause emotional and social problems in the grandparents and grandchildren which can make the â€Å"grandparentsfeel blamed or express a sense of responsibility for their own childrens drug use.†(p. 73) Grandparents often feel as though there was something they could have done to prevent their childrens drug abuse which in turn would have prevented the need for them to raise their grandchildren. This feeling of â€Å"blame and shame exacerbate social isolation and increase psychological anxiety experienced by grandparents and their grandchildren.† (p. 73) The effects on the grandchildren of not having their parent or parents around is difficult to for them to cope with because â€Å"children separated from their parents because of alcohol and other drugs frequently face psychological, emotional and sometimes physical problems.† (Baldock, 2007, p. 71) According to Day and Bazemore (2011: children living without their biological parents typically present with high rates of psychological problems. Yet, by comparison, adolescents living with grandparent caregivers have the lowest levels of both internalizing problems (i.e. depressive symptoms, negative outlook, low self-esteem), and externalizing problems (i.e. nonviolent delinquency, general violent tendencies, and substance abuse.† (p. 103) Position I have first hand experience in the struggles and issues that can arise from a grandparent having to put their lives on hold and take in their grandchildren in order to provide them a loving and stable home. My parents are currently in the process of adopting my two nephews whom they, as well as myself, have taken care of since they were born. My sister is in a rehabilitation program in Northern New Jersey for addiction to pills, cocaine, and heroin and has been in and out of trouble since her early teens. Growing up the way I did because of the situations and conditions that my sister made my family endure has shown me just how difficult and numerous the issues are when raising your grandchildren. My mother is sixty years old and my father is sixty-two, both having some health problems. Health problems associated with age can have a significant affect on how the grandparents are going to be able to act in their new role as caregivers because many grandparents are older and their health is declining. Taking care of a six and a nine year old can be mentally and physically exhausting. My nephews have many psychological issues because their mother is gone and father is hardly around, these emotional troubles of my nephews also effect me and parents too. My nephews have ADHD and are quite sensitive which makes it even more difficult to calm them down if they are feeling upset or angry because they are missing their mother. I find the emotional impact it has on the children and family to be the greatest because of my experience in knowing how difficult is to cope with the entire situation. The financial responsibility for taking grandchildren in can be quite detrimental to the grandparents because many are retired or only working part-time in order to make a little extra money. My father is retired which has made the raising of two new children quite difficult before they received any assistance from the state. While most families receive financial assistance through state and federal aid, there may be certain circumstances in which a family has to come up with the money themselves. Grandparents know how expensive children are because of their past experience in raising their own children, however times have changed and the cost of raising children has significantly increased. This financial burden put onto the grandparents is not a choice they make, but rather something they just have to endure because there is no other option for the grandchildren. Afterthoughts It is obvious that grandparents who have to bring their grandchildren into their home and raise them because of varying circumstances will inevitably face numerous amount of hardships and issues. The grandparents being older makes the task of raising their grandchildren difficult, along with the cost involved in raising them and the legal proceedings that are done in order to protect the children. While the hardships of custodial grandparents is plenty, many â€Å"who have attended support groups say that it has made a positive difference in their lives† (Baldock, 2007, p.73), which can help them to cope with the new situations they are being placed in. Even though raising grandchildren comes with multiple and varying issues that make it difficult to do, â€Å"grandparents who are raising their grandchildren consistently report that the experience adds joy and meaning to their lives and provides them with companionship and a purposeful social and familial role.† (Kropf ; Burnette, 2003, p. 363)

Export Trade of Bangladesh with Saarc Countries Essay Example for Free

Export Trade of Bangladesh with Saarc Countries Essay Introduction The policy of trade liberalization and free-market economy in the 1980s has created both challenges and opportunities for Bangladesh economy. The creation of the World Trade Organization has created new ways of enjoying the comparative advantage for Bangladesh. At the same time, the globalize trade scenario has opened up the structural limitations of Bangladesh economy, which needs immediate attention through the formulation of appropriate policy and actions. Bangladesh continues to suffer from a low-growth, high-poverty syndrome. However, Bangladesh has a large labor force willing to work for low wages resulting in a very competitive position for labor-intensive manufacturing exports. It has a large number of entrepreneurial businessmen who are able to develop and run small and medium scale enterprises. It has a sufficient amount of natural gas reserves which can potentially provide low-cost energy for a downstream industrial structure. With amicable and mutually beneficial regional cooperation, Bangladesh can be an ideal location for huge foreign direct investments, which can serve as a huge market for goods and services in the South Asia. The growth potential of Bangladesh is, however, limited by a high population density and limited availability of land, which results in a continuing pressure on food supply. The low-income level makes it difficult for households to save, thus constraining the domestic development efforts. The education and health levels are low, resulting in a labor force lacking the skills needed for a modern economy. In addition, the traditions of central control of the economy and the awkwardness of government policy continue to work as a deterrent against private sector investment. Within this global and regional trade scenario, this paper attempts to provide a synopsis of Bangladesh trade with the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries and of its policies regarding bilateral and global trade. The common structure of the economies and the same intensive price competitiveness could lead to a great deal of formal trade between Bangladesh and the SAARC countries, but this potential is yet to be realized. Bangladesh suffers from a huge trade deficit with India. This paper will lay special emphasis on the trade relations with India and the proposed South Asian Growth Quadrangle consisting of seven north-eastern states of India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. This paper will also examine the impact of GDP and of the exchange rate and its variability on the export and import growth of Bangladesh. This study will also examine the trade policies of Bangladesh with special reference to both nominal and effective tariff levels, and non-tariff barriers that hinder the growth of Bangladesh global trade with its neighboring countries. Intra-SAARC trade is very negligible. This study will estimate a gravity model of international trade to examine whether intra-SAARC trade is lower or higher than what is predicated by the economic model. The results of this model will help us understand the possibilities of trade creation and diversion effects resulting from the South Asian Preferential Trading Arrangements (SAPTA) among SAARC member countries. Gravity models of international trade estimate the trade flow as a function of variables that directly or indirectly affect the determinants of normal trade flow. The typical gravity model specification relates bilateral trade to income, population (or per capita income) and distance between the trading partners. If one finds a positive coefficient on the dummy variable indicating that two countries, both of which participate in the same preferential arrangement, trade more with one another than predicted by their incomes and distance, then the conclusion drawn is that the arrangement is trade-creating for its members. This paper will review the tariff concessions agreed upon by the SAARC member countries. Literature Review As it would appear, a significant part of the literature on the state of bilateral and regional economic and trade cooperation in South Asia deals with factors contributing to weak state of integration in the region. According to Sawhney and Kumar (2008), the underlying reasons originate from a combination of political, economic and institutional factors. A large segment of relevant literature deals with identifying opportunities that could emerge from closer cooperation among countries in the region. Three strands of discourse are commonly discernible in this context: firstly, identification of challenges and opportunities of cooperation through regional and bilateral trade and other agreements with participation of SAARC member countries; secondly, quantitative assessments of economic gains, welfare losses which could potentially originate from such cooperation; and thirdly, evidence†based assessments of trade potentialities at sect oral levels. Along with analysis at the regional level, some part of the literature has explored the relevant issues at the bilateral level. A number of studies have attempted to assess whether a bilateral route is more preferable to a regional one in advancing the level of trade and economic cooperation in the context of South Asia. In recent times, increasing attention is being given to the state of bilateral economic cooperation between Bangladesh and India. One nagging limitation in this connection has been the lack of adequate data on informal trade which has tended to constrain the scope of analysis pertaining to bilateral and regional trade in South Asia.9 Only a few studies have attempted to capture this important aspect of trade in the region (Bakht 1996; World Bank 2006). In a feasibility study on the prospects of bilateral FTA between Bangladesh and India, Bhuyan and Ray (2006) conclude that such agreement between the two countries would bring about substantial benefits to both partners. I n contrast to the multilateral arrangements, bilateral FTAs could be fast†tracked and would offer additional preferential treatment to the partner countries. Based on a review of bilateral FTAs, they conclude that this mode of trading arrangement has shown a better record of success in expanding trade between countries, and stimulates investment compared to regional or sub†regional integration schemes. De and Bhattacharyay (2007) argue that a bilateral FTA with India would enable Bangladesh to strengthen her foothold in the Indian market. In view of the NTBs that severely limit the opportunities of bilateral trade between these countries, the study suggests that an FTA with India would be the best way to address the issue of NTBs. Some of the other studies have put more emphasis on the regional route. Among those, Sawhney and Kumar (2008) hold that implementation of the regional free trade agreement (e.g. SAFTA) would result in positive outcomes for all member countries. The authors also conclude that regional cooperation through FTAs such as SAFTA could lead to higher volume of trade in goods and services through allocative efficiency and enhanced production capacity. Rahman (2001) identifies a number of issues which would need urgent attention if Bangladesh-India bilateral economic relation is to gain momentum including multilateralism versus bilateralism, sectoral versus comprehensive approach, duty†free market access, rules of origin (RoO), removal of NTBs and the need for policy coordination to stimulate investment. A number of studies have argued in favour of taking a holistic approach embracing cooperation in areas of trade, investment, transport and infrastructure in order to realise the potential opportunities of bilateral economic cooperation involving SAARC member countries (CPD 2004). However, in articulating a contrasting view, Baysan et al. (2006) argue that the SAFTA makes sense only in the context of a much broader strategy of creating a larger preferential trade area in the region that would need to encompass China and also members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Assuming that the SAFTA agreement was there to stay, the authors recommend a number of steps towards promotion of intra†regional trade in a manner that minimizes likely trade diversion costs and maximizes potential benefits. In this context, some studies have highlighted the positive impact in terms of growth and poverty reduction through regional cooperation by citing other RTAs such as South East Asian and European regional entries (Sawhney and Kumar 2008). In recent times, a number of studies have tried to quantify the potential benefits arising from cooperation among SAARC countries, both at regional and bilateral levels. A number of studies have tried to estimate the degree of market access under the preferential treatment. Mukherji (2000) estimates that the annual value of all imports that entered the SAARC member countries under SAPTA preferences amounted to approximately USD 480 million at the end of the 1990s. According to his estimates, the share of intra-regional imports covered by the SAPTA preferences was the highest for Pakistan (39.6 per cent), followed by Nepal (35.2 per cent), India (30 per cent), Bhutan (17 per cent) and Sri Lanka (12 per cent). In contrast the import value coverage of Bangladesh and Maldives was relatively low. Based on import data for FY1997-98, highest revenue loss was sustained by India (USD 2.45 million), whereas that of Bangladesh was relatively modest (USD 0.02 million) In a more recent study undertaken to evaluate the performance of SAPTA that also explored the prospects of the then proposed SAFTA, Hirantha (2004) applied the well- known gravity model to estimate potential benefits of an FTA in South Asia.11 The study finds that there will be substantial trade creation in the region under SAPTA with no significant trade diversion impact. The estimated results for 2002 showed that bilateral trade between any two pairs of SAARC member countries would be about 10.5 times higher under the SAPTA compared to two otherwise similar countries in absence of an RTA. Moreover, according to estimated coefficients, not only would intra†regional trade be enhanced, but this would also lead to increased bilateral trade with non†members. This result contradicted earlier study of (Hassan 2001) which indicated that lowering of trade among SAARC countries would not result in substantial benefits and would lead result in reduced trade with non†members.12 Rahman et al. (2006) supported the earlier findings of Hirantha (2004) and argued that there would be significant intra-bloc export creation as a result of SAPTA; though there would be net export diversion.13 However, results of this study showed that Bangladesh, India and Pakistan were expected to gain by joining the RTA, while Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka would be negatively affected. Given the fact of Bangladesh’s export opportunities in India, a number of studies have tried to identify potential market opportunities for Bangladeshi sectors/products particularly in the Indian market. Based on analysis of secondary data and stakeholders’ perception, Bhuyan and Ray (2006) identify a set of potential exportable products from Bangladesh that could enjoy export potential in the Indian market. These were fish products (including shrimp), leather goods, cement, light engineering items, jute products, pharmaceutical products, ceramic products and processed agro†products. The authors recommended that an FTA with India would enable Bangladeshi producers and exporters to have access to the much needed raw materials and semi-finished products at competitive price. In yet another study, applying a computable general equilibrium (CGE) framework, Siriwardana and Yang (2007) estimate that a number of Bangladeshi items, including beverages and tobacco, fabricated metal products, textile and leather, petroleum and other minerals, food manufactures, and vegetables and fruits sector, will gain substantially in the Indian market both in the short†run as well as long†run, if import duties are abolished by India. In a recent study, the World Bank (2006), however, finds that the prospect for trade between Bangladesh and India, through a bilateral FTA, to be rather limited. Analysis undertaken for a number of items including cement, light bulbs, bicycle rickshaw tyres and sugar indicate that if a bilateral FTA is signed with India it will be India which would be able to expand her exports to Bangladesh; Bangladesh’s export potential in the Indian market is rather limited. The study points out the reasons being (a) faster productivity growth in India bolstering India’s comparative advantage in competing goods, and/or (b) tariff and NTBs constraining Bangladesh’s major exports (RMG) as well as minor exports which have experienced rapid growth in other markets. The study argues that in a situation where an Indian supplier gets advantage of captive protected market under the bilateral FTA with Bangladesh, there was likelihood of collusion amongst Indian producers or between them and Bangladeshi importers which would reduce some of the welfare gains. According to this study, Bangladesh’s interests would be better served through multilateral liberalization. In similar vein, Bandara and Yu (2003) also conclude that SAFTA would lead to a marginal 0.21 per cent gain in real income for India, 0.03 per cent gain for Sri Lanka, 0.10 per cent loss for Bangladesh, while the rest of South Asia would gain 0.08 per cent in terms of real income. More recently, Raihan (2008) used the WITS/SMART model and carried out simulation exercise in view of various scenarios under the SAFTA accord (removal of intra†regional tariff for all countries). The study makes an attempt to quantify export potentials of Bangladesh in the Indian market. The modeling exercise identifies export items of Bangladesh at disaggregated HS 6 digit level which were likely to expand in the Indian market under the SAFTA. The study finds that under the SAFTA Bangladesh’s exports to Indian market would rise by only about USD 78 million. Top 30 products (at the 6 digit HS code), together, account for 83 per cent of the increase in Bangladesh’s export earnings (USD 64.9 million). A review of literature indicates that the majority of studies have tended to focus on tariff barriers and the impact of removal of duties on regional and bilateral trade. However, the presence of large number of NTBs was also recognised as a major constraint in these and other studies. Rahman (2010) identifies salient features of the NTBs prevailing in South Asian trade, and examined cross†country experiences in addressing the NTBs. The study also documented how the NTBs are being addressed within the SAFTA architecture. Particularly, an in†depth look at NTB†related issues has become even more necessary in view of the recent debates, and the modalities that are being put in place to address those. An important recent study by Razzaque (2010), which combines qualitative analysis with three different types of quantitative analyses (gravity model, CGE model and GTAP) argues that the weaker economies in the SAARC region are expected to lose significantly from the SAFTA agreement, at least in its current form. The study shows that the losses for the weaker economies, particularly for Bangladesh and Nepal, arise from increased imports from regional partners, nominal increase in exports within the region and loss of tariff revenue. Results of estimation carried out in this study based on WITS/SMART simulation, are similar to that of Bandra and Yu (2003), and shows that SAFTA will lead to an increase in Bangladesh imports from the region of about USD 400 million compared to rise in regional exports of only about USD 33 million. Results of the study also show that only India stands to experience regional export gains that would be higher than imports from regional sources. The gravity simulation results suggest that SAFTA would influence regional trade flows mainly by increasing India’s exports, and Bangladesh and Nepal’s imports. For every USD 100 worth of new export trade almost USD 78 would accrue to India, whereas share of Bangladesh, Maldives and Bhutan would be insignificant. The authors recommend that LDC members of the SAFTA should continue with their respective policy reforms, and will need to address supply-side bottlenecks in order to benefit from the increasingly larger regional market. In another study, Raihan and Razzaque (2007) ran two different simulations using the GTAP model and database. In the first scenario, the authors depict a case in which all member countries eliminate their intra-regional tariffs but retain their respective tariffs with the rest of the world intact. In the second scenario, in addition to SAFTA tariff cuts, the authors let Bangladesh slash its tariffs against the rest of the world by 50 per cent. Comparisons of the various scenarios give an opportunity to examine trade diversion effects when determining the overall welfare effects for Bangladesh. The results show that full tariff liberalisation under SAFTA alone would lead to a net welfare loss of USD 184 million for Bangladesh India, Sri Lanka, and the rest of South Asia in this scenario register welfare gains, as trade creation effects dominate trade diversion effects. However, when Bangladesh undertakes MFN (most favoured nation) tariff cuts by 50 per cent along with the full tariff liberalisation for SAFTA members, it stands to gain by USD 84.1 million. In the latter exercise, the positive welfare gains of other countries were maintained. ADB and UNCTAD (2008) finds that the welfare gains, based on CGE analysis, for Bangladesh are likely to be one of the highest. According to the study, export gains for Bangladesh in SAFTA market under the phase†I of liberalisation (2008-09) would be significant (38.08 per cent to South Asia), but not as high as the peak export growth to SAFTA seen by other countries. The study further contends that Bangladesh will be able to increase her global exports by about 4.3 per cent by 2016 on account of SAFTA. A number of authors have highlighted the importance of better regional connectivity to foster and promote intra-regional trade and deepen economic cooperation among the regional countries. Rahmatullah (2010) points out in this connection that due to lack of integration of the transport system in South Asia, logistics costs are very high and ranges between 13†14 per cent of GDP, compared to 8 per cent in the US. Whilst many studies have focused on aggregate level gains and losses originating from regional cooperation among SAARC countries, those focusing on identifying potential opportunities of bilateral trade between Bangladesh and India, at a disaggregated level, as was pointed out above are few. Additionally, in view of the rapid changes in the structure of bilateral trade in recent times, a closer look at the relevant issues has become even more urgent. Since the sensitive lists have emerged as a major area of concern, an in†depth look at the Indian sensitive list, from the Bangladesh perspective, is also called for in order to identify the fall opportunities of market access by Bangladesh in the Indian market. The issue of signing bilateral FTA as a more comprehensive and speedier tool of enhancing trade among SAARC countries has been highlighted by a number of authors. de Mel (2010) points out in this connection that negative lists of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are substantially larger than those in the respective bilateral trade agreements. Echoing this, Weerakoon (2010) observes that SAFTA has already been overtaken by bilateral process in many instances, and would appear to be in danger of being further upstaged by bilateral and other regional initiatives. A review of literature thus, in general indicates that under the existing scenarios the potential benefits originating from regional trade cooperation among the SAARC countries would not be substantial. Bangladesh’s gains also appear to be inconsequential. The idea of bilateral FTA has been examined by some, but here also the positive impact in terms of additional trade flows is rather limit. However, one common limitation of most of these studies had been that these are based on static analysis. One way of addressing this is to examine and analyse the data with regard to the dynamics of trade, its composition and putting under scrutiny factors contributing to and factors constraining the trade flows.

Differentiation made among poor readers into dyslexics

Differentiation made among poor readers into dyslexics Is dyslexia a big, expensive myth (Mills 2007)? Despite the popular acceptance of dyslexia as a type of learning disability, particularly as a persistent and significant form of reading difficulty, the debate surrounding its existence, definition, and diagnosis persists (Doyle 2003). For many years now, school systems around the world have developed and implemented strategies in order to address dyslexia because it affects a considerable percentage in the population. In the United Kingdom, one out of 10 people are considered dyslexic, 375,000 children (Hayes 2005) and in other studies, 5% of the childrens population (Ramus 2003). Dyslexia is widely thought to be a deficit that can be overcome with proper learning interventions; some very prominent personalities have been said to succeed over dyslexia: Hans Christian Andersen and Nelson Rockefeller, for instance. Scientific and academic discourse on dyslexia, which is derived from the Greek words dys meaning difficult and lexia meaning reading, is plagued by a definitional crisis (Snowling 2000; Ingram, Pianu and Welsh 2007). Until now, there is still no consensus on the definition of dyslexia. Moreover, issues on categorisation also face the dyslexia community (Lyon, Shaywitz, and Shaywitz 2003). This is perhaps because poor reading is influenced by a myriad of factors: socio-economic disadvantage, poor diet, poor living conditions, and others. This paper centralises on the controversy on whether or not a) it is possible to differentiate dyslexics from garden-variety poor readers and b) it is useful to make such a differentiation. The issue of differentiation has significant implications and until now, psychologists and academic writers are still debating over it. Treating dyslexia as a distinct entity seems logically sound. In every class, there are students who do very poorly in reading bu t exhibit higher ability in other competencies. There are also those who do poorly in reading and in generally all other competencies. In terms of diagnosis, some claim that differentiating dyslexics from poor readers will enable educators to development the most suitable interventions. Nonetheless, the definitional crisis over dyslexia makes it a dilemma to make that diagnosis. Labelling someone as dyslexic actually makes the assumption that existing literature and empirical data have generated more precise insight into what dyslexia is. The fact of the matter is experts have only agreed to disagree on the criteria by which dyslexia is diagnosed, including the types of intervention necessary to help children overcome their reading difficulties (Rice and Brooks 2004). The peril of differentiating dyslexics and garden-variety poor readers without any clear and conclusive parameters for diagnosis is that in the end, students with temporary reading difficulties may be branded dyslexics needlessly and students who are in genuine danger may not be getting the appropriate learning interventions they need. Due to the unstable and inconsistent definitions of dyslexia, some academic writers have questioned whether the disorder really exists. Some people view dyslexia as a social and emotional construct (Elliott 2005, p. 485) and politicians claim the impairment as a fictional malady (Hayes 2005, p. 1) to suggest that dyslexia is an artificial disorder concocted by the school system to promote their interests or to hide weaknesses in language instruction. Some have even claimed that dyslexia has a class bias: that it is the middle-class way of covering up intellectual weakness. Despite these allegations, the dyslexia movement worldwide has gained wide acceptance and scientific endeavours, which although inconclusive have provided greater insight into how this impairment can be overcome by children and adults. This paper explored recent literature on dyslexia, its definitions, causes, and critically discussed the issue of differentiation between dyslexics and garden-variety poor readers, how such a difference could be diagnosed, and its implications. The paper concludes that while there are proposed methods of evaluation, there remains no conclusive means of differentiating dyslexics and garden-variety poor readers. 1 Dyslexia: definitions and causes 1.1 The reading process In order to critically examine dyslexia, models of the reading process need to be reviewed. There have been two predominant theoretical models to answer the questions: how do children read? and how do they learn how to read? (Harrison 2000, p. 35). Kenneth Goodman (1970, as cited in Harrison 2000) explained that reading was a selective process which requires children to use minimal language cues but maximum contextual information. In what he calls the psycholinguistic guessing game, Goodman argued that the objective of reading is not word or letter recognition but to make sense of it the construction of meaning. Recent studies have shown the fluent reading requires a fairly complete and rapid visual processing of text while hypothesising or guessing as Goodman (1970) suggested has a small role to play in word recognition. The most widely accepted model of reading among experts and psychologists is the interactive model which states that the reading process is largely supportive of the bottom-up model as well as the input of top-down processes when required (Harrison 2000). This means that in order for individuals to read fluently, what occurs is automatic, rapid, and context-free word recognition having a fixation duration dependent on the relative word frequency of separate words. Stanovich (1980) attempted to incorporate what is known about skilled and unskilled reading into the interactive-compensatory model. A key concept of this model of reading is that a process at any level can compensate for deficiencies at any other level (p. 36). Stanovichs model was a response to both bottom-up models and top-down models which had their own problems. One of the problems for the top-down model is that for many texts, the reader has littlele knowledge of the topic and cannot generate predictions. While the top-down models may explain beginning reading, with slow rates of word recognition, they do not accurately describe skilled reading behavior. Stanovich (1980) argued that good readers recognised words rapidly because their recognition was automatic. It was poor readers, by contrast, who needed to make the greatest use of context in order to facilitate word recognition, and they did so at the expense of needing to devote extra time to this part of the processes. The o bvious implication of this model is that accurate, rapid word recognition is really important in fluent reading. 1.2 Defining Dyslexia Dyslexia is difficult to define. Although there have been several definitions introduced since its inception, experts have relied on identifying exclusionary and inclusionary characteristics to define who has dyslexia (Rice and Brooks 2004). Fletcher and Lyon (2008) offered three primary reasons why dyslexia is hard to define. First, dyslexia is unobservable construct meaning that attempts to measure it are imperfect and people suffering from the disorder cannot objectively report it. Second, dyslexia is dimensional, meaning that there are varying degrees to which individuals may experience difficulty, from minor, severe, and even in-between. Third, what characteristics to include and what to exclude have been a site for great disagreement among practitioners and psychologists. Nevertheless, common points in several definitions can be seen are elaborated in this paper. A specific learning disability Defining dyslexia as one disorder among a whole umbrella of learning disabilities (LD) has been criticised (Shaywitz, Morris and Shaywitz 2003; Snowling 2000). Studies have shown that among all learning disabilities, reading disability is the most prevalent, affecting 80% of people diagnosed with learning disabilities. In the past, LD encompassed a broad selection of difficulties experienced by children and adults in several competencies: reading, listening, writing, mathematics, and speaking. Dyslexia is now defined as a specific learning disability (Shaywitz, Morris, and Shaywitz 2003, p. 2). Some definitions on dyslexia describe the different areas impaired. The British Association of Dyslexia (2010) defines dyslexia as a specific learning difficulty which mainly affects the development of literacy and language related skills wherein difficulties may experienced in rapid naming, working memory, phonological processing, processing speed, and other skills. The definition also elaborates that dyslexia may occur among people who are of normal or average intelligence. Shaywitz, Morris, and Shaywitz (2003) explained that among the indicators of dyslexia may be poor spelling, inaccurate word recognition, and poor decoding abilities. The National Centre for Learning Disabilities treats dyslexia as a language processing disorder which may impair reading, writing, spelling, and speaking. Dyslexia Scotland (2010) defined dyslexia as a specific leaning difficulty affecting almost 10% of the population. Dyslexics are said to experience difficulty in reading, spelling, writing, and mathematics. It explained that dyslexia occurs as a consequence of poor short-term memory; hence, dyslexics do poorly in learning abilities because they are unable to maintain the sequencing of numbers, words, or simple instructions. The Miles Dyslexia Centre (2010) defined dyslexia as a combination of abilities and difficulties which affect the learning process in one or more of reading, spelling, writing and sometimes numeracy/language (n.p.). Dyslexics have weaknesses in the following areas: memory, processing speed, short-term memory, visual perception, auditory perception, spoken language, and motor skills. Nevertheless, their definition of dyslexia also reiterates that in place of such weaknesses, dyslexics are gifted with creative or oral skills and that the impairment occurs regardless of socioeconomic or linguistic background. In addition, the National Strategy for Improving Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills point out that dyslexia is the result of poor phonological processing and poor short-term memory. Hence, dyslexics often struggle with following instructions, copying notes from the board, and difficulty in reading (Department for Education and Skills 2004). The Dyslexia Institute (2002) also outlined some of the shortcomings of dyslexic individuals, such as: 1) difficulty in processing real-time information due to poor short-term memory or working memory, 2) problems in the phonological process which make them struggle in associating letters to sounds, and 3) problems in visual processing. A neurobiological dysfunction Many definitions focus on the neurobiological origins of dyslexia (Shaywitz, Morris, and Shaywitz 2003; Nicolson and Fawcett 2005). Dyslexia is seen not as a consequence of impaired vision or poor intelligence, but as a neurological disorder which has caused brains of individuals to interpret and process information in a different manner (National Centre for Learning Disabilities 2007). The National Institute of Health (2008) also viewed dyslexia as a problem with the brains ability to recognise and process symbols which may affect childrens capacity to separate sounds in spoken words or in rhyming skills which are fundamental in the reading process. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS 2010) indicates that dyslexics experience difficulties with writing, phonological processing and rapid visual-verbal responding. It defined dyslexia as a brain-based type of learning disability that specifically impairs a persons ability to read. These individuals typically read at levels significantly lower than expected of them despite having normal intelligence (NINDS 2010, n.p.). While the effects of dyslexia vary, the most common characteristics among dyslexics are said to include phonological processing, spelling, and rapid verbal-visual response. Dyslexia is also heritable and recent studies have pointed to genes which make individuals predisposed to the learning disorder. A phonological deficit Secondary to the biological basis of dyslexia is that it is the consequence of a phonological deficit. The phonological deficit hypothesis originated from Pringle Morgan, considered to be the father of dyslexia (Snowling 2001). According to this hypothesis, reading entails the segmentation of texts into the smallest units of language called graphemes. Graphemes are then converted to phonemes which then become then complete sound of a word. For this to take place, the reader needs to assemble and address the phonology of a word. Dyslexics have difficulty in phonemic representations and phonemic recall due to poor short-term memory and other weaknesses in brain mapping. The International Dyslexia Association (IDA 2008) describes dyslexia a language-based type of learning disorder. Dyslexics experience difficulty in developing fluent single-word decoding skills. Furthermore, Fletcher et al. (2002, as cited in Rice and Brooks 2004) supported the notion that dyslexia indicates a problem with phonological processing. Accordingly, children who suffer from dyslexia are identified when they appear a deficit in the skills of words recognition which is associated with rapid naming and phonological memory. In addition, Snowling (2001) considered the importance of phonological processing as one of the etiology of dyslexia. Therefore, this definition focuses on the issues with word-decoding more than reading comprehension, which are controversial and critical point to distinguish between children who have specific difficulties in reading and those who have more problems and weaknesses in language. Finally, this definition is clear by clarifying that dyslexia includes some difficulties in spelling and other writing skills. Snowling (2001) attributes dyslexia to weaknesses in language that affect the development of reading and spelling with dyslexic people. The phenomenon of weakness in language do not affect the reading directly, but also affect the development of the spoken language, which is the basic foundation for learning to read. Snowling (2009) then defined dyslexia as: A specific form of language impairment that affects the way in which the brain encodes the phonological features of spoken words. The core deficit is in phonological processing and stems from poorly specified phonological representations. Dyslexia specifically affects the development of reading and spelling skills but its effects can be modified through development leading to a variety of behavioural manifestations (pp. 213-214). This definition stresses the importance of focusing on the ability to read text not only accurately, but also rapidly and with the importance of proper expression. The acute shortage in the development of fluent reading is characteristic of dyslexia, which continues into adulthood, even if accuracy evolved. Therefore, the importance of reading fluently must be encouraged dyslexic children who read accurately but not fluently will pass unnoticed. Fletcher et.al. (2002, as cited in Rice and Brooks 2004) agreed that most students with dyslexia frequently encounter problems in reading comprehension because of the difficulties in the accuracy and fluency of word recognition. They may also suffer from these problems even if the skills of the accuracy and fluency were improved because of weaknesses in vocabulary as well as in language abilities. One of the most popular and widely-used definition dates back to 1928 and developed by The World Federation of Neurology: A disorder manifested by difficulty learning to read, despite conventional instruction, adequate intelligence and sociocultural opportunity. It is dependent upon fundamental cognitive disabilities which are frequently constitutional in origin (as cited in Gustafson and Samuelsson 1999, p. 127). This definition is the basis of what is known as the discrepancy-based view of dyslexia (Fletcher et al. 2007). This definition assumes dyslexia as an unexpected difficulty in reading. By unexpected, dyslexia is taken to occur as a reading disorder in a child or an adult who despite having all the various factors crucial to developing fluent reading (motivation, intelligence, good instruction) still struggles with reading (Shaywitz 1998). More challenging has been the question of how to operationalise the unexpected nature of dyslexia. This has been achieved by allowing a certain amount of discrepancy between a childs level of intelligence (evaluated through an IQ test) and reading ability. Some schools use the absolute discrepancy involving 1 to 1.5 standard deviations across scores while others use the regression-based model of ascertaining the correlation between reading achievement and IQ. The discrepancy-based definition of dyslexia provides the basis for the categorisation of dyslexics with garden-variety poor readers. Genuine dyslexics are those who despite having average intelligence struggle with reading while poor readers are those who struggle with reading because of intellectual weakness and other demographic and sociocultural factors. The phonological deficit is considered as the cognitive basis to dyslexia (Snowling 2001; Vellutino et al. 2004). Nonetheless, this deficit is also viewed as secondary only to other deficits such auditory temporal processing deficits (Tallal 1980) or low-level visual deficit induced by inhibitions in the magnocellular system (Livingstone, Rosen, Drislane, and Galaburda 1991). 1.3 Visual Processing in Dyslexia The most dominant etiological explanation for dyslexia had been that it was phonological deficit and not the result of problems in visual functioning or processing. However, in the 1980s, several researchers undertook systematic studies and found that many dyslexic readers experienced visual deficits. For instance, Getman (1985, as cited in Ramus 2003) attributed problems in visual tracking to oculomotor deficiencies as well as a supposed deficit in the transient visual system. This theory has been discredited by several controlled experiments but the hypothesised effect of the transient visual system gained empirical interest. While proponents of theories attributing dyslexia to visual deficits do not exclude other explanations, the relationship between dyslexia and problems in visual processing has spurred academic interest in the subject. The main theory behind such systematic reports indicates that dyslexia is caused by a deficit in the transient system or the magnocellular system in the visual pathway. The magnocellular-deficit theory explains that two parallel systems lead the visual pathway from the eyes to the visual cortex: the magno- (large) and parvo- (small) cellular systems. The larger system consisting of large cells possesses high conduction velocity as well as sensitivity to rapid movement and stimulus changes. The smaller system is sensitive to fine spatial details and color. Dyslexia occurs among people which have magnocellular systems that have reduced sensitivity (Lovegrove, Garzia, and Nicholson 1990). The magnocellular system indirectly influences the parvocellular system by pressuring the latter in the course of the reading process. As one reads, there occurs a series of fixations followed by saccades or short rapid eye movements. The magnocellular deficit theory proposes that the larger system is stimulated by the saccades and the parvocellular system by the fixations. Dyslexia occurs when there is inhibition in the magnocellular system, consequently suppressing activity in the parvocellular system. While a number of psychologists and writers have accepted the magnocellular deficit theory, there have also been counterproductive results. For instance, in a review of contrast sensitivity studies which support the magnocellular deficit theory, Skottun (2000) found the studies which are consistent with the theory are outnumbered by studies that disprove it. An explanation behind the conflicting results is the lack of definite parameters to diagnose dyslexia. One author has alleged that the confirmability of the magnocellular deficit theory is confined to only one subtype of dyslexics (Borsting et al. 1996, as cited in Skottun 2000). 1.4 Auditory Processing in Dyslexia Another alternative explanation to dyslexia does not discount the deficit as phonological in nature but sees it more as one that stems from an auditory deficit in temporal processing. This theory is based on Tallal (1980) who proposed that children who are poor readers have difficulty processing brief or rapidly changing acoustic events whether used in speech or not. Hence, children find it difficult to judge the temporal order of nonspeech tones presented but stop-consonant-vowel syllables as well. This deficit interferes with their overall speech perception which is crucial to normal development of language, in turn, a fundamental requirement in reading. Tallal and colleagues arrived at this hypothesis after studying children with language impairments. When presented with high and low tones at long (400ms) and short (50 ms) interstimulus intervals (ISIs), the children were found unable to make temporal order judgments (TOJ). Tallal (1980) found that compared to normal readers, dyslexics performed poorly when presented long ISIs. From this observation, Tallal made an inference that dyslexics have a non-linguistic deficit in temporal resolution of rapidly changing auditory stimuli which impairs speech perception. Tallal also inferred that this deficit underlies the phonological problem. Studies which replicated Tallals work had mixed findings. Reed (1989, as cited in Ramus 2003) found that when using stop consonants and tones, dyslexics performed poorly compared to normals in making TOJs but performed equally with normals when presented with steady state vowels. Other studies lent support and contradiction to Tallals hypothesis. For instance, Mody, Studdert-Kennedy, and Brady (1997) concluded that dyslexics suffered from speech discrimination deficits rather than TOJs. In sum, evidence suggesting a direct link of temporal processing deficit to dyslexia has not been established. The auditory disorders that are observed in individuals with dyslexia are not particularly rapid or temporal in nature. These disorders are restricted to a subset of the dyslexic population, and have little influence on the development of phonology and reading. It therefore seems that the phonological deficit that is characteristic of dyslexia can arise in the absence of any auditory disorder, with the most severe auditory impairments nevertheless acting as aggravating factors (Ramus 2003). 2. Does dyslexia exist? There is also some debate on whether it is meaningful to speak of dyslexia as a distinct disorder in relation to other individuals classified as poor readers. If it can be proven that there is no significant difference among individuals diagnosed with dyslexia and your average or garden-variety poor reader, then it would make sense to question whether to study dyslexia at all. 2.1 Difference between dyslexics and garden-variety poor readers Gough and Tumner (1986, as cited in Siegel 1992) introduced the concept of the garden-variety poor readers in order to separate dyslexics from poor readers found to be poor in language, listening, verbal knowledge, decoding skills or pronunciation language. The authors differentiated dyslexics from the poor readers by diagnosing them as low in decoding skills but not long in listening. Behind this differentiation is the definition of reading disability based on an aptitude-achievement discrepancy (Stanovich 1991). There were children who were observed to be poor readers but perform well in other skills. On the other hand, there were poor readers who perform poorly in intellectual skills. This discrepancy criterion made the key assumption that: poor readers with a high aptitude (based on IQ test scores) were neurologically and cognitively different from poor readers with a low IQ. Hence, clinically, the term dyslexic came to mean only children with significant discrepancy in reading ability and intelligence. The discrepancy criterion is the basis of legal statutes governing special education practice in the U.S. and elsewhere. Academically, research definitions of dyslexia use this criterion widely. Dyslexia is officially diagnosed using the discrepancy criterion in the ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders (World Health Organisation 1993), and to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV [DSM-IV]. Before a child or adult is diagnosed as dyslexic, his or her reading achievement must be considerably lower than what is expected of him or her by age and IQ score. Valtin (2010) concludes that using this criterion, dyslexia is then defined as a medical, eetiological concept of specific reading impairment in children of normal intelligence, due to genetic or neuropsychological deficits'(p. 3) while normal reading disability occurs in children tested as having subnormal intelligence. The operationalisation of the discrepancy concept has been critiqued as a reification of something that has not been substantiated empirically (Stanovich 1994). The basic assumption is that a child or adults intellectual capacity is the norm for determining reading underachievement. Hence, the degree of discrepancy of reading ability from IQ was judged as meaningful, in the almost total absence of empirical evidence (Stanovich 1994, p. 581). Children with reading disabilities were categorised as RD-D or reading-disabled with IQ discrepancy (dyslexics) and RD-N (reading-disabled without IQ discrepancy (poor readers). Supporters of the discrepancy criterion argue that differentiation among poor readers assists in determining which learning interventions suit groups of reading-disabled children. Because dyslexics suffer from reading disorders without showing measurable signs of intellectual weakness, their needs are different from those who read poorly because of low IQ, socioeconomic disadvantage, health problems, and others. There are many however who question its usefulness in diagnosis because dyslexics and garden-variety poor readers experience the same weaknesses in spelling and reading (Valtin 2010). Moreover, the task of differentiating children with reading disorders into dyslexics and garden-variety poor readers is a largely arbitrary one (Rice and Brooks 2004) because it may be diagnosed under one method but not in another. Because there is no clear-cut definition of dyslexia, it has been considered a construct to refer to descriptive characteristics and not due to any cognitive dysfunct ions (Rice and Brooks 2004). 2.2 Diagnosing differences between dyslexics and garden-variety poor readers It is also relevant to review existing literature and empirical data to conclude that it is scientifically possible to distinguish which children are dyslexics and which are garden-variety poor readers. While some findings have pointed to noticeable differences between dyslexics and poor readers, they are mixed and cannot be considered unequivocal evidence to suggest differences in both groups. Rice and Brooks (2004) listed several studies that suggested moderate differences in the performance of dyslexic and poor readers on a few reading-related tests but these differences are overrun with similarities in performance of the same groups in tests measuring reading-related characteristics such as reversal errors in alphabet, digital sequencing errors, spelling of sight vocabulary, phonemic segmentation, and pseudoword reading. Moreover, studies (Fawcett et al 2001, Jorm et al 1986, as cited in Rice and Brooks 2004) have also found that garden-variety readers had lower scores than dyslexics in the areas of rhyme task, memory span, segmentation, and pseudoword repetition. Badian (1994) conducted an experimental study to secure support for the treatment of dyslexia as a separate entity by proving that dyslexics and garden-variety poor readers differ significantly in cognitive skills which are reading-related. Using 110 children subjects grouped into three dyslexic, garden-variety poor readers, and good readers, Badian (1994) found that it is empirically sound to differentiate dyslexics from garden-variety poor readers. While nonword reading and phonological awareness among dyslexic and garden-variety poor readers were both low in comparison to good readers, the study found that dyslexics had unique weaknesses in phonological coding of graphic stimuli and automatic visual recognition, consistent to Stanovichs phonological-core variable-difference model of dyslexia. Aaron (1989) also found differences between dyslexics and non-dyslexic poor readers in an experimental study on reading comprehension but not on word reading. Using two groups of primary-level poor readers, one group diagnosed as dyslexics (normal IQ scores) and the other as NSRD (nonspecific reading-disabled) or those having below normal IQ scores. The dyslexics were inferior than other two groups in terms of spelling and decoding, were more context-dependent when it came to word recognition, and did the worst on inferential comprehension. Ellis, McDougall, and Monk (1996) had somewhat contradicting results with Aaron (1989). Using four groups dyslexics (mean IQ 118), normal readers (mean IQ 107), and garden-variety poor readers (mean IQ 80), and precocious readers (mean IQ 126) the study measured reading accuracy as a measure of reading ability. They concluded that dyslexics and garden-variety poor readers had insignificant differences in decoding skills, consistent with Siegels (1992) claim and Stanovichs (1994) assertion. Moreover, unlike Aarons (1989) earlier finding, the poor readers obtained lower scores on comprehension of text and listening comprehension compared to dyslexics. The lack of scientific rigour in some of the psychometric tests and research on differentiation has also been criticised. Two control groups are required to undergo such experiments. Controlling for confounding variables in the tests is also difficult. Researchers need to take note of demographic and psychometric measures to establish validity of the findings (Chiappe et al. 2001, as cited in Rice and Brooks 2004). While Aaron (1989) and Badian (1994) gathering encouraging results that support differentiation, they also accepted several methodological issues with their experiments. First, the definitions were not uniformly used. There were considerable age differences in the sample of normal readers and garden-variety poor readers as well as the type of experimental design used. 2.3 Relationship of intelligence and dyslexia The discrepancy-based criterion in diagnosing dyslexics is largely because of a few prominent and highly gifted dyslexics known in history. Hence, dyslexia has come to be known as a disorder afflicting individuals who are otherwise intelligent but have difficulty reading. However, as Siegel (1992) explains, there is absolutely no scientific data suggesting that only intelligent people have dyslexia or that people considered of low intelligence cannot suffer from dyslexia. The reason why level of intelligence is used to isolate individuals having reading programs is that the IQ score is the best measure of someones intellectual capacity. Hence, people with a high IQ can be said to have greater intellectual capacity than those who have lower IQ. In the context of the reading-disabled, a dyslexic is someone who cannot perform up to their maximum potential because of neurobiological or genetic factors. Intelligence scores also