Saturday, December 28, 2019
Is the Surveillance Aspect of The Patriot Act Constitutional
Knowledge is power, and with that power comes control and wealth. Any government would want to obtain through surveillance all the knowledge it can about its citizens and the Patriot Act does just that. The Patriot Act came about shortly after the 9/11 when the American public looked to the government for protection against future attacks. Many in congress did not have time to read nor thoroughly debate the legislation. Numerous times in the past the United States government has placed more emphasis on security than civil liberties especially during national crisis. Most Americans think our Constitutional rights are absolute, but they would be wrong in assuming so. The passage of the Patriot Act gave the federal government greater latitude in its interpretation of those civil rights and surveillance of the American public. The ââ¬Å"Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorismâ⬠(USA Patriot Act). limits the Fourt h and First Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights for the sake of security. The Patriot Act is lengthy and encompasses many issues but its primary purpose was to protect the American Public. I will focus this paper to how the surveillance aspect affects the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment, and collection of Metadata. In the past the United States has long and sorted history to over reacting to crisis. Their reaction usually is to suppress civil liberties in some form. For example, in 1798,Show MoreRelatedThe United States Patriot Act1533 Words à |à 7 PagesKaylyn Dailey 11/27/16 Professor Carter American Gov. Term Paper Patriot Act On September 11, 2001, the Unites States suffered massive destruction caused by terrorism. Four planes were hijacked by terrorist. Nearly, three thousand lives were lost when two planes crashed into the World Trade Towers, one crashed into the Pentagon, and the final plane crashed in Pennsylvania before it could reach its final destination. An immense fear spread across the country and out of this fear came the UnitingRead MoreThe United States Patriot Act923 Words à |à 4 PagesBush enacted the USA Patriot Act. George bush has been quoted Stating ââ¬Å"Terrorism against our nation will not standâ⬠(Jones 2) a message which was hit home by the enactment of the USA Patriot Act. The Patriot Act gives law enforcement agencies increased powers enabling them to apprehend terrorist. The USA Patriot Act was enacted by congress on October 26, 2001, with the idea that it would help a crippled nation combat terrorism. The act of terrorism which is described as the act of using violen ce toRead MoreThe Declaration Of The Patriot Act1260 Words à |à 6 Pagesour own government. Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, the president at the time, George Bush, responded by passing an act. This act is known as the Patriot Act. It allows the government unlimited access to phone records, emails, and text messages without a warrant through National Security Letters and Sneak and Peak Searches. Why do they do this, why was this act passed, they claim itââ¬â¢s for our safety. Both can be obtained and carried out without a judgeââ¬â¢s approval, without a warrant, andRead More The Patriot Ac Does NOT Violate Constitutional Rights Essay1213 Words à |à 5 Pagesenacted a law, commonly known as The Patriot Act. This law enlarges the power of government and administration allowing them to obtain the personal records of any person of suspect in hopes of preventing any future terrorist act. Many of its provisions were going to expire in 2005, but Congress passed anoth er bill named ââ¬Å"US PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act in 2006â⬠to reauthorize those. The Patriot Act technically doesnââ¬â¢t violate any constitutional right. However there are lots of grayRead MoreDon t Tread On Me1532 Words à |à 7 Pagesthe United States government and report back to the nationââ¬â¢s people a cliff notes text about current developments. As of this past week, the topics of Government surveillance came into light as with regards to the appeal of the 2001 Patriot Act signed into law by former President George W. Bush, and in its place designate the Freedom Act, which would delegate procedural policies and limited access to the information of citizens and non-citizens alike. The time of imminent fear has expired since theRead MoreThe Nsa s National Security Agency2363 Words à |à 10 Pagescollection of metadata has been questioned on constitutional grounds. Specifically, the NSAââ¬â¢s program has been argued to be in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, which states that all citizens are to be free from any unreasonable search or seizure. Proponents of the NSAââ¬â¢s collection of metadata believe that it is a crucial tool in preventing terrorist attacks, while opponents of the program believe that its questionable constitutional validity, along with its lack of clear successRead MoreU.s. Defense Of Homeland Security3756 Words à |à 16 Pagescontroversial and powerful of these policies was the U.S.A. PATRIOT Act (Breinholt, 23-25). While the PATRIOT Act has drawn the ire of many U.S. citizens due to its far reaching effects, lack of jurisdictional or judicial boundaries, enhanced surveillance policies and direct violations to multiple constitutional amendments, under its protection, it has also been a highly successful piece of legislation with regards to both stopping and possibly deterring acts of terrorism within the United States itself (Carafano)Read MoreThe Patriot Act Suppresses Criticism of the Government Essay examples1028 Words à |à 5 PagesThe most valuable aspects of individualis m is the freedom to speak and to express are feelings that is what makes us human, as President Robert F. Kennedy stated in his Day of Affirmation Address that ââ¬Å"â⬠¦the first element of this individual liberty is the freedom of speech: the right to express and communicate ideas, to set oneself apart from the dumb beasts of field and forestâ⬠¦Ã¢â¬ My family came to the U.S. because of the promises of freedom. When we were in India we could not speak ill of the politicsRead MoreThe Patriot Act Essay1618 Words à |à 7 Pagesterrorist so the U.S government enacted the patriot act, which gave more power to the federal law-enforcement and intelligence gathering in suspected terrorist crimes. The patriot act gives the government power to do whatever they want for ââ¬Å"national securityâ⬠and take away the civilians civil rights. The government can tap into cell phones and listen in on conversations or even watch what people are searching on the internet. Since the passing of the patriot act racial profiling has grown in the pastRead MoreThe Usa Patriot Act, a Controversial Public Policy, Julius Taka2951 Words à |à 12 PagesThe USA Patriot Act of 2001 is a controversial public policy, which greatly undermines the civil liberties and constitutional freedom of the American people. This essay will moved from an overview of the USA Patriot Act to a review of the critical literature regarding the importance of the Act to the safety of Americans and shows how the Act violates the civil rights and liberties of citizens and noncitizens alike. After presenting sufficient evidence that the Patriot Act violates many of the basic
Friday, December 20, 2019
The American Revolution And American War Of Independence
The American Revolution or the American War of Independence was one of the most remarkable wars in the history of the world. The motives behind the war can be interestingly explained by Zinn from the chapter Tyranny Is Tyranny in A Peopleââ¬â¢s History of The United States: 1ââ¬Å"Around 1776, certain important people in the English colonies made a discovery that would prove enormously useful for the next two hundred years. 2They found that by creating a nation, a symbol, a legal unity called the United States, they could take over land, profits, and political power from favorites of the British Empireâ⬠(Zinn). Indeed, the American Revolution left a significant impact on early American society and government in terms of social, political, andâ⬠¦show more contentâ⬠¦We are taught by the modern-day history books to revere our Founders as superhuman leaders of a superior generation. Yet in fact, on the opposite, they were not perfect. They were also problematic and thus do not deserve their current level of popularity. 4ââ¬Å"Shouldn t we applaud the Foundersââ¬â¢ restored popularity? Yes - but like anything else, it can be taken too farâ⬠(H. W. Brands). Pondering over this question, we take the shortcomings of the Founders into consideration. In scrutinizing the Declaration and the Constitution, ââ¬Å"two grave sins of omission hung ominously over the country: the Founders failure to deal with slavery, and their failure to specify whether sovereignty lay with the states or with the nationâ⬠(H. W. Brands). The intentional ignorance of slavery in the documents which represent American history makes us look over the Founders perspectives. ââ¬Å"For one thing, challenging slavery s validity within those documents was completely irrational, seeing as slavery was a critical part of culture both in America, and in Europe. The majority of the Founders simply didn t see anything wrong with it; or if they did, they did not express it. A nother reason that they didn t mention slavery is because it would do more harm than good. If they openly condemned slavery, they would
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
Child Advocacy free essay sample
Explanation Paper on Child Advocacy soc 4800 Dr. Schmidt Child advocacy refers to a range of individuals, professionals and advocacy organizations who promote the optimal development of children. An individual or organization engaging in advocacy typically seeks to protect childrens rights which may be abridged or abused in a number of areas. This type of occupation advocates for all children whether they are a boy or a girl. Children in all areas of the globe experience some sort of abuse and without omeone in place to be that voice for them, their cries are left unheard. My presentation points out the Job description of a child advocate and how someone can take this position to make a difference. I intern at the Haven which is a battered womens shelter and I see firsthand how children are affected by abuse. Child advocates dont make much money to do what they do, however, the reward is eternal. We will write a custom essay sample on Child Advocacy or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Child advocates exist in school, community, and home environments, and ork on an individual, group or governmental levels to protect and nurture children. In most circumstances, mothers, fathers, family and teachers all advocate on behalf of children, although it is well recognized that we all have the ability and responsibility to advocate on behalf of children. Eight Canadian provinces. including Ontario, have an official Child Advocate whose job it is to protect the interests and welfare of all the children in the province. Within he criminal Justice system, child advocates are concerned with the developmental needs of children and young people, and can play an important role in ensuring due process rights for young people in conflict with the law. They can help provide a voice for children and young people, ensure Just and humane conditions of custody, and guard the privacy rights surrounding record provisions. They can also work to ensure that the special legal protections assigned to young people are provided with dignity and fairness.
Wednesday, December 4, 2019
Expectancy Theories organizational Behaviour
Questions: 1.Explain at least two purposes of performance management and its relationship to business objectives? 2.Identify three components of performance management systems? 3.Explain the relationship between motivation and performance management, referring to at least two motivational theories? 4.Identify two purposes of reward within a performance management system? 5.Describe at least three components of a total reward system, 1 of which should be non-financial? 6.Explain the factors that should be considered when managing good and poor performance? 7.Identify and establish reasons for poor performance? 8.Explain the frequency, purpose, and process of performance review? 9.Required to prepare and conduct a performance review meeting? Answers: 1. Purposes of performance management and its relationship to business objectives Performance management is the act of evaluating the progress an organization is making towards the attainment of a preferred goal. Managing performance, thus, serves the purposes of measuring, and optimizing the businesss resources to equip a service to a level agreed-on. Measuring the said resources involve connecting individuals, strategies, and systems so as to increase efficiency and effectiveness to the point of acquiring the desired effects. For things in business to be done right and correctly, an establishment has to have two schemes, one that constitutes leaders and another that insists on achieving distinction. In an organization that has efficient performance management reaching for leadership skills that can lift above interpersonal attainments, attitudes, and behaviors is paramount. This vital aspect of performance management helps with keeping persons who represent the basic human capital of the organization. These individuals are in control of the execution of primary designs of the business concerns. The second purpose of performance management is optimization of business resources for the maximum possible benefits. A performance management should be secure which would enable it to follow up the schemes, strategies, and people actively for a productive management. In turn, the gross revenue and profitableness would increase. There is a strong relationship between performance management and business objectives in that it is how the activities of a business are performed that determines whether or not its objectives get met. There is a missing connection between ambitions and results, that affects the objectivity of a business, and that performance management seeks to bring in. Today, there are higher conscious levels in businesses that it is the integrated efforts and powers of their workers to implement the businesss systems that mold all the difference to their successful businesses. It is the role of top-level managers to ensure that the gap between aspirations and effects gets filled by motivating the employees. 2. Identify three components of performance management systems A performance management is a system in a business that takes the initiative of managing the performance of employees, to drive individuals and the entire establishment towards the wanted performance and results. The need of having a performance management system is to make sure that all internal stakeholders are working together to attain the overall operational goals. To have a stable performance management that propels a business to its goals, some components need to be focused on - The first component is an understanding of the expectations and reviewing the performance of employees towards achieving those expectations. It is paramount for business owners to have clear expectations and to communicate them well to the employees. Aside from just communicating, ensuring that the message is understood is important; and to do so constructive, consistent, and clear feedback should be encouraged. Reviewing performance would then involve measuring how the employees are responding to the set direction. Clear expectations, an understood message, and staff that match the culture of the business result in an easier performance review. If the reviews dont go well, it is possible that the team members have a misunderstanding of their individual roles. The management would then consider restating the expectations, or offering further guidance, or both. The second component is reward and recognition of the employees efforts. These are aspects of employment that make an employee look forward to another day at the work. Whenever a worker reaches a predetermined goal, a reward from the business should come their way, and the reward does not have to be expensive, what should always be is authentic. Other than a reward, an employees achievement can be recognized, say, to others during a team meeting. The third component is corrective action whereby discipline is administered, though hard, to an employee. It should, however, be used as a last resort measure. Letting employees fill a corrective actions form upon employment is good so as to do away with the anxieties that come with imposing a corrective action. The form should meet legal requirements the employer should, therefore, provide supporting documentation. 3. Relationship between motivation and performance management In the context of work, motivation is the degree of willingness an individual has to put in and maintain an effort towards the goals of an organization. The relationship between motivation and performance is that when a qualified workforce gets motivated the performance of their work and the results after that gets better with every act of motivation. Having priority programs in business is necessary as they have a huge stake in the inspiration of workers. With the programs, the employees can prioritize what is expected of them in the execution of their work. It enables them to deliver standard results in the right time. Some theories exist on motivation, yet there are two areas of motivation where the confusion arises: motivation to perform and motivation to be in a job. The first theory is Frederick Herzbergs two-factor theory that applies to a workplace, and it has two motivational areas: satisfiers and dissatisfies. Herzbergs theory makes a distinction between satisfiers- main sources of job satisfiers-, and dissatisfies- main sources of job dissatisfaction. Job satisfiers, in this case, are such as the work itself, recognition, achievement, and responsibility. Job dissatisfies are, say; salary, working conditions, relationship with other employees, and administrative supervision whenever they are absent, or an employee perceives them as insufficient. The first Frederick Herzbergs motivational theory got published in 1959 (Herzberg, Mau msner, Snyderman, 2011), and it says that job dissatisfaction or satisfaction gets impelled by two separate groups of factors. The theory continues to say that satisfaction and dissatisfaction are not on the opposing sides of the same scale; rather the two should be measured separately. The second theory is expectancy theory that suggests that people choose their actions based on how desirable the perceived outcomes are of those behaviours. It was used with much prominence by Victor Vroom (Vroom, Porter, Lawler, 2005) in a work context as he sought to determine the relationship between ability, motivation, and performance. He put the relationship as a multiplicative one- performance is equal to the ability of motivation x. Many of people are attracted to this sort of approach, especially employers who can object their motivation effort and forestall a definable mathematical yield for them. The expectancy theory is that of a cognitive process, and it depends on the perception that employees have on rewards. These theories, among others, and variants of them, have been put to use in many research studies and still inform the system of compensation management to date. 4. Identify two purposes of reward within a performance management system Organizations nowadays are portraying a high level of commitment in matters reinforcement of reward systems, which are aligned to the goals of the company and other human resource management practices. The main purposes of reward within a performance management system are attracting and retaining employees and motivating them. In environments that are based on performance, effective reward systems aid with attracting result driven workers who can thrive and succeed. A reward is, therefore, a vital motivator and may give rise to the enhancement of employees productivity if it is implemented properly. Once employees are motivated through an efficient reward system, there are beneficial effects that accrue upon their performance. Motivation instils a feeling of ownership amongst the employees, reduces costs of operationand enhances the interests that employees have on the financial performance of the business. 5. Components of a total reward system Having the best talent available requires a business to think of compensation in an all-inclusive manner so as to attract and retain talented persons. A total rewards system has the following components: compensation, benefits, and work-life-balance. There is the base salary that employees are entitled to, but in order to motivate the employees, it is necessary to offer other kinds of compensation. There is the short-term inducement pay that offers extra payment for short-term performance improvements. There is also the long-term motivation pay that offers rewards such as cash bonuses and stock options upon sustained performance and productivity for more than a year. When the work force of an organization is well compensated and accordingly, positive results are guaranteed. The other important component of a total reward system is benefits. An effective total reward system makes an organization go beyond the minimum benefits that are legally mandated. The benefits include the Social Security insurance, unemployment insurance, state disability insurance, Medicare, and workers compensation insurance. To attract top-level employees are a good vacation package, paid leaves and a variety of retirement plans. The third component is work-life-balance whereby the environment the employees are subjected to would promote a healthy balance between work and personal matters. Flexible work schedule, fitness centres, health screenings, nutritional counselling, stress-reduction workshops, childcare facilities, among others are approaches that can boost employee morale and results. 6. Managing good and poor performance Individual sets of steps are required for managing poor or underperformance as well as good performance of the employees. Management of poor performance should not only be the main concern of the mangers as maintenance of good performance is essential as well. It is because once management acquires expected productivity from the employees, they need to maintain that to hold on to the success. The particular steps required to manage poor performance are 7. Identify and establish reasons for poor performance It is essential at the very first to identify the particular faults in the employee performances and thereafter evaluate them to understand how much the faults are preventing employees to achieve their performance target. Without establishing strong reasons for the underperformance, it would not be easy to identify suitable solution for them. Provide necessary resources or support It is an essential responsibility for the management to provide necessary time, support and other performance related resources to the employees, when they are performing below the expectation rate. The steps help in motivating the employees too. Decide required actions After identifying the flaws and reasons for poor performance, it is necessary to decide the required actions, which can prove effective upon the problems. Decisions regarding the required actions should prioritize the chief and most frequent issues for underperformance. Monitor and provide feedback When employees are continuously making poor performances, it is necessary to support and monitor them on daily basis. Constant monitoring would help the managers to identify the mistakes and to improvise them. At the same time, feedback from management works as a motivating aspect that makes the employees feel prioritized. On the other hand, in order to manage good performance, the following steps are required Giving performance appraisals It is one of most efficient ways of managing impressive performances. Through the way of giving appraisals, managers can motivate them, which would lead them to achieve further success. For example, pay-per-performance is one of the most frequently used ways of appraising performance. Monitoring and feedback Continuous monitoring would help in maintaining the expected level of the performance as well as would help the managers in identifying any flaws in the productivity. Thereafter, the mandatory feedback would keep the employees up to date about their performances. Describe at least two items of data, relating to performance or reward, including one external to the organization. The two items of data that relate to performance are: 1.Organizational records which are considered to be objective. 2.Feedback data from the customers and suppliers Organizational records are known to provide valid, reliable, and fair data but these objective data alone cannot be relied on, and that is why a more critical approach is necessary. One of the reasons that the objective data cannot be relied entirely to rate performance is, it is not easy to pinpoint an objective outcome that is significantly and directly, influenced by the performance of one employee. In terms of external sources, customer and suppliers feedback is considered as one of the most effective items of data related to performance. One of the best ways to judge whether an organization is performing well or not, is to review the satisfaction level of the customers or target market of that organization. Furthermore, an organizations potentiality and efficiency is determined by the satisfaction level of its suppliers also. Therefore, feedbacks from both suppliers and the customers help to understand whether an organizations performance is addressing the needs of them or not. 8. Frequency, purpose, and process of performance review A performance review should be conducted as often as the organization and the employee would benefit. One of the purposes of the review is to acquire information about work performance that the administration can use for decision-making purposes and to give employees a feedback concerning their work productivity based on standards of job analysis and description. However, ways to optimize a proper performance review process includes the following Inaugurating with setting goals and performance planning The best way to review performances aptly begins with setting the aim and objective of conducting performance review that will fruitfully contribute to the accomplishment of the business strategies. The main factors in time of setting goals would be key responsibilities and performance expectations. Most significantly, the goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, and relevant and time bound. In terms of performance planning, the significant steps are communicating objectives and setting an appropriate plan for guiding the employees to accomplish the goals fruitfully. Gather information from formal and informal sources The Formal feedback process involves weekly tally sheets of sales. Informal feedback involves brief discussions between an employee and a manager. Instead of them, an effective process of gathering feedbacks from the employees is the 3600 feedback process. The sales report and deadline reports should be also taken into serious consideration in time of conducting performance review. Annual review Another step that should be included in the performance review process is to review and assess performances on an annual basis. It is required to mention that supervisors stay responsible for conducting and completing the performance reviews and they provide both job description and pre-review form to the employees. Provisional performance review Prior to make review and assess performances on annual basis, it is required from the part of the supervisors to regularly provide the feedbacks to both new and old employees. At the same time, they need to make a formal review of the new employees after three and six months of their employment. 9. The performance review meeting held between the call centre staff and the line manager was a success. The employees commitment to achieving her previous target was of much help as she was willing to go through the appraisal meeting to get the help she needed. A form (shown in the appendices) was filled during the 15 minutes meeting, and informative data was acquired from the employee. The line manager followed the due process of employee appraisal which led to the effective review. Before the interview, she was made aware of what the appraisal would include. As for the line manager, the audit principle was kept in mind, and monitoring was done on just a number of areas that suggested incompetence or competence across broad areas. The review meeting was also goal oriented, and the review manager carefully weighed the benefits the review would have before deciding on the objectivity and breadth. However, from the meeting, it has been understood that the employee has a dedicated nature towards accomplishing the organizational goals. Therefore, it has been understood that the employee needs to maintain her dedication. Nevertheless, the employee should attempt to improvise her scheduling process and needs to acquire work/life flexibility as her personal issues are bothering her. In that case, the organization can help her by providing pick and drop and extra holiday benefits. References Vroom, V. I. C. T. O. R., Porter, L. Y. M. A. N., Lawler, E. (2005). Expectancy theories, organizational behaviour, 1, 94-113.
Thursday, November 28, 2019
Sunday, November 24, 2019
buy custom Design essay
buy custom Design essay 1). Software Downloaded Instruction. Does the website use language that promotes usability? Is it clear and concise? The software vendor site www.adobe.com uses a language that promotes usability. The language used is clear and concise and avoids ambiguity and long statements. The site has identifiable navigation that has clear and concise labels. The text links are in Blue, and it has the Companys Logo. The text is also scan-able and avoids large chunks of text. The site, in addition, makes sure there is appropriate contrast amid Text and Background. It also has a short page load time. How the content is chunked or otherwise organized? The www.adobe.com content is organized into chunks, to enable visitors visually and mentally process the site. The information is chunked into Products, Solutions, Learning, Help, Downloads, Company, and Store. The content is arranged in a clear and systematic system allowing visitors to easily scan and read it. This content chunking makes recalling the information on the site easy and makes the Adobe home page appears clean and clear. Are the instructions layered for different audiences? Who do you feel is the primary audience for these instructions? The instruction on the Adobe site is not laered for different audiences. The primary audience for instruction on the home page is the buyers of the software. Are there visual elements that help the user perform the task? No visual elements that aid the user to perform the task exist on the website. All the aids are textual. Does the website provide the user with feedback, such as error messages? I did not encounter an error, so it was not possible to tell whether the site provide the user with feedback, such as error messages. However, the site has a help and learning section where users can learn about various aspects. In addition, I tried accessing the contact link, and I was provided with the message that, Please note that we're conducting systems maintenance. We have taken every effort to minimize inconveniences, although some systems will be offline until Sunday night Pacific Time. If you need help with your Adobe products during this outage, please use the online resources available to you or call back next week. We're working to restore service levels as quickly as possible and appreciate your patience. Thus, the site provides feedback. Are there mechanisms in place for users to provide feedback to the website administrator? Are there other important points of contact? Yes, there are mechanisms for users to give feedback to the website manager. The website has a Help and Contact Adobe tab that are gateways to contacting the administrators. What other usability-related mechanisms do you see in place? What usability mechanisms are missing? How might these present or missing mechanisms affect the users experience? Other than the above, the site has a log in portal where a user can register and log in to the Customer Support Portal. The only mechanism that is missing is an email address to contact administrators, but with the log in portal, this is not necessary. 2). Color Impairment I visited vischeck.com/ that shows how a website might look to a person suffering from color vision impairments. After running a simulation, the page suggested I modify the theme to the site. This web page presented a web page that a colorblind person would distinguish. The website that a run a simulation for had issues for visually impaired individuals trying to access it. These issues include navigation issues, (navigation bars were image maps; therefore causing confusion); and design issues (in that the page was full of constantly scrolling text, flashing messages along with pop-up images, which are basically not accessible by the visually impaired). Buy custom Design essay
Thursday, November 21, 2019
Technology in TEFL Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words
Technology in TEFL - Essay Example It is against this background that this assignment is being written. This assignment aims at exploring the rational by which computer-based learning material has been designed. The computer-based learning material was designed to aid teaching among a group of Arabic students who are learning English at the per-intermediate level. The assignment would also give the learning context for the creation of the computer-based learning material. The learning context shall be made up of a vivid description of the students who are to benefit from the computer-based learning material that has been designed. Portions of the description shall include the strengths and weaknesses of students, the learning needs of students as well as the prospects of the students in becoming excellent English students. It is worth emphasizing that the computer-based learning material was designed based on the needs, weaknesses and future prospects of the students in questions. 2. Learning context Type of lesson: G eneral English Skills Covered - vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, reading, listening and speaking Level: Pre-Intermediate Time: 60 minutes Class profile The class to benefit from the computer based learning material is a group of Arab students at the secondary school level. The learning level of these students can best be described as being at the pre-intermediate level. ... As noted by Gucker (2010), students generally acquire and master the receptive skills before productive skills and this is no different among the class. The students have a better command over reading and listening than writing and speaking. Clearly, the situation has arisen because with the receptive skills, much of the effort comes from teachers as compared to students. For instance in listening, it is the teacher who does the speaking for students to list. Students therefore hear the correct usage and pronunciation of English words. The same applies to reading as the teacher normally reads verbatim for students to follow. However with speaking and writing, students are expected to produce their own efforts, a situation that causes a lot of learning stress to students. Again, in studentsââ¬â¢ attempt to speak or write, it has been observed that they always have conflict of language usage with their native Arabic language. The class is made of fifteen (15) students, all of whom a re females. The number of students is relatively handy and so class monitoring and feedback is not as difficult as would have been in classes with larger class size. This means that the problem identified does not have much to do with the class size. However the problem could be linked to the limited instructional period for English language. This is because students have English lessons only two hours in a week. This situation results in students having very little time to practice English language. Clearly, language learning is an interactive exercise that demands constant learning and application of ideas studied to ensure proper comprehension (Koduah, 2001:91). Needs of Students and Aim for Lesson The most immediate needs of students has to do with their pending end
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