Cola Wars Continue: Coke and Pepsi in 2010

Cola Wars Continue: Coke and Pepsi in 2010 A case discussion note January 17, 2012 1. Historically, why has the soft drink industry been so profitable? Historically, the soft carbonated soft drink (CSD) industry has been valued at $74 billion in the United States. In order to understand the reasons why the industry has been hugely profitable despite the ‘Cola Wars’, an examination of the CSD industry with Porter’s five forces analysis will be conducted. As market leaders, the analysis will be centred on both Coke and Pepsi (hereafter â€Å"C&P†). Threat of new competition: Barriers to entry in the CSD industry are extremely high and there are various factors to support this. Firstly, both C&P spend gargantuan amounts of funding of advertisement. According to Exhibit 8, in 2009 alone, both C&P spent $234 million and $145 million respectively in advertising expenditure. Therefore, while the actual initial capital investment needed to start up a CSD company is relatively economic, the amount required by new entrants to continually push their brand and gain visibility is extremely high. Due to these extreme levels of expenditure on marketing and brand awareness, the two cola companies have accrued exceedingly high levels of brand equity and consumer loyalty worldwide. As such, even with sufficient funds for start-up and subsequent advertising, new entrants are unlikely to sway persisting consumer tastes. Because of the sheer scale of both CSD companies, both C&P have pre-existing contracts with their bottlers, thus limiting their bottlers’ ability to produce similar products with rival brands. Additionally, through the use of extensive consolidation through the use of acquisitions and re-franchising of their bottlers, both C&P have made it essentially impossible for new entrants to find bottlers for the distribution of their drinks. In the event that the new entrants decide to build their own bottling plants (which is quoted to potentially cost hundreds of millions in the case), they would only find themselves facing insurmountable fixed start-up costs in addition to the ridiculous amount they have to spend on marketing. Even if new entrants somehow found a way to produce and market their drinks, the incumbents’ (C&P) far-reaching networks would make it impossible for them to secure any form of distribution channels. Shelf spaces in supermarkets were dominated by C&P because supermarkets were given a cut of the profit generated from the sales of their products. These cuts accumulate to a significant amount of profit-generation for the retailers. Additionally, combined, C&P owned 89% of national pouring rights. The fact that the incumbents had exclusivity in both supermarkets, fountain outlets, and other forms of retail channels would make it almost impossible for new entrants to distribute their products. Bargaining power of consumers: Historically, the two main customers of soft drink producers were supermarkets (29. 1% of distribution) and fountain outlets (23. 1%). In general, retail outlets have been unsuccessful in asserting much bargaining power over the industry. In part due to the level of fragmentation as well as their reliance on C&P as drivers of customer traffic. Longstanding contracts and acquisition of fountain outlets also serve to weaken consumer’s bargaining power. Bargaining power of suppliers: Major suppliers for C&P provided commodities in the form of cans, sugar, bottles, etc. These products were highly homogenous and could be substituted easily. The aluminium can industry, in particular, depended on firms like C&P because they were majority buyers. Due to such dependence, suppliers asserted little or no bargaining power over the industry. Intensity of competitive rivalry: Even though C&P are essentially a duopoly in the CSD industry, competition between the two have traditionally centred on marketing efforts like advertising, new products, and promotions rather than pricing. Their rivalry, historically, was also in a market with consistent growth. As such, profits were not adversely affected even though their rivalry was highly documented and publicised. Threat of substitutes: There are a number of alternative substitutes for soft drinks and these include beer, bottled water, tap water, juices, tea, coffee, wine, powdered drinks, milk, and distilled spirits. Yet, according to Exhibit 1, Americans, historically, consistently drank more CSDs than any other beverage. As such, the threat of substitutes affecting C&P’s profitability was limited. To further nullify the effects of substitutes, they also produced and promoted their own range of substitutes to reduce potential losses. 2. Compare the conomics of the concentrate business with that of the bottling business. Why is the profitability so different? Using data from Exhibit 4, we are able to see that the operating income of a concentrate producer is 32% of its net sales while that of a bottler is only 8%. The reason the bottling business earns significantly lesser than its concentrate counterpart can be attributed to two main factors – significantly higher cost of goods sold (COGS) and the existence of selling and delivery expense. We see that the COGS of a bottler are at 58%, much higher than the concentrate producer’s 22%. The reason for this difference is predominantly due to Master Bottler Contracts established to allow for a certain level of â€Å"price fixing† on the concentrate producers’ part. Additionally, as mentioned previously, raw materials for concentrate producers are abundant and homogenous; hence COGS for them will be significantly lower. Also, the bottler is in charge of selling and delivery, and hence incurs an 18% selling and delivery expense while there is no such expense on the concentrate producer’s part. These reasons explain why the concentrate business has a more profitable business model than the bottling business. . How has the growing popularity of non-carbonated soft drinks influenced the industry? Non-carbonated soft drinks have been gaining popularity in the past decade, increasing from 13% in 2000 to 17% in 2009. This growing popularity has resulted in the generation of both local and global strategies by CSD firms unwilling to lose out on the budding market. In order to capitalize on the opportunity, both C&P greatly expanded their lines of beverages to include sports drinks like Gatorade and tea-based drinks like Lipton. Majority of drinks introduced during this time were non-CSDs. Besides creating new products, Coke also aggressively gained market share through acquisitions and extending their fountain services to include coffee and tea. The non-CSD opportunities globally were also aggressively pursued by companies like C&P. To gain localized expertise, however, the soft drink companies did not merely think to introduce new products into foreign markets. Instead, they resorted to acquiring the respective market leading, non-CSD companies in the countries they chose to invest in. The companies of choice were usually major fruit juice producers. Beyond takeovers, C&P also tried their hands at innovation and localization of beverages. These mainly came in the form of integration of local drinks (e. g. blended green tea with Sprite) or utilization of local ingredients in the production of new drinks (e. g. beverages with Chinese herbs). The emergence and rapidly growing popularity of the non-CSD has garnered much retaliation from major players in the CSD industry. In order to get their share of the pie, they have formulated expansion strategies both locally and globally which seem to center around acquisition.

Taxi Driver

In the American film classic, Taxi Driver directed by Martin Scorcese, Travis Bickle's personality and point of view of reality are heavily twisted. His disassociation with the norm and extreme mental states of mind depict the life of a deranged, depraved, and lonely Vietnam veteran. His terrible social skills are an apparent sign of mental illness and continue to drive Travis into deeper levels of solidarity. This loneliness gradually fuels Travis into living a miserable and misanthropic life. Travis's social ineptitude inevitably leads to his isolation and distorted perception of himself and the rest of society.The film opens with Travis being interview and accepting the job as a taxi driver. He explains his willingness to work lots of extra hours and preference for night shifts is due to his inability to sleep. It is revealed then that Travis suffers from insomnia. Although Insomnia is a serious disease, Travis seems complacent and shows no interest in curing himself. Even in the first scene of the film, it is already exposed that Travis suffers from at least one mental disorder yet has no aspirations to improve himself.Upon getting the job and exiting his place of work, he proceeds to pull out a flask of what is perceived to be alcohol and starts drinking it in the clear of day on the street. He displays no inclination that his actions are not the acceptable social norm. After a long twelve hour shift, Travis reflects on how the city of Manhattan has become a dump for degenerate punks and prostitutes. He perceives the New York nightlife he caters to and drives around as garbage polluting his town. He himself then enters a dirty porn theater once he's off-duty.He does not see the similarities between himself and the other pervs and goons of New York City. He sees them as lowly scum that are responsible for the dirtiness of the city, even though he is apart of the same dreary world he despises. The constant encounters with lowlifes and trash creates Travis's view of the city as a terrible and mediocre place, while he forgets about how during the daytime the streets of Manhattan are much different. His only evidence to judge the city is through the brief interactions and conversations between himself and his patrons.And with most of them being drunks and criminals, Travis is left with a distrustful and negative view of what the inhabitants of the city where he lives. He is alone and only has himself to create assumption of what reality really is, and unfortunately with his mental illnesses he is in dyer need of someone to guide him towards reality. Yet when Travis attempts to find someone who can give him companionship and help him, his lack of social skills only push people farther away. When purchasing his ticket for the porn theater, Travis tries to initiate a relatively normal conversation with the young woman at the concessions.She shows obvious disgust towards Travis but with this unbeknownst to him he continues the conversation an d presses her for her name. Upon failing, he enters the theater but doesn't seem to understand why she was so resistant to introduce herself. His inability to pick up on social cues only confuses Travis and separates him even more from social interaction. Travis then sits alone in the theater with the various purchased candies sleep deprived and further drifts into his own little world. Even the relationship with his family has been severed because of Travis purposely lying to family through the mail.He has been telling them for what is assumed many years that he has been healthy and fine but is now working for the federal government and is unable to give them his real home address. These blatant lies prove Travis's reality is not like our own and also shows how his mental illnesses have successfully removed him from a sane state of mind. Travis's doomed future of complete and utter insanity is surprisingly sidetracked when he sees Betsy for the first time. At his first site of her he describes her begin an angel, the purest of beings among the dirt and scum of the city.He envisions her as angelic perfection and of course, due to his lacking social skills begins spying on her from his cab for a number of weeks to the point that Betsy actually notices his stalking. Though eventually Travis gets the stregnth to ask her out. He dresses noticeably nicer than usual and appears to act as normal as he physically can. Betsy's first impression of Travis is seen with much curiosity. He interests her because of his odd and quirky demeanor and agrees to go out for coffee with him. Travis successfully takes her out for coffee without any problems of showing his ineptitude in social situation.Following their coffee date, Travis's decides to take Betsy to a movie. His relationship with Betsy ends with him bringing her to a film at one of the porn theaters he frequents instead of a regular cinema. The choice of venue disgusts Betsy and leaves her in contempt for Travis. And a fter several attempts to win her back with gifts and hundreds of phone calls Travis justifies himself by concluding she is not the angel he envisioned earlier but really just like all the other dirt he's surrounded by. He had destroyed the only relationship he had in the world because he was not able to realize what was socially acceptable.Though Travis was quick to write Betsy off as just another scum of the city, his anger and disappointment towards grow increasingly more visible. Before his fling with Betsy he had only been a secluded and seemingly content with his life. He was fine with how he lived and saw nothing wrong with his skewed view of reality. But after his final confrontation with Betsy at her place of work, he exhibits a new qualities of violence and almost throws a punch at one of Betsy's co-workers. Travis's spark of violence is implodes when he has a passenger which forever changes his psyche.The passenger directs Travis to park across the street from a specific a partment building. At the angle they parked the man witnesses his wife through the window of another man's apartment. As Travis listens from the driver's seat, he hears the furious man's deliberation of how he will make his wife pay for cheating on him. The man's violent and graphic detailing of his of he is going to murder his wife and her lover affects Travis in very powerful ways. Travis's lack of interaction with people leaves him vulnerable and very impressionable. The encounter he has with the patron is more interaction than he has had since his break up with Betsy.Even with Travis remaining completely silent through the event he is detrimentally changed. He irrationally takes the man's horrific description as a sign of determination and strength. He almost seems to admire the man's ability to take control of the situation and do what he believes is fair and just. Even while the man continually says â€Å"You must think I'm pretty sick† Travis seems to be already planni ng his own similar plan on doing his own vigilante law enforcement. Following that night, Travis concludes he is destined to do justice and clean the dirt off the streets himself.Just as the passenger had planned to do, he believed to do what is right you must take matters into your own hands. Travis sees this as an opportunity to get rid of the scum polluting his city and to prove to himself that he is someone who has made in impact. This is the ultimate breaking point for Travis. He seems to have cut any strands he had with reality and is only viewing the world as his own playground for justice. He immediately begins changing his life style. He begins daily regiments of exercise and weight training. He starts to drink and eat healthier and no longer drinks alcohol or consumes medications.He also trains his body for combat and pushes his body and mind to new limits, even sticking his hand into scolding flames to learn pain suppression. His obsession with his body and mind makes Tra vis an empty canister of dangerous ideas. These new life choices all occur at the same time he buys four guns from an illegal dealer. He tells the man he is going to change his life and eagerly practices using his weapons upon buying them while pointing them at innocent civilians in the street below the building he is in. This makes Travis even more dangerous and likely to be violent.His perception of right and wrong are invisible and his objectives seem to illogical, irrational, and completely insane. These objectives culminate into him becoming hell-bent on making the dirt of his home pay and feels it is time for him to truly make a difference. His course of action to change the city for good fixates onto Iris. Iris is an underage prostitute which Travis had only came in brief contact with before deciding she would be his â€Å"damsel in distress†. He begins his quest to save her from the slums she is living in and get her back to a safe regular life that he feels she deser ves.He is obsessed with making an impact in Iris's life and by doing so fulfilling what he believes is his purpose in life. It is clear at this point that Travis no longer has any concept of reality or even the law. He has no fear of the outcome of his actions and then decides to assassinate Palantine, a leading presidential candidate whom is also Betsy's boss. These actions are what Travis sees as his last stand against the world and all of it's evils and problems. Determined to make a difference he arrives at the rally Palantine is having and readies himself knowing he will most likely die.Confident he will die during the attempt, he leaves a letter with 500 dollars in it explaining he is probably dead by the time she reads the letter. He has lost all rationality and has no second thoughts on staying alive. He has no connection with the world yet he is focused on changing it. Fortunately, his assassination attempt fails and Travis flees from secret service. Surprised to still be a live, Travis goes to the apartment which Iris and her pimp, Sport, use for her services. Still armed to the teeth, he quickly kills Sport while he is guarding the entrance to where Iris is.A gun fight ensues resulting in Travis being shot multiple times but killing the others involved. He sees scared and trembling Iris and feels he has done his job successfully. The belief that he succeeded conveys that Travis has completely extroverted himself from normalcy and has no longer has a sane thought in his mind. Once completing his objective he tries to commit suicide multiple times but fails because of his guns are empty and he has ran out of bullets. Now that he is fulfilled his duty he feels useless and accepts his fate to die.As he sits and bleeds out through his many bullet holes the police arrive only to find him miming a gun and â€Å"shooting† himself in the head. The police take him and he remarkably survives though goes into a coma for many months. Upon finally waking up he sees that he has been proclaimed a hero by the city for killing off the multiple criminals he had shot. Travis's actions had been viewed positively by the public who saw him as a symbol for morals and a model citizen. His attempt to kill Palantine was unknown and his plans that were driven by insanity were seen as acts of bravery.Only when Travis was completely distanced and separated from society by his mental illness do they recognize him. And ironically recognize him in a positive way not realizing that he is truly needs help and psychological examination. Travis's dive into psychosis was a collaboration of mental illness which he could no longer subdue. Each one triggering a stronger and powerful response which led him into the depths of solitude and isolation. He was without social stimulation for extensive periods of time and his lack of interaction with others only led to his psychological demise.Not many people came into contact with Travis but when they did they impacte d him in very extreme ways. These interactions led to Travis making decisive actions and decision which forced him out of control. He was tragdically without help and unable to even ask for some because he didn't even realize there was anything wrong with himself in the first place. His mental problems created a young man who spiraled out of control without the ability to stop and understand his problems. His escalations led to him not only not able to see reality correctly but also not realize he needed help and was suffering from multiple mental illnesses.

Shipbuilding industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Shipbuilding industry - Essay Example South Korea’s shipbuilding industry is watching China’s growth with lot of concerns. It should be noted that China is using indigenous technology for shipbuilding whereas South Korea is importing such technologies from overseas countries. Moreover, cheap labor is another major asset of China in promoting shipbuilding industry. In any case, South East Asia (Japan, China and South Korea) dominates the present global shipbuilding industry. These three nations accounted for more than 78% of global ship production in 2005. â€Å"In the same year, Korean shipbuilders received 21,960,000 GT, 37% of world shipbuilding orders, while Japanese shipbuilders secured 14,230,000 GT, 24.5% of the world total, and Chinese firms received 9,640,000 GT, 16.6% of the world total†(Shin & Ciccantell, 2009, p.184). These statistics clearly suggest that South Korea is the current leader in global shipbuilding industry even though Japan and China are not far behind. Shipbuilding history i n Korea has started even in the 16 th century. After getting independence in 1948, Korean government established a national company; Korea Shipbuilding and Engineering Corporation (KESC), to promote shipbuilding. Since then Korea witnessed huge growth in shipbuilding industry. ... It should be noted that all the big three are well known companies in the world at present. In the Korean shipbuilding industry, the number of workers has been increasing, which reflects the high performance of the industry. The number of workers in the industry in 1995 was 77,330, and it increased to 97,323 by 2004. Korean shipbuilders enlarged the labor force of unskilled workers of subcontracting companies in order to reduce labor costs. Furthermore, Korean shipbuilders worry about the possibility of a shortage of young technicians, an aging labor force, and the general trend among young people to avoid working in the local areas where most dockyards are located (Shin & Ciccantell, 2009, p.182). Shipbuilding requires huge manpower. The role of machines in manufacturing ships is minimum compared to the role of manpower. As in the case of other industries, shipbuilding industry is also facing strong competition in international market. The emergence of China as the cheapest labor or iented country is causing problems to Korean Shipbuilding industry. The success of Korean shipbuilding industry can be attributed to three factors; First, major shipbuilders started to reduce production at a time when the demand for new ships increases. Second, South Korean government implemented meaningful strategies to exploit the opportunities. Third, South Korea managed to continuously develop and upgrade its production processes, sustaining its initial cost advantages through rationalization and innovation (Bruno & Tenold, N.d., p.21). In short, South Korea’s current leading position in shipbuilding was obtained due to the favorable trends in the market and the visionary policies implemented by the government. One of the major raw materials required for ship manufacturing is steel.

Media studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Media studies - Essay Example Thus, scholars place information online where people can search and find such information. Digital search has changed in terms of sophistication and capability of search techniques and practices, which have evolved in tandem as they expand the search culture. Such has led to overtaking of the normal library search for scholars and individuals in different regions and locations. This is evident in the development of the Google android system, which enables individuals to use mobile phones as the means of searching for information. The search culture is also integrated in the global position system, which enables individuals to use their mobile devices to locate different areas. The education sector has also adopted the culture of search from Google. This is evidenced by the tutors who give assignments and tasks to students and requests such students to engage with Google and search for detailed information. Hence, Google has been able to create a unique culture, which has the common denominator of searching for information via the online

Creative Problem Solving Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Creative Problem Solving - Essay Example One of the most significant problems that the world experiences in the present scenario is the global warming and the emissions of the Carbon di-oxide in the form of smoke from the burning of gasoline while driving a car. The problem of global warming is destroying the environment and the climate largely, which in turn harms living beings on earth to a considerable extent. In this context, innovative inventions like the launching of the electricity car are required, which will subdue the emissions at least to some extent. The invention of the Tesla Model S is indeed a creative and noticeable product that has its own contribution to the suppression of the emission level of the harmful gases thereby bringing down the risks of global warming largely. Moreover, the highly fluctuating price of the gasoline is also not required as the car can work on the electricity stored in the batteries. The invention of luxury saloon car is enough to attract the attention of the car lovers and additionally the term electric car is likely to add a wave into their minds. Tesla Model S was created keeping in mind the preferences of the people of all generation. The comfort and luxury along with the inclusion of the advanced technological attributes into the car has made it a sensation among the car lover around the world. Moreover, it has a well-known aspect on plying without utilizing a drop of gasoline but only on electricity, which also plays great role in establishing itself in the global market of the present scenario.

Nursing Education Around the Globe Research Paper

Nursing Education Around the Globe - Research Paper Example ya The major comparison in the government influence of the nursing education between China and Kenya is that; both countries’ initiative to establish nursing training and certification were started by the respective governments, with the Kenyan training and certification program running for 31/2 years, while the Chinese program took 4 years (Xu, Xu & Zhang, 2000). Political control has also characterized the nursing profession and development in both Kenya and China, where the respective governments, through the ministries of health, have been responsible for approving the nursing courses and certification programs in the countries (Klopper & Uys, 2003). The governments have been involved in establishing regulations and laws that governs and controls the nursing profession. Several laws and ordinances have been established by the two governments, to act as the tools through which the nursing profession is politically controlled. In Kenya, the 1946 June Ordinance No. 16 was est ablished to control the health activities of the nurses (Mule, 1986). Similarly, the political control of nursing profession in China can be traced back to 1949, when the education reform in China abolished the post-secondary nursing training, instead introducing the 3-year nursing training, following the 9 years of primary and secondary education (Xu, Xu & Zhang, 2000). Both countries have established Nursing organizations, responsible for uniting, developing, and promoting nursing professionalism, with the Nursing Council of Kenya (NCK) being the peak body of the nursing profession in the country, while the Chinese Nursing Association (CAN), is similarly the peak nursing organization in China (Xu, Xu & Zhang, 2000). Both the organizations are responsible for establishing the nursing syllabus... This paper approves that the Current System of Nursing Education in both China and Kenya occur in various cadres. Both China and Kenya have certification programs for ursing, in form of 3-years comprehensive training, which caters for the preliminary training, ward rotation and theory in clinical training. The comparison in both countries is that; the qualification for nursing certification program is the completion of secondary education. The characteristic of the current systems of nursing education in both countries is that; both countries have established post-basic nursing qualifications, which include diplomas, bachelor of nursing degree, and masters in nursing. The comparison is that the doctorate program in nursing is yet to be fully commissioned in both countries, following the governments’ regulations that have not yet approved the doctorate in nursing. All the post-basic nursing qualifications programs are undertaken in hospital-based training institutions, where the trainees in this profession are full-time based course attendants. this essay makes a conclusion that Nursing Education in both China and Kenya bears universal fundamental characteristics, in terms of government and Nursing organizations control, training and growth, notwithstanding that the nursing profession in both countries is a function of the western missionary arrival into the countries. Additionally, the high standards of qualifications are also eminent requirements in this profession for both countries, while the training period for the nurses and the areas of training are similar.

Critical Thinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 7

Critical Thinking - Essay Example 2. Are there any similarities between the characteristics demanded of an entrepreneur and those of a professional athlete? Would an athlete be a good prospect for entrepreneurship? Why or why not? Could teamwork be important in an entrepreneurial effort? Why or why not? I think that there are many similarities between the characteristics of an entrepreneur and a professional athlete, most notably the discipline required to succeed. Preparation time is also a key aspect of both jobs because nothing should be left to chance. Just like an entrepreneur has to come up with short and long-term business plans, professional athletes need to set goals so that they are always improving. An athlete would be a good prospect for entrepreneurship because he or she would be able to carry over these same traits. Teamwork is very important in an entrepreneurial effort because no one can do something by themselves. Although they may have a thought or vision, they will need other people to carry out the objectives and work for the betterment of the

Impact of Internet on Society Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Impact of Internet on Society - Research Paper Example To what extent have the governments embraced the Internet as a tool for development? This research seeks to find out what governments need to address so as to make the Internet a tool for development. While many researchers have tackled this topic, there is a gap with regard to the failure of developing countries to entirely invest in the Internet. Besides, many of these researchers have not fully addressed the significance of the Internet in key sectors that touch on the youth. The youths from the majority population in most of these countries. There is silence on the relationship between the Internet and pluralism, and this report seeks to deal with that. In conclusion, the Internet revolution needs the government to be in control of it as opposed to being laid back as it seems at the moment. This is a challenge to developing countries to rethink the significance of the Internet. Introduction Problem statement â€Å"Impacts of internet in developing countries have not been fully a cknowledged.† Explanation Almost everybody in the world knows something about the phenomenon called the Internet. It has sparked a lot of excitement. Most governments in the third world countries perceive internet to be a youth’s issue. They tend to underestimate the influence of the Internet on the growth of the economy. More importantly, they tend to imagine that Internet is a short time happening. This has caused the government not to invest in the necessary infrastructure to facilitate growth through internet. In most developing countries, the Internet is appreciated by the private sector. The governments remain rigid. This has caused the citizens to lose quality services and opportunities that come through internet. The few sectors that have experienced growth through internet tend to be downplayed. This is the reason we must do this research. We have to demonstrate to third world countries that internet and economic growth cannot be separated in modern times. In d oing this, we have to point out some of the visible impacts of the Internet. The Internet is a combination of two words which are â€Å"international† and â€Å"network.† It is a phenomenon that has helped link the world so that it operates like a unit. It has created a platform that cuts across international boundaries and continents. People of different races and cultures can now interact and share ideas and opinions at a click of a mouse (Atwood & Gallo, 2011). More and more computers are continuing to be manufactured. It is fascinating to observe that computers are considered less useful unless they are connected to the Internet. This is because the effectiveness of a computer is being made to depend on Internet connection. According to Botha and Bothma (2008), people have already felt a tremendous change. The Internet has become an immensely key aspect of growth and development. Children in schools are being taught how to use it. In high school, it is one of the m ajor subjects. More and more computer-related degrees and diplomas are being awarded.  Ã‚  

Factors affecting the success of localization strategy of fast food Literature review

Factors affecting the success of localization strategy of fast food companies in Asian countries - Literature review Example Integrating national economy to the global economy calls for sustainable developmental approaches through efficient use of local resources with the underlying cause of welfare to the society with environment friendly processes. According to Bruntland report  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Development that meets the  needs  of the present without compromising the  ability  of future generations to meet their own needs† is called as sustainable development (Business Dictionary.com). This paper seeks to study and analyze the issue with reference to the following questions: 1. Why localization strategy is important for fast food industry in Asian countries?   2. How to use the localization strategy for fast food industry in Asian countries?   3. What are the key factors affecting the success of localization strategy of fast food companies in Asian countries?   Localization strategy in Asian countries Asian markets are highly heterogeneous in nature, especially in the case of food industry with different ethnic groups, languages, vast cultural differences and divergent climatic conditions. The religious mix varies from region to region with a very long history. Food security and alleviation of poverty are the major concerns for the most of the Asian countries which are heavily populated compared to European or American countries. The government policies are oriented towards building a sustainable food economy. Therefore, a successful localization strategy for a sustainable growth has to be in line with the basic objectives of the State taking into account the income levels, local spending choices, nutrition and health, rural bias of the economy, urbanization process at various stages in different countries, employment generation, educational and technological developments of the regions, the use of agricultural lands, climatic conditions, efficient utilization of natural resources and its environmental impact. Business Monitor International (2011, p. 6) states â€Å" Health and hygiene scares continue to be a major concern in China’s food industry, with the government implementing crackdowns on chemical additives in food products†. Adoption of the best industrial and commercial practices by the fast food companies is essential for the desired effect in reshaping the food system and food habits in the communities. Localization efforts go beyond menus and the organization needs to integrate itself with the cultural mainstream of the host country to strike a chord with the consumers. Lee, M. et al (2011) state, â€Å"Yum’s cultural flexibility doesn’t end with the localized menu. While fast-food restaurants in the West often host kids’ birthday parties, KFCs in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang autonomous region that’s home to the Muslim Uyghur people, advertise parties for the families of boys who have just undergone the religious ritual of circumcision†.   The Asian markets hold potential for growth in future on account of growing population which provides a huge market coupled with high growth in economy over the period of time in the past which is expected to continue in future. Davies, R. (1996, p. 2) states â€Å"The interest in Asian management is primarily a recent phenomenon, facilitated by the growth in Asian markets within the global economy, and a realization in the West that Asia is both a region that will be central to any serious global business, and also a region that can offer the West much wisdom in management techniques†. The subsequent developments in the continent have justified this

Service Provider Essay Example for Free

Service Provider Essay Objective The objective of this report is to analyse the Service Provider named, StarHub and its success towards providing good service and being popular among the Singapore Consumers. To identify the factors that contributed to the success of StarHub using swot analysis. Background StarHub Limited is telecommunication Service Company and is Singapore’s fully-integrated info communication Company. StarHub Limited also provides other communication services like Mobile Network Services, Digital Cable Services, and Internet service for both consumer and corporate markets. It holds the second position in Mobile Operator Service and it has the fastest two-way High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSPDA) and mobile network that has fastest network speed that gives up to 21Mega bit per second (mbps) with the help of the new 3G mobile telephony communication protocol technology. StarHub has this Hybrid Fiber-Coax (HCF) network which satisfies the consumers by providing multi-channel cable TV services which includes High Definition Television and on-demand services. It also provides Internet services in the form of Residential dial-up internet service and broadband internet via cable. It also provides mobile broadband where anyone can use it anywhere they want with network coverage. It delivers Ultra High broadband speed to its consumers. StarHub also provides digital voice service via cable with superior clarity. StarHub is the fast-rising challenger in the Singapore telecommunications Industry, placing second behind former government monopoly Singapore Telecom (SingTel). StarHub is also that markets only telecommunications group capable of providing the full range of telecommunications services, combining fixed and wireless telephone networks, cable television service, and broadband. Scope This report covers the analysis of Starhub Service Provider. It also covers the services given by the telecommunication services in Singapore and History of StarHub over the 10 Years. Surveys are done to collect data information of communication service consumers. Methods of enquiry Surveys are given to Consumers to get the opinion on the service they get  from StarHub. Finding out the factors through the surveys which contributed to the success in getting good reputation among the consumers in Singapore. 2.1 Management History Of StarHub. Management Singapore Government decided to liberalise the telecommunication sector by 2000. The 49% cap on foreign ownership of public telecommunications will be lifted and will give room for newcomers. StarHub was formed in April 2000. StarHub was given the license to deliver fixed network and mobile service on 7 May 1998. It was formed officially formed with Singapore Technologies Telemedia, Singapore Power, British Telecom and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) having the major shares in it. At the same time 2 other telecoms were formed, SingTel M1 (Mobile 1).Till then it was only providing mobile services. StarHub manage to sign agreement with 16 countries including china, USA and United Kingdom for its roaming services which even brought more consumers to them. StarHub further developed by winning the city’s 3G cellular phone licenses. During the period from 2003 to 2009, StarHub manage to develop in mobile services further. StarHub was the first mobile operator to launch Blackberry which is well known for its Smartphone service like e-mail, web browsing and other wireless data access. Wireless data services were even further developed by StarHub. By the end of 2009, StarHub was the first mobile operator in Asia to launch HSPA+ service having a high download speeds across nationwide. StarHub manage to get the License for Internet Service Provider and joint force with CyberWay service provider which was the first internet industry in Singapore and was announce as StarHub Internet on 3 Dec 1999. On the same day itself, a free surf plan was announce in conjunction of the new service provided and it became too popular that more than 180,000 people signed up for the surf plan less than few months. Consumers could surf the internet for via dial up and pay only normal local charges. In the year 2000, StarHub merged with Singapore Cable Vision which is the only paid TV media entertainment in Singapore. Due to th e merger, it obtained the SCV’s cable television together with the broadband internet access operations. In 2005, StarHub online was formed to provide broadband internet service. Both services came under StarHub. StarHub cable TV also manages to develop over the years. They had more  people subscribing to their service as the number of channel had start to increase and there were more variety channels to watch. Digital Television service was brought in 2004 and 11 interactive channels were added in. This made a tremendous change in subscriptions to their TV services. And now StarHub is the first service provider that provides with High Definition Television (HDTV) service and has 6 High definition channels. StarHub Launched the Maxonline plan where it is the connected 24 hours and has unlimited access to internet. They provided plans which suited for heavy and light users of internet. For light users, it came up plans like flexi surf where you pay as you use. Consumers only have to pay what they use for.It had the fastest download speed in Singapore when the MaxOnline Ultimate was launched. Now it provides 1Giga Bit Per Second (gbps) together with the Next Generation National Broadband Network. 2.2 Comparison In Singapore, We have 3 main telecommunication service providers which are StarHub, Singtel and M1. All have been a rising challenger to one another in a way with the service they have been providing for the past years. First we are going to compare what services they provide which defer from one another. These are the services provided by these service providers in a summary in the table below. Services Provided http://www.investorcentral.org/i/logo_starhub-a.gif http://topnews.com.sg/images/singtel_logo111.jpg http://blog.elyius.net/wp-content/uploads/m1-singapore-logo.jpg Mobile Service-Prepaid Service Mobile Service- Postpaid Service Broadband Service- Home( Fixed) Broadband Service- Mobile Digital TV services Home Fixed Line Service 2.3 Further Analysis From the above table, we could clearly see that M1 lacks in a Digital TV service where other service provider provides. Only StarHub and Singtel provide the Digital TV service. Another recent service just provided by M1  is the Home Fixed Line Service, meaning there were 2 services which M1 wasn’t providing before. But all the services are rather more similar if compared with one another which they are providing now. After seeing, the table you would have known the services provided is the same, we need to analyse further to see which service provider has better recognition among the consumers. Since our main focus is on communication services as a whole we shall remove M1 from the comparison as it doesn’t provide Digital TV service. So I would be comparing within StarHub and Singtel about their services. I have done some surveys using www.monkeysruvey.com using that I have collected some data from 80 people for my inferences. From the pie chart and bar graph below, we can clearly see that StarHub managed to dominate the graph by having 44% of the people surveyed using StarHub service. By looking at this, roughly we could estimate that StarHub is dominating the communication service industry in this Singapore. Followed by the Singtel which has 35 % and M1 21% from the people surveyed. I am going to explore the factors that contributed to this high percentage of StarHub consumers in Singapore. Survey on StarHub Consumers and other Consumers. Please Select the appropriate Answer. Which service provider do you subscribe to? StarHub b) Singtel c)Mobile 1(M1) Please proceed to the rest of the questions if you have selected â€Å"a† above. Which Service have you subscribed to? Mobile b) Cable TV c) Internet d) All services. Rate the Service Given by StarHub. Very Satisfied b) Satisfied c) Neutral d) Not Satisfied e) Very Not Satisfied Reasons for choosing StarHub? a)Cheap b) Good service c)Recommendations d) All of the above Would you recommend StarHub to others? Yes b) No 2.4 Factors Contributed We know that In order to be outstanding from one another we should have certain distinct characteristics or talent which differs from other people. This is case we have to explore How StarHub manage to obtain good  recognition among the consumers in Singapore even when there are other communication service Providers in Singapore. In order to be outstanding among the communication service providers they must be really competitive with other Service Providers. Getting updated with latest technology and offering services that go together with the latest technology. StarHub which follows this always provides its customers with up to date network service to serve them better. Also means that StarHub is readily available for changes and anticipate them accordingly. For example, when internet usage was getting higher in Singapore like surfing the net and online gaming increases they manage to help this consumers by having the highest internet download speed in Singapore. This made many co nsumers who prefer to be fast get attracted to their service. Next would be the quality of service. From the Survey I have done, below we can clearly see that StarHub provides with good service to the customers.service.PNG Higher percentage surveyed that their service is above average. StarHub has a very good recognition with their quality of service. They have a very coordinated system, which doesn’t have any severe problems and miscommunications. They provide 24 hrs customer service hotline, where people can call them 24 hours regarding their queries faced and technical difficulties, which makes consumers more accessible to them whenever they want. Next would be their promotions, which attract the customers to take their service up. They provide more promotions bundle services together so that consumers will take all the services together paying at a cheap price which eye catching for the customers. Hubbing promotion, where consumer will be subscribed to all 3 services at a cheaper rate compared subscribing to one service by one. From the survey done we can conclude that consumers with the higher percentage of 80% saying that their services charged at cheaper and worth it price. StarHub has done well in this area trying to attract the customers by providing its consumers cheaper services. Referring to this graph, we could roughly estimate that StarHub manage to get most of its consumers to subscribe to all its services. We can somehow conclude that the promotion above was effective after all in a way. StarHub also doesn’t focuses on getting new customers always but also tries to keep his current consumers by rewarding them by giving discounts to when they re-contract or waiving certain fee charge if they subscribe. They also have this point’s system feature, where the customers can redeem things in  return without paying full money for it. They also provide vouchers which can be used to re-contract their subscription with them without paying any fees. StarHub also gives birthday treat by giving free cake and vouchers on their customers birthdayreawrds.PNG StarHub have managed to attract new customers by giving them attractive promotions and cheap service. And as promise they also manage to give good service quality from the survey done. With good service provided, they also provide with reasonable cheap price which is really eye catchy for the customers. They also focus on attracting new customers and at the same time they also provide the current customers with good incentives making sure that they still prefer their service compared to other service providers. Customers satisfied with StarHub Service would tend to recommend the service and share the experience with their friends. With satisfied recommendations by friends People subscribe to the services also. This could be one of the reasons why it contributed 20 % to the graph above (4) on reasons for choosing for StarHub. We have explored certain factors on how StarHub manage to attract customer and the possible reasons on why they chose them. Next, we were going to analyse StarHub using SWOT analysis. 3.1 SWOT Analysis 3.11 Strengths StarHub strengths had made them a successful communication service provider. The strengths have enabled it to be successful and popular among the consumers in Singapore. One of it would be anticipating changes, as it becomes more and more competitive in the telecommunication industry its able to come up with new promoting ideas. StarHub manage to come up with new and innovative ideas on the service they give. For example, they were the first service provider to come with per second billing for outgoing calls and all day free incoming calls. This idea even boosted the service provider market. More people chose StarHub due to this reason. This is not the one idea they came up with, they were the first service provider who came up with unlimited internet access. This attractive idea of theirs had a huge jump of consumers subscribing to them. StarHub has this strength where many consumers preferred StarHub Services. Another good example would be when other communication services adapt th eir ideas to the services; StarHub has to come up with more new innovative ideas. When all services were the same  in all 3 communication services, StarHub manage to come with new idea with student Plan with an unlimited SMS service. When all the internet services provided by all providers were also the same, it came up with the highest and fastest internet service. They adapted to changes well and reacted to accordingly. Another important strength would be StarHub’s 24 hours customer service. With its 24 hours customer service department consumers and seek help anytime they want. All their problems can be addressed anytime they call the customer service. With this, consumers will feel more secured as there are people to support them with any kind of problem whenever they face. This would help the consumers to build trust on the service provider since they are assisted anytime. Next would be interactive. StarHub has Facebook which aids in connecting with all the people who have subscribe to their service. As most us know Face is becoming a the most popular social networking platform. StarHub uses this chance, to interact and have a better communication with the customers. People who cannot get through their customer service they can get their queries answered at facebook. StarHub also promote their service in the facebook so that everyone can see. Another interesting strength would be their Hub club and Platinum Club member scheme. This scheme is basically for those who subscribe to all their services will be provided certain discounts and special privileges. With this it helped StarHub to serve the customers better. With this discounts given more people preferred to treated specially by giving discounts. 3.12 Weakness StarHub’s weakness would be due to it’s one of its strength. When StarHub always come up with new attractive services these ideas would be adapted by communication service providers. Not only have other Communication service providers done that, in order to maintain the same level of other service providers, StarHub also adapts certain ideas from them. So due to this adaptation of ideas from one another to stand in the same level, StarHub needs to come with more so that they can be more outstanding from the rest. Coming with ideas isn’t easy; they have to consider certain factors at the same time. For example they have to come with ideas so that the company doesn’t make any loss but at the same time coming up with ideas with their current resources to attract and retain its current customers at the same  time. StarHub tries to make its new customers and existing customers at the same time. No questions to ask regarding about this. But when we really analyse this more in detail, we can say StarHub places most of its emphasis on attracting new customers. Equal emphasis isn’t given to both the sides. With this they have a chance of losing their existing customers. For example, for those who port over their mobile line to StarHub from other service providers were given $200 off any mobile phone they take and will be given whatever discount or fee waived for new sign up while for existing customers when they want to re- contract they are not given this privileges but only given vouchers that do not exceed the amount. 3.13 Opportunities StarHub has explored his opportunities well in telecommunication industry. When technology gets improved, it takes this chance to further more improve the service with the help of new technology. For example, it was the first to launch the 3G mobile service in 2004. It maximized the technology by providing the most 3G coverage around the whole Singapore and providing with the fastest HSPDA mobile internet speed up to 21Mbps. And also when Next Gen NBN service was out, StarHub made use of this and provided consumers with more faster and effective internet service. Another opportunity was for it to interact with customers and knowing what they want. As I have stated above of StarHub connecting themselves with the consumers through facebook social networking. Through facebook, consumers can ask the queries that need to be clarified. Consumers will also give ideas on how to improve their service and will give suggestions for them. From these, StarHub would roughly know what the issues that need to be solved are and know what the consumers really want. This helps StarHub to understand and provide service accordingly to reach the consumers standard and needs. When consumer’s needs are met, they would prefer more of StarHub service. StarHub manage to explore more of opportunities on the services they can provide. When StarHub merged with Singapore Cable vision with the cable services they also provided internet service. Providing 2 services due to the merger. These are some of the opportunities of StarHub. 3.14 Threats As this is competition based on Singapore, the only two threats faced would be Mobile One and Singtel communication Service Providers. As most of the  services provided by them are similar, StarHub has to do things making sure that they are outstanding among all the communication service providers. They must conquer well in most important 3 areas which will be Price, service quality and service they provide. 3.15 Suggestions My suggestion for StarHub would be really analyzing the consumer needs. For example, would be the lack of consideration for the existing consumers. The only provide more attention on attracting new customers. May be they could also give similar privileges to the current existing customers where everyone will be treated equally and will be fair, at the same sometime not having loss. Another suggestion could that, since it’s a very big company and they have many customers they could provide larger customer service serving customers as not all queries would be solved once they call. Most of the consumers hate waiting, thus having more people in customer service; consumers will have their queries solved immediately and with les waiting.

Morton and Frith Causal Model Dyslexia

Morton and Frith Causal Model Dyslexia Despite different definitions of dyslexia, expert views very largely agree on two basic points. First, dyslexia is identifiable as a developmental difficulty of language learning and cognition. Secondly, the long running debate about its existence should give way to building professional expertise in identifying dyslexia and developing effective ways to help learners overcome its effects(Rose, 2009: 9). There are many complex issues to consider in developing an appropriate definition of dyslexia. One of this is that there is no specific blood test or brain imaging result that can offer a diagnosis. There is a range of different assessments both written and performance actions which are based on the opportunity to compare performance of different formats (Mc Kendree et al., 2011). Firstly, elaboration of the influential causal modelling framework of Morton (1985) is a major tool as it analyses the learning difficulties from the perspective of biological causes, cognitive difficulties and behavioural influences. According to Morton (1985) these bio-psychosocial factors are interconnected and play an essential role towards the syndrome called dyslexia. Based on this model, I will specifically focus on various traditional and innovative assessments of reading comprehension and phonological awareness, including standardized tests, informal reading inventories, observations and retellings. Phonological awareness is a vital part in learning to read (Robelo, 2000). There are strong correlations between phonological awareness and initial reading, much replicated, and have been obviously affirmed (Gillam, McFadden, 1998 cited in Robelo, 2000). Because of the correlation that exists between reading and phonological awareness and the need to identify children at risk for reading failure, numerous tasks have been developed to assess a childs knowledge of phonological awareness (Robelo, 2000). Therefore, children need two significant skills in order to read successfully; ph onics and language comprehension. Regarding the issue of choice of assessments there are a lot of arguments. Indeed, there are some advantages and limitations as far as using these measures is concerned and we should examine these measures before reaching a conclusion. Also, before conclusion it is important to note that failure to identify and address dyslexia early, can have a cumulative effect. Mortons Model (Causal Model for dyslexia) According to the British Dyslexia Association (BDA, 1996): Dyslexia is a complex neurological condition which is constitutional in origin. The symptoms may affect many areas of learning and function and may be described as a specific difficulty in learning, spelling, and written language. One or more of these areas may be affected. Numeracy, notional skills (music), motor function and organizational skills may also be involved. However it is particularly related to mastering written language, although oral language may be affected to some degree (cited in Ott, 1993).Dyslexia as a precise developmental disorder raises interesting issues about the structure of the usually developing mind (Frith, 2009:191). Accordingly Morton and Frith(1995) the phrase causal model is used to describe the origins of a disorder (Krol et al., 2004). Causal model is related to the biological and cognitive origins of developmental disorders and in this way, records are being kept of the a range of levels of description -biological, cognitive, and behavioural. Morton and Frith (1995) distinguish three levels of description, the biological level, the cognitive level and the behavioural level; there is a separate space for environmental influences which can interact at the three levels. Using the biological level, the genetic factors, the brain conditions, and causal links between the two can be described. In this level we can also include the influence of environmental factors, for example, birth complications on brain conditions (Krol et al., 2004). In the cognitive level, affective as well as cognitive factors, can be incorporated. An affective factor would be usually placed at the intermediate cognitive level, although Morton and Frith highlight that affect can also be defined at the biological level as a physiological reaction or defined at the behavioural level as the expression of the affect, such as the facial expression. On the other hand, due to the fact that the internal process which interprets feeling seems to be significant in explaining how affect can have meaning, affect processing is placed at the cognitive level. At the behavioural level, the behavioural descriptions of the disorders are also stated. These are the behaviours we can directly observe and where the causal flow of the model finally leads, e.g., poor reading. (Krol et al., 2004:729). By describing the behavioural level itself does not give a reason why an individual might have a certain problem, such as why a child has problems in reading. causal model includes explanation for a disorder which is a function of the interaction of factors at the cognitive and the biological levels and from the environment. Some of these factors will be of developmental significance, others will describe current processing. The cognitive level cannot be observed directly, but is in fact assessed at the behavioural level. UK Context Assessments of dyslexia Before the investigation of assessments methods, this piece of paper will explore the major perspectives and changes of special and inclusive education, literacy difficulties and how legislation is applied in the educational system of UK. In these changes, the significant Acts for the development of SEN are included, such as the Warnock Report(1978). The Warnock Report(1978) highlighted the commonality of educational aims for all children irrespective of their abilities or disabilities. Furthermore, it recognized disabled learners right to be educated in mainstream schools, thus opening the way to the idea of inclusion (Warnock, 2005). Some of the international conventions and statements that have asserted the principles of inclusive education which influenced the UK policy are stated below: the UN Convention on the Right of the Child (UNICEF,1989) which states that inclusive education should be the goal for the education of children with disabilities. The Salamanca Statement and Fra mework for action on Special Needs Education (UNESCO,1994) were also important steps for the development of SEN, which ensures that all their educational policies specify that disabled children could also attend their neighbourhood school which would be the same even if there were no disabilities. The Salamanca Statement(UNESCO,1994) has also been seen as something of a watershed in enhancing the prospects for inclusion throughout the world (Farell, 2001:6). The United Nations Convention on the Rights of persons with disabilities (UN, 2006) was ratified by the UK government in 2004 which requires state parties so that to have an inclusive education system at all levels. The problematic nature of integration coupled with the statements made at the World Conference in Special Education (UNESCO,1994) led to the emergence of inclusive education in England. Another significant development in high quality intervention for children with literacy and dyslexic difficulties was the Rose Review Report (2008). The childrens plan (DCSF,2007), made it clear that the government wants every child to succeed; the ability of each child to read well is a key to success in education and an essential life skill. Moreover reading and writing are two terms closely related and both on the development of childrens speaking and listening capabilities. According to Rose Review(2008), in order to overcome dyslexia and other developmental difficulties of language learning there must be highly quality provision for securing literacy for all children, especially in primary schools. In addition, in order to develop high quality interventions for children with literacy and dyslexic difficulties, well trained, knowledgeable teachers and support staff will be required (Rose Review, 2008). In England and Wales government policies have affected, in many ways for the better, dyslexic people who must learn: structured and phonic approaches are specified in the National Curriculum (Cooke, 2001). The rationale stressed the responsibility of the class teachers by identifying and meeting the individual childs needs in primary schools (Cooke, 2001). According to Gaynor et al., (2011:176 cited in Mckendree et al., 2007) a significant first move to helping children with specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia was an accurate identification and after the identification there is a variety of different assessments both written and performance based opportunity to compare performance of different formats. As Paris Hoffman state (2004:6 cited in Oakley Barratt-Pugh,2007) assessments of reading in the early years can supply several purposes: it can identify children who need extra support; it can provide information for reporting  purposes; and it can inform teachers a s to the effectiveness of their teaching strategies and programs for meeting literacy outcomes. Assessments can be provided through a variety of assessments tools, techniques or data collection methods, often called assessments, instruments, tools or measures (Oakley Barratt-Pugh,2007). Phonological awareness The first part of assignment will be based on the question: How is phonological awareness (PA) best measured? Before examination on assessments methods of PA should begin with a definition. It is widely accepted that the lack of PA, the ability to detect and control the finer phonological units in either spoken or mentally recalled words, is the main shortage in developmental dyslexia (Seki et al., 2008). According to Muter et al., (2004:194 cited in Rose Review), PA is defined as the ability to recognize and manipulate the sounds in words, and is recognized as a key base skill for early word-level reading and spelling development. The Rose Report (2008) recommended that all children should be taught to read using phonics, taught discretely and systematically within a curriculum rich in language and literacy. After the Rose Review current implementation of phonics taught in English schools recommends systematic assessment of basic skills on a regular basis during the 3 years of instr uction. As Eisele and Jordan claim (2002:103 cited Oakley Barratt-Pugh, 2007) there are several ways in which to assess phonological awareness, and which method to employ will depend upon factors such as the number of children to be assessed, the amount of information the teacher already has about the child, and the amount of time available in which to carry out the assessments.  According to Lancashire Primary Literacy (undated) childrens phoneme knowledge and ability to segment and blend are better to be measured individually, as their progress may not be adequate, or well ascertained in the group activities. As stated by Yopp (1988) a combination of PA measures will be the best recipe for validity and reliability. In my point of view, one of the most helpful measures assessing PA is the use of phonic phases. Teachers may have a variety of activities for each phonic phases, however teachers should use motivating activities each time to encourage children, in order to have a quick re ference and overview. According to The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) (2008) teachers are expected to track pupils progress through a series of developmental phonic phases, with each phase being quantified by a number of phonic-related skills. The phases move from sensitivity to rhyme and alliteration at Phase 1 to confident and flowing use of letter sound knowledge for reading and spelling unfamiliar words at Phase 6 (Snowling et al., 2011: 159). Activities that can support learning in Phase 1-5 are: storytelling, linking letter shapes with phonemes, blending and segmenting long vowel phonemes (given by Lancashire Primary Literacy). This measure had a number of strengths and limitations too. The variety of the phonics activities make the method more reliable and valid to the users, and there is a plenty of choices each time. An additional advantage of this method is the factor of time, because teachers have the ability to design their lesson plan by setting th e time limit themselves whereas at the same time this could be a disadvantage because it could also be time consuming. As Konza (2006) claims most of  the phonological awareness capabilities and skills can be assessed using informal assessments. However, if screening or informal assessment methods find difficulties, formal and diagnostic assessment, should be carried out (Oakley and Barratt-Pugh, 2007). An additional measure of assessing phonological awareness is the Yopp-Singer (1992) test; the purpose of this test is assessing phoneme segmentation abilities. This assessment is consisted of 22 single syllable words, which children are asked to segment into individual sounds. This assessment is not normed, but competency  benchmarks are suggested. It is quick to administer and they can provide important information on which instruction can be based (Oakley Barratt-Pugh, 2007). Reading Comprehension The second section of the essay will be referred to the next language and literacy difficulty that children may face from kindergarten and that is reading comprehension. During the period of the last 15 years, great progress has been made to the area of reading, and particularly in reading comprehension. But what is reading comprehension? How is reading comprehension best measured? According to Farr (1992 cited in Carver, 1972: 292) reading comprehension can be defined as thought communication process which involves two primary components, the rate at which the thoughts are received and the accuracy with which the thoughts are understood. The end product of these two components is the efficiency with which the thoughts are communicated. Reading comprehension is one of the most commonly assessment methods across all the stage of ages, when it comes to educational skills (Svetina et al., 2011). In order for someone to be an efficient reader they must have a set of phonemic awareness an d phonemic skills that allow for new words to unlock. According to National Centre for Learning Disabilities, children might face trouble when reading in the late grades if they lack phonemic awareness. In addition, childrens reading could be improved in identifying the phonemes in words by using simple techniques. In this piece of paper, various traditional and innovative reading comprehension assessment measures will be critically analyzed, including formal and informal methods such as standardized tests, observation and informal reading inventories. Each technique has its relative strengths and weaknesses. According to Gunning (2002) whatever the method of reading comprehension is the material which is given to students to be read, must be at their instructional level in order to be read with an adequate fluency. If the student cant read at least 95% of the words, they will have a lot of trouble when reading. The first technique of reading comprehension which will be explored is standardized tests. What is being measured by standardized tests to measure reading comprehension? Do these tests measure comprehension accuracy? What are the strengths and weakness of this technique? Standardized tests are planned in a way which, questions, conditions for directing process to set the scores are accurate and are scored in a fixed and standard way (Popham, 1999). Standardised tests are administered and scored in a structured, prescribed way to ensure consistency and reliability. Such tests often have scripts that are read out by the teacher / administrator. Standardised tests may be norm-referenced or criterion-referenced and they are always formal assessments. As suggested above, the use of  standardised tests needs careful consideration as many are based on the assumption that literacy is a set of skills that a child has or needs to acquire. In addition, because, they are normative they ar e often used as an indication of a childs overall ability rather than an indication of what is yet to be learned. Therefore the cost and the time are some of the strengths of standardized assessments. At the same time, most assessments are scored easily by computer and not by people. In my point of view, this is an assessments limitation, because tests should be scored by a human and not by a device. As mentioned above there is a number of variety of assessments of reading comprehension. The next reading comprehension method is the classroom assessment practises, that are specially informal reading assessments (observation). As Buhagiar states (2007 cited in Oakley Barratt-Pugh, 2007:10) informal assessments rely on skilful, knowledgeable teacher construction and interpretation and are often regarded as more authentic than standardised and or commercial assessments. Most informal assessments of reading comprehension take place in school or classroom as teachers and assessment specialists select or construct methods to estimate and summarize student performance (Leslie Caldwell, 2008). Teachers use a variety of methods to assess student learning at quite a few points in any semester using common techniques for instance end-of unit tests, quizzes of various types but some alternative classroom assessment are less obvious (Snow, Grifà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ n, Burns, 2005). There are some infor mal and different assessments options which are considered to be the core for the successful assessments of learning, such as student observations, self reporting measures, performance inventories, group work, interviews and they usually provide converging indication over time for the appropriate total assessment at the end of the school year (Snow et al., 2005). Each general type of informal assessment category can be carried out by means of several precise tasks and in different formats. Teachers and administrators have the responsibility to concentrate on appropriate tasks and interpretations of tasks outcomes so that students are not assessed unfairly, despite the informal assessment method used (Snow et al., 2005). In my point of view, the use of informal assessments methods of reading comprehension is more reliable and realistic than using the stereotypic testing formats like standardized assessment methods. There is a range of advantages using informal methods, for instance, they are fairly simple and straightforward using these methods by teachers, and they can gain a lot of important information about childrens progress (Snow et al., 2005). Furthermore, informal tests should function in a way which provides more objective assessment than after-the-fact judgment or overall subjective assessment (Snow et al., 2005). As claimed by Moss (2003:9 cited in Leslie Caldwell, 2008) evidence for the validity of classroom assessments include the match between instructional objectives and classroom instruction as well as the extent to which an assessment contributes successfully to the teaching and learning process .Additionally, the reliability of assessments methods responds to the stage of, which assessment creates reliable measurement with regards to different scorers or contexts (Salinger, 2003 cited Leslie Caldwell, 2008). Classroom assessments permit a much wider range of tasks and student observations (Snow et al., 2005). Observation has an advantage over verbal reports in that they supply the observer with proof of what children actually do (Baker, 2000 cited in Klinger, 2004). Students might be observed during independent reading time or while they are in smaller groups, peer or cross age tutoring or cooperative learning activities (Klinger, 2004). Teachers value the observation as a useful instrument and feel that district assessments are less helpful than examining students written work, listening, asking questions and talking anecdotal records (cited in Leslie Caldwell, 2008). On the other hand as, Snow et al., (2005) assert, that in a classroom assessment, students may feel that they do not achieve well, therefore teachers may be disappointed by a specific performance by a student. An additional limitation of using observation method is that they can be time-consuming (Klinger, 2004). Furthermo re, it can be complicated to find out what is causing a child to behave in a certain way. It is significant to exercise caution when taking observation notes and to identify that there can be many alternative explanations for a childs action (Klinger, 2004). Another promising practise for examining reading comprehension is the use of oral retelling. Retelling a story requires a student to sequence and restructure events and major sources presented in text (Hanse, 1978). In addition, retelling assesses a students ability to rely on memory for accurate details and to relate them to some organized significant model (Klinger, 2004). Burns and Roe (2002) suggest that asking students to recall and retell text is a precious measurement tool. An advantage of retelling is that the teacher is able to know what the student understands. However, a disadvantage is that retelling must be conducted individually and therefore are time-consuming to score. The above elements illustrate that by using a combination of different measures such as: observation, retelling, informal reading inventories, think-aloud and standardized tests might be the best way to assess reading comprehension and phonological awareness (Klinger, 2004). However, due to concerns about the low level of validity and reliability of  informal assessment types, in some circumstances, teachers may need to triangulate results with other assessment types to ensure as high a degree of  veracity as possible (Oakley Barratt-Pugh, 2007:11). Through combinations of approaches, we can learn more than just identifying whether students can read a passage or reply to reading comprehension questions accurately. Conclusion This essay enabled me to obtain valuable insights with regards to the assessments methods of phonological awareness and reading comprehension. As mentioned above, these two skills are significant in order to read successfully and there is a strong correlation between these skills. Due to this correlation, numerous assessments methods have been developed to assess a childs knowledge of phonological awareness and reading comprehension (Robelo, 2000). Each technique has its relative strengths and weakness. The point is that assessment, no matter the context, is serious business and must be handled with care, purpose, and exercise (Snow et al., 2005: 363). Taking this into account, I assume that teachers must be very careful with the choice of methods for reading comprehension and phonological awareness, and each assessment method should be examined cautiously and the needs of each child, should be considered thoughtfully. In my point of view, classroom assessments and especially informa l methods of reading comprehensions have more advantages than using formal assessment methods such as, standardized tests. With classroom assessment methods, teachers have an overall view for the childs progress; on the other hand I think that standardized tests are not so reliable and may have impact on the childs life, as a mother stated. As mentioned above, in order to assess young childrens reading in a fair, valid, comprehensive, educative and explicit way (Curriculum Council, 1998), it is necessary to assess children by multiple methods, in multiple contexts, on an ongoing, cumulative basis, preferably as a part of the normal teaching and learning context (Oakley Barratt-Pugh, 2007:99).

Character Analysis of Claudius from the Play Hamlet by Shakespeare Essa

Character Analysis of Claudius from the Play Hamlet by Shakespeare In the play, "Hamlet", Shakespeare needed to devize an evil character, a villain that is ambitious, and has the ability to scheme to get what he wants. The character would also have to contain some good qualities, such as kindness and contriteness. These good qualities make the character seem more human and thus, more believable. Claudius is this character. Shakespeare uses Claudius in his revenge theme in this play. Without the acts of Claudius, this theme just would not be. The entire play revolves around what Claudius has done, or will do. The evil traits of Claudius by far outweigh the good things he does. He is very ambitious, perhaps too ambitious. Claudius wanted to be king so badly, that he murdered his own brother to achieve his goal. This is how the revenge theme is weaved into the play. Hamlet, the dead king’s son learns of the act from a ghost, "A serpent stung me; so the whole ear of Denmark Is by a forged process of my death Rankly abused; but now that noble youth The serpent that did sting thy father’s life Now wears his crown." (Act I, Sc. V, Lines 42-46) Claudius not only wanted to be the king of Denmark, he also wanted the queen that came with it. In Act I Sc. II Lines 8-14, Claudius has just recently been crowned king and is addressing the court. He shows in his words how happy he is to be married to Gertrude, the Queen. "herefore our sometime sister, now our queen, The imperial jointress to this warlike state, Have we, as ‘twere with a defeated joy, With an auspicious, and dropping eye, With mirth in funeral, and with dirge in marriage, In equal scale weighing delight and dole, Taken to wife; ...." The ambition of Claudius lays the foundation for the theme of revenge. Without his need to be king and his willingness to do anything for it, the play would be completely different. This evil trait is, in part, what in the end kills Claudius. Claudius’ other evil trait, his scheming, also leads to his death. An example of one of Claudius’ many ‘plans’ was when he summoned Rozencrantz and Guildenstern to do some spying on Hamlet to find out what was ailing him. "Moreover that we much did long to see you, The need we have to use you did provoke Our hasty sending. Something hav... ...) was very wrong and he realises there is little that he can do to make things well.. " O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven; It hath the primal eldest curse upon’t, A brothers murder! Pray can I not, Through inclination be as sharp as will. My stronger guilt defeats my stronger intent...." (Act III Sc. IV Lines 39-43) "My words fly up, my thoughts remain below; Words without thoughts never to heaven go." (Act III Sc. IV Lines 100-101) These traits give Claudius a human side and this plays into the author’s purpose by making the reader wonder if Hamlet is going to do the right thing by killing Claudius. It gives the reader second thoughts. Claudius was the villain in "Hamlet." He showed all the necessary characteristics of an evil character but Shakespeare put some "extra" into him. He did this be giving him somegood characteristics. What he had was a well blended character with the ability to be both a murderous bad guy to a kind hearted good guy. Shakespeare had Claudius fit well into the theme of revenge. It was all centred around him. With out him, It would have been a happy ending, or completely different.

Gods Gift To Calculators: The Taylor Series :: essays research papers

Gods Gift to Calculators: The Taylor Series It is incredible how far calculators have come since my parents were in college, which was when the square root key came out. Calculators since then have evolved into machines that can take natural logarithms, sines, cosines, arcsines, and so on. The funny thing is that calculators have not gotten any "smarter" since then. In fact, calculators are still basically limited to the four basic operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division! So what is it that allows calculators to evaluate logs, trigonometric functions, and exponents? This ability is due in large part to the Taylor series, which has allowed mathematicians (and calculators) to approximate functions,such as those given above, with polynomials. These polynomials, called Taylor Polynomials, are easy for a calculator manipulate because the calculator uses only the four basic arithmetic operators. So how do mathematicians take a function and turn it into a polynomial function? Lets find out. First, lets assume that we have a function in the form y= f(x) that looks like the graph below. We'll start out trying to approximate function values near x=0. To do this we start out using the lowest order polynomial, f0(x)=a0, that passes through the y-intercept of the graph (0,f(0)). So f(0)=ao. Next, we see that the graph of f1(x)= a0 + a1x will also pass through x= 0, and will have the same slope as f(x) if we let a0=f1(0). Now, if we want to get a better polynomial approximation for this function, which we do of course, we must make a few generalizations. First, we let the polynomial fn(x)= a0 + a1x + a2x2 + ... + anxn approximate f(x) near x=0, and let this functions first n derivatives match the the derivatives of f(x) at x=0. So if we want to make the derivatives of fn(x) equal to f(x) at x=0, we have to chose the coefficients a0 through an properly. How do we do this? We'll write down the polynomial and its derivatives as follows. fn(x)= a0 + a1x + a2x2 + a3x3 + ... + anxn f1n(x)= a1 + 2a2x + 3a3x2 +... + nanxn-1 f2n(x)= 2a2 + 6a3x +... +n(n-1)anxn-2 . . f(n)n(x)= (n!)an Next we will substitute 0 in for x above so that a0=f(0) a2=f2(0)/2! an=f(n)(0)/n! Now we have an equation whose first n derivatives match those of f(x) at x=0. fn(x)= f(0) + f1(0)x + f2(0)x2/2! + ... + f(n)(0)xn/ n! This equation is called the nth degree Taylor polynomial at x=0. Furthermore, we can generalize this equation for x=a instead of just

Creativity in Literacy Practices

Creativity in Literacy Practices: A TEXTUAL AND CONTEXTUAL APPROACH by Agatha Xaris Villa INTRODUCTION AT PRESENT, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF LINGUISTIC CREATIVITY. THEY DIFFER IN THE WAY THE WAY THAT THEY CONCEPTUALIZE WHAT COUNTS AS CREATIVENESS OR ‘LITERARINESS’ IN LANGUAGE AS WELL AS IN THE METHODS THEY USE TO IDENTIFY AND ANALYZE CREATIVITY IN EVERYDAY LANGUAGE.This essay begins by discussing and exploring the premises of an analysis of creativity at text level following a textual approach to literacy and creativity; assessing the extent to which it is effective in identify creativity in literacy practices such as diaries, letters and graffiti.However, I would like to continue by presenting the argument that while literacy practices do offer opportunities for creativity at text level, the study and identification of creativity in literacy practices may be more productive when studied with a broader perspective – one that goes beyond the limits of the text and considers the influence of context in the production, reception and processing of texts, literary practices and creativity. Creativity in literacy practices at text level LITERACY IS AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF EVERYDAY LIFE AND IS A PART OF EVEN OUR MOST MUNDANE SOCIAL PRACTICES.WHILE THE ROLE WHICH LITERACY PLAYS IN SITUATIONS MAY VARY IN IMPORTANCE, IN THE CONTEXT OF LITERACY EVENTS WHERE LITERACY PLAYS A SIGNIFICANT ROLE, INDIVIDUALS DEVELOP CHARACTERISTIC AND PATTERNED WAYS OF USING AND INTERACTING WITH TEXTS. THESE HABITUAL PATTERNS HOLD DIFFERENT MEANING AND VALUES FOR INDIVIDUALS AND ARE WHAT WE REFER TO AS LITERACY PRACTICES. Creativity in literacy practices at the level of the text may be identified by focusing on special linguistic forms that stand out in texts. This pproach is modeled after what Carter (1999) called an inherency perspective which perceives creativity as being ‘inherent’ in the creative uses of language intrinsic in text. Th e focus is on the writer’s skill in the manipulation of linguistic forms that constitute text on the phonological, grammatical and semantic level. Roman Jakobson (1960), one of the well-known advocates of this approach, was concerned with the ‘poetic function of language’ which was believed to be in close relation to literariness in text.He argued that the poetic function of language involves the ‘foregrounding’ of language forms which have the ability to draw attention to themselves – making a noticeable impact on the reader. Foregrounding results from stylistic choices which may come as (1) deviations from the norms of everyday language (e. g. the use of different writing systems, lexis and ‘figurative language’ such as metaphor and simile or (2) prominent patterns of parallelisms in phonology, grammar and semantics (e. g. meter, rhyme, etc. (Maybin and Pearce, 2006, p. 6 – 9). By highlighting the ‘poetic usages of language’, we can identify creativity in diaries at the text level. The metaphoric descriptions and dramatic portrayal of entities and events in diaries are ways in which individuals attempt to explore their feelings regarding their experience of the ‘real world’ that are often difficult to describe. In addition, repeated structures and rhythms are commonly used in diaries as a form of emphasizing points in the writer’s diary entry.Such examples of ‘poetic language’ may also be identified in letters. In Margaretta Jolly’s (1997) study of war letters, she states that letters are probably ‘the most common form of creative writing. ’ Her examples point out the creative way in which letter-writers are able to use language forms such as imagery, metaphoric and rhetorical devices as well as parallelism (more commonly related to literature) for the purpose increasing the text’s emotional and persuasive impact and highlighti ng contrast and subtleties of meaning (Maybin, 2006, p. 72). The â€Å"art of graffiti† is a long-standing tradition with the ability to exhibit creativity at text level both in its traditional and embellished form. Creativity is seen in the use of rhythmic repetition, puns and contradictory voices (as in parody and irony), the use of non-standard spelling and punctuation (usually in line with a particular artistic style) and the use of text and decoration for aesthetic and communicative purposes.While it is possible to be able to identify creativity in literacy practices at text level, this approach is somewhat limited because it fails to take into account: (1) the interactive features and functions of literacy practice, (2) the influence of its socio-cultural and historical context and more importantly (3) the creativity in language practices that is inherent and emergent from social practices in particular contexts.Therefore, I suggest that a better and more efficient way to identify and evaluate creativity in literacy practices, is one that approaches literacy from a more contextual approach, more specifically from an ethnographic perspective. Creativity and literacy practices from an ethnographic approach According to the ethnographic approach defined by Papen and Tusting (2006, p. 312-359), creativity refers the production of something ‘new’ and ‘original’. In written language, creativeness should not be perceived as a decontextualised, individual activity or as being entirely shaped by context.It should be seen as being dependent on and emergent from the creative literacy practices through which texts are constructed because they are shaped by people, who in pursuit of their own goals and purposes, actively draw on the interactional, contextual and socio-cultural possibilities available in the particular social situation they are embedded. Literacy practices are inherently creative in and of themselves. The ethnographic perspective takes into account the broader social-political context within which creativity is located and through their examination of iteracy practices and texts, advocates of the ethnographic approach found three major characteristics of creativity in writing. To begin, by focusing on people’s literacy practices rather than just texts, they noted that creative texts are produced as a result of interactive collaboration. Diaries, although written by a single person, emerge from an individual’s account and reflection of events and various conversations and interactions with people.Diaries and journals are dialogic practices wherein the writer addresses and responds to a ‘reader’ and have the potential to be re-contextualized in different publications to address a wider readership (Maybin, 2006, p. 269) This dialogical aspect is more evident in web blogs or online journals in which people often (1) write in response to the entries of others, (2) write entr ies addressed to others and (3) write with the expectation and even the goal to get as much response from others. Maybin (2006, p. 73) tells us that letters are even more intensely dialogic in nature. I believe that letters are best viewed as mediums of ‘correspondence’ wherein we present written versions of our personal experience, relationships and identities in relation to an assumed reader who then responds by confirming or questioning. Letters are shaped by and inspire collaborative practices An interesting characteristic of graffiti that I believe exemplifies the collaborative nature of creativity is the way that graffiti attracts graffiti (Macdonald, 2006).A graffiti-covered wall may look like vandalism to law-enforcers or a rather threatening cacophony of ‘names’ to the common passerby but it constitutes a symbolic exchange between members of a sub-group. In the world of graffiti, tags located on the same space are often interpreted in relation to t heir positioning and proximity to each other. They may be viewed as a sign of respect, acknowledgement or outright disregard – a reflection of the intensely competitive nature of this practice.In addition to the collaborative nature of creative literary practices, the ethnographic approach pays careful attention to the influence of the context of reading and writing in the development of creative practices (Papen and Tusting, 2006, p. 320). They argued that in any given opportunity, there is particular set of possibilities and constraints that provides the opportunity for creativity. This involves affordances (i. e. properties of the environment, arising from its material characteristics which may be positive or negative depending on the individual) from new forms of technology, discourse conventions as well as inter-textual and material resources available to producers of text. An important thing to note is while possibilities may determine what is possible in any given cont ext, the possibilities associated with a setting do not determine what is created.For example, while people may be able to describe events, sights and even people through the practice of diaries and letters, there are abstractions such as feelings and intensely traumatic situations (such as in war) that are far more difficult to describe and articulate. In order to overcome this type of ‘constraint’ on expression, writers make use of metaphoric language and parallelisms, enabling them to represent their feelings and experiences in ‘words’ that their readers may be able to relate to. Creativity may also emerge from socially-constrained situations.Graffiti emerged from the same socially and economically impoverished areas in America where gangs are notoriously prominent. Because graffiti is an act of illegitimacy and opposition, graffiti artists face the constant risk of being caught by the police or by rival gangs each time they make a ‘tag’ or do a ‘piece’. But this high-risk and intensely competitive literacy practice is a stage on which young men may choose an identity of their own making, present it in the style of their choice and regain control of their own ‘fate’ – free from the constraints of their socio-economic backgrounds (Mcdonald, 2006).Social, economic or technological changes may result in the introduction of new affordance and constraints to any given context (Papen and Tusting, 2006, p. 325). For example, the popularization of the internet brought about the development of Computer Mediated Communication (CMC), resulting in the creation of new literary genres and changes in literacy practices. According to Kress (2003), creativity may be perceived as inherent in CMC using the two concepts of ‘transformation’ and ‘transduction’.Transformation is the way that the text producers manipulate the forms of signs within a mode to suit their needs and intere sts. Transduction, on the other hand, refers to the movement of ‘semiotic material’ between modes where meaning configured in one mode is moved to another. Online diaries, known as online ‘blogs, perform the same function as traditional diaries and even employ the same linguistic forms. However, bloggers now have access to a greater degree of interactive, inter-textual and multi-modal resources.Whereas in the past, writers creatively used language to express their thoughts and feelings through metaphors and similes, bloggers can now make use of pictures, videos, music, emoticons, avatars and (through hyper-linking) other texts to represent themselves and their lives online. Similarly, the literacy practice of letter-writing is far from extinct in today’s modern ear but has taken up a new form – that is, electronic mail (e-mail). As a medium of communication, email has enabled cross-cultural communication and the creation of online relationships and à ¢â‚¬Ëœnetworking’ communities.Finally, the ethnographic perspective sees creative literacy practices in everyday life as being embedded in socio-cultural practices situated in institutional, political and economic structures. These structures are in a constant state of movement and change therefore taking on a historical perspective towards literacy practices is a necessity. Based on observation and study, changes in socio-economic conditions are often accompanied by changes in the linguistic and semiotic means available to a community as in the case of the following account of changes to a Nepali rural community Papen and Tusting, 2006, p. 328). The 1980s was a time of great social and economic change in Junigau, Nepal. In 1983, the village set up its first high school, providing greater access to education for men and women – resulting in great changes to the literacy practices used by the young. A new form of ‘prolonged courtship’ (i. e. , love-letter w riting) had become increasingly popular among the youth, improving gender relations and changing marriage practices (as the young were becoming more resistant towards arranged marriages).The way in which these love-letters encapsulated new ideas on personal identity and individual agency which held no cultural precedent in their village is an example of how social and cultural change is closely related to the creation of new literacy practices (Papen and Tusting, 2006, p. 328) Conclusion ANALYZING CREATIVITY AT TEXT LEVEL, ALLOWED US TO IDENTIFY CREATIVENESS IN TEXTS AS IS REVEALED BY THE USE OF POETIC LANGUAGE OR LINGUISTIC FORMS COMMONLY ASSOCIATED WITH LITERATURE.THIS APPROACH HOWEVER WAS VERY MUCH LIMITED DUE MAINLY BY THE NARROWNESS OF THE INHERENCY MODEL’S DEFINITION OF WHAT CONSTITUTES AS CREATIVITY AS WELL AS TO ITS LACK OF CONSIDERATION OF CONTEXTUAL FACTORS AND THE INHERENCY OF CREATIVITY IN LITERACY PRACTICES. In taking an ethnographic/historical perspective, chara cteristics of creativity that are inherent in literacy practices become more salient. Through our understanding of the three characteristics of creativity in literacy practices, we’ve identified creativity beyond the level of the text.This contextual approach showed us how creativity is exhibited in literacy practices in the way that (1) texts are read and used, how the writer interacts with other individuals;(2) how people are able to creatively use language in relation to the possibilities and constraints available in particular contexts and finally, (3) individuals are able to adapt and respond to changes in discourse practices and socio-cultural conditions. References CARTER, R. (1999). ‘COMMON LANGUAGE: CORPUS, CREATIVITY AND COGNITION’, LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE, 8(3), P. 196-216 Jakobson, J. (1960). Closing statement: linguistics and poetics’, in T. A. Sebeok (ed. ) Style in Language, MIT Press. Jolly, M. (1997). ‘Everyday Letters and Literary F orm: Coresspondence from the Second World War’, unpublished MPhil, University of Sussex. Kress, G. (2003). Literacy in the new Media Age. London and New York, Routledge. Macdonald, N. (2006). Chapter 6. Reading B: ‘The spray-can is mighteier than the sword: graffiti writing and the construction of masculine identity’ in Maybin, J. and Swann, J. (eds) The art of English: everyday creativity. Palgrave Macmillan/The Open University, p. 293 – 302. Maybin, J. 2006)(Ed. ) Chapter 6 ‘Writing the self’, in Maybin, J. and Swann, J. (eds) The art of English: everyday creativity. Palgrave Macmillan/The Open University, p. 261 – 279. Maybin, J. and Pearce, M. (2006). Chapter 1 ‘Literature and creativity in English’ in Goodman, S. and O’Halloran, K. (eds) The art of English: literary creativity. Palgrave Macmillan/The Open University, p. 6-9. Papen, U. and Tusting, K. (2006). Chapter 7 ‘Literacies, collaboration and context ’ in Maybin, J. and Swann, J. (eds) The art of English: everyday creativity. Palgrave Macmillan/The Open University, p. 312 – 331.