Our Life Is Affected by Excess Clutter That Weighs Us Down Essay Example

Our Life Is Affected by Excess Clutter That Weighs Us Down Essay It was a necessary realization to me how much living among excess clutter could harm my health, physically and emotionally. We may think it is just a cleaning process, but the depth of the problem will open our eyes to realize how and why the effect of clutter weighs us down. Why it is hard to unclutter? Why can’t it be organized? Why is more clutter mounting up? Emotionally attached objects are hard to get rid of. New attractive items are found in markets all the time. Consequently, clutter can easily mount up in one’s life. Clutter and disorganization impairs productivity. By knowing these facts as problems, we can start searching for the solutions to make our life so much easier. I wanted to find solutions as I was living with excess clutter! I will be introducing a practical method to end excess clutter called â€Å"Danshari. † Danshari is a new notion of de-cluttering that has been prevalent in Japan. The idea includes the concept of removing the emotional burden that comes with having too many items. Furthermore, Danshari teaches people to let go of their burdens and make clear plans for a better future. We need to understand that clutter is created by unorganized people who are creating physical and mental danger for themselves. Physically, if one lives in a cluttered house, one probably doesn’t eat well, because the kitchen isn’t functional. The person most likely doesn’t even know what is in the refrigerator and whether or not their food is contaminated. We will write a custom essay sample on Our Life Is Affected by Excess Clutter That Weighs Us Down specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Our Life Is Affected by Excess Clutter That Weighs Us Down specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Our Life Is Affected by Excess Clutter That Weighs Us Down specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer People start to realize the need of de-cluttering when there is a distinct element of danger due to the excess clutter. However, unless one is highly organized, one would most likely understate the problem. People may think it is an issue of space when they approach the problem of de-cluttering. However, this subjectively viewed space problem can be solved by organizing accordingly by acquiring trash bags and containers. According to David F. Tolin, Director of the Anxiety Disorders Center at the Institute of Living in Hartford, CT, and an adjunct associate professor of psychiatry at Yale, â€Å"Hoarding is not just a house problem; it’s also a person problem. † (Tolin, Frost, Steketee, 2007) The person needs to fundamentally change their behavior. The victims of this excess clutter problem would be the clinically defined hoarders; however, many people can find problems similar to the hoarder’s behaviors. I must state that the hoarders I am referring to are different from collectors, as an expert explains as follows: A definition of hoarding that discriminates clinical hoarding syndromes from collecting and normal saving involves: (a) the acquisition of, and failure to discard, a large number of possessions that appear to be useless or of limited value; (b) living spaces sufficiently cluttered so as to preclude activities for which those spaces were designed; (c) significant distress or impairment in functioning caused by the hoarding. † (Steketee Frost, 2006) Hoarding has been reported in a variety of disorders. One of the problems is that hoarding involves the inability to discard worthless or worn out items. Some individuals firmly believe that all personal objects have emotional attachments. Consequently, they are unable to separate themselves from emotionally charged items that they feel holds some sort of personal memory. Those people may object to an uncluttering proposal because they may think and feel that all items are essential and they are unable to differentiate between essential and non-essential items. It is an understandable time consuming process; however, one must realize that failure to organize and de-clutter will often result in decreased feelings of well-being. Kupfermann (2011) in the New York Times article â€Å"The hoarder fights back,† opposes the notion that de-cluttering increases the level of mental health by demonstrating the traumatic experience of the de-cluttering process at her house. Kupfermann (2011) argued that de-cluttering, Zen-like simplicity, or Feng-Shui practice would drain our feelings and leave us with emptiness. When Kupfermann was urged to clean her house for her child’s wedding, she reluctantly agreed to de-clutter objects with her minimalist friend who suggested going through the de-cluttering process. As Kupfermann’s memorable objects went into trash bags by the friend’s hand, she felt embarrassment, distress, and anger. After the friend declared gleefully there were ten containers to de-clutter, Kupfermann felt emptiness in her mind by losing irreplaceable memorial objects. Kupfermann (2011) addressed a noticeable drawback of de-cluttering, â€Å"Feng-shui experts will tell you that clearing the clutter is like weeding a garden to let the flowers emerge. Clear the decks and youll make space to let new things into your life. Kupfermann opposed, â€Å"less is not always more; sometimes it really is less. † As a self-identified hoarder, Kupfermann falls into the expert definition of a hoarder; (a) the acquisition of, and failure to discard, a large number of possessions that appear to be useless or of limited value. It appears that Kupfermann’s feeling was fear that many hoarders experience. According to empirical evidence, many hoarder’s fear is derived from the belief that they must keep items in sight, otherwise they will lose or forget the personal value these items hold. Kupfermann experienced emptiness which made her feel insecure. The feeling of distress, insecurity, and anxiety caused by the notion of de-cluttering is the factor that interferes most with the hoarder’s problem of organization and systematization. Furthermore, compulsive buying disorder is featured in hoarding. Donald W. Black, MD, Professor at the University of Iowa, stated that compulsive buying disorder (CBD) is characterized by excessive shopping cognitions and buying behavior that leads to distress or impairment. Black, 2007) The study of hoarders’ brain activity by Tolin, Frost, Steketee (2007) provides evidence that hoarders have difficulty in decision making, organizing, and planning. Hoarders’ brain activities were scanned and tracked while they looked at various possessions and made decisions about whether to keep them or throw them away. The items were shredded in front of them, so they knew the decision was irreversible. When a hoarder was making de cisions about throwing away items, there was increasing activity in the orbitofrontal cortex, a part of the brain involved in decision making, organizing, and planning. Tolin, 2012) Moreover, since hoarding is associated with difficulties in organizing possessions, acquiring more clutter results in an endless chain of problems for hoarders. Materialism is another dimension that contributed to hoarding problems in today’s society. A new line of products always allures shoppers despite the marketing strategy of manufactures. The shoppers can have the instant gratification of purchasing an item to improve social status and that will speak of their place in the tradition of affluence. It is apparent that oods have an important place in most consumers’ dreams, if not in their hearts. Yet it is not the goods themselves that people desire, but rather the benefit those goods provide, i. e. , an increase in comfort or pleasure, the ability to accomplish new tasks, and the perce ption of others when they regard what we own. Holdbrook (2002), the W. T. Dillard Professor of Marketing in the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University, defined materialism in his book, Consumer Value : A Framework for Analysis and Research reported on the importance a consumer attaches to worldly possessions. According to Holdbrook (2002), materialism is a value orientation in which individuals, 1) place possessions and their acquisition at the center of their lives, and 2) believe that possessions lead to important life satisfactions. If one doesn’t see a hoarding problem, one might not identify hoarding behaviors as a high-priority problem. The awareness of a potential hoarding problem and its solution could be beneficial to anyone who is willing to consider an alternative living context and overcome problems of indecisiveness. The process may take a long time depending on the person; however, the advantages are multidimensional. As mentioned earlier, individuals who see objects as value refers to the emotional meaning attached to the possession. With items that have a personal symbolic meaning, such as a particularly important time in their life, a radically different decision making process as a result of organization and structure will most likely take considerable time. Kupfermann’s (2011) experience with her minimalist friend resulted in her rejecting the beneficial aspects of de-cluttering. Clutter should not be referred to as weeds, as those items hold some very important memories of people’s lives. Her friend was not attuned to Kupfermann’s feelings and item attributions, therefore Kupfermann had a traumatic experience resulting in the emergence of feelings and cognitions counter to the process of de-cluttering. One could argue that if the items are reassuring one’s feelings, one should keep the items and not necessarily discard them. It is important to take time to organize those memorable items. Through the process of organization, we will find out which objects reassure positive feelings and which do not. Memories are not in the objects themselves but they are within the individual. If one thinks every object reassures positive feelings, one is presumably living in the past, not in present. People will achieve a significant relationship with de-cluttering objects, finding essential objects in their life. The difference is how the individual took care of these memorable items; whether to treat them as clutter or keep them as cherished memories, neatly organized and even beautifully displayed. If the item is important enough to keep as a memorable item, one would not just put the item somewhere that is hard to find, one would organize it and possibly proudly display the item. This type of cognitive attribution and style of thought is the difference between the collectors and the hoarders. Another possible drawback of this proposal would be the time for the decision making processes that will enter into making a choice between essential and non-essential personal items. A person may raise the question as to whether or not the decision to unclutter would be correct which may cause a certain level of distress. Most people think they don’t have enough time in their day. When will people find the time to organize and dispose of items when there are numerous simultaneous decisions that need to be made? People are proficient at making excuses. Nevertheless, we should realize that in the long term, the time it takes to search and find a cluttered item will most likely be temporally similar as the process of de-cluttering and organizing. I would like to describe â€Å"Danshari (Yamashita ,2012)†, the notion of de-cluttering that is sweeping Japan. It is written with three chinese characters that indicates respectively, refusal, disposal and separation. The proposer, Hideko Yamashita, learned this notion through the study of Yoga which taught her to â€Å"let go,† as signified with the three chinese characters. There are psychological and religious dimensions mostly from zen which suggests the disposal of mental burden, along with the physical excess of clutter. As I am from Japan, this notion was easily accepted knowing the meaning of each chinese character. It is important to acquire the ability to distinguish what is essential to us and what is not essential in order to live positively with organized thought. It is the ability to make firm and logical decisions about what to keep and what to reject, and then engaging in the behavioral expression of disposal. One will gain control and personal reedom from the ability to emotionally separate oneself from those items that are no longer needed. There are many tips to being able to detach from emotionally charged objects. I will introduce a couple of tips; in regards to gifted items purchased by other people, if these gifts are undesirable, appreciate the kindness of the purchaser, then give the gift away to someone who can use it. When purch asing an item, consider if you already possess an item or similar item, and what is the purpose of the item you are considering purchasing. Key phrases to remember are â€Å"optimum amount,† â€Å"optimum quality†, and â€Å"optimum relationship. Keeping these concepts in one’s mind teaches a sense of function and practicality. Danshari (2002) teaches us to discard our lingering, illogical, and impractical senses. The de-cluttering practice allows us to realize and recognize the culminating effect of clutter, restricted space, and crowding which interferes with people’s ability to think clearly and act accordingly. As clutter becomes less prominent and cognitions become clearer and free of distraction, the mental condition improves and people’s quality of life improves. The most important impact achieved by Danshari (2002) is high self-affirmation. Humans are sensitive to environmental conditions. Living in a space where all objects suit one’s preference and need, one will feel welcomed by the space. Additionally, quality objects with the highest level of emotional attachment still remain by practicing the careful selection of memorable goods. Moreover, the Danshari (2002) practice will strengthen the ability for the discernible selection of activities and people. Danshari is also utilized as a training module to help people view themselves from another perspective on how much people cling to the past. By being able to re-orient themselves to the here-and-now, people will start to feel for the moment. References 1. Black. D. A review of compulsive buying disorder ncbi. nlm. nih. gov. World Psychiatry. 6 February, 2007. Web. 24 April. 2012 2. Tolin, D. F. , Frost, R. O. , Steketee, G. Buried in treasures: help for compulsive acquiring, saving, and hoarding. Oxford University Press, 2007. 3. Holdbrook, M. B. Consumer Value: A Framework for Analysis and Research† Taylor Francis e-Library ed. Routledge. 2002. 4. Francine, J. Minimalism around the World: Danshari. Miss minimalist, 11 Aug. 2011. Web. 19 April 2012. 5. Kupfermann, J. The hoarder fights back. Solo Syndication Ltd. News Paper article. January 2, 2011. 6. Tolin, D. F. â€Å"A Clutter Too Deep for Mere Bins and Shelves. † Nytimes. com. The New York Times, 1 January, 2008. Web. 28 April. 2012 7. Steketee, Gail Frost, Randy. Compulsive Hoarding and Acquiring: Workbook. Oxford University Press, Nov 2006. 8. Ya mshita, H. â€Å"Danshari – Hideko Yamashita official site. † Danshari. com. Keiei Kagaku public, co, ltd. 20 April, 2010. Web. 26 April. 2012

The Role of African Americans in the American Revolution.

The Role of African Americans in the American Revolution. While the Patriots were ultimately victorious in the American Revolution, choosing sides and deciding whether to fight in the war was far from an easy choice for American colonists. The great majority were neutral or Loyalist. For the African Americans, what mattered most was freedom. As the Revolutionary War spread through every region, those in slavery sided with whichever army promised them freedom. The British actively recruited slaves belonging to Patriot masters and, consequently, more African Americans fought for the British. An estimated 20,000 African Americans offered their services to the British. They had many roles, such as laborers, orderlies, scouts, and spies. Since they had lived in the areas of the battles, they knew the local roads and rivers, which made them excellent scouts and spies. On the American side, slaves were not given guns at first, because they were feared to revolt. Soon, they were needed, and Rhode Island offered to set any slave free who volunteered for the regiment.This (attributed to ) originally appeared during t...At the end of the war, 100,000 slaves were either freed or had escaped.

Food Security in International Background Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Food Security in International Background - Essay Example Such factors as global warming, climate changing and natural disasters put the growth of products and their quality under the threat. The food security exists when all members of the society have the access to its enough quantity for healthy life and well-being. People who live under the conditions of poverty and products insecurity experience fear and have the limited abilities. The definition of food security, formulated at the Rome meeting, includes the following elements: Food policy is seen as a set of measures designed to meet systematically and effectively not only the challenges of development of production, foreign trade, storage and processing, but also a fair distribution of basic food products, as well as social development of rural areas. Food security is one of the main objectives of agricultural and economic policy. It generates a motion vector of any national food system to the ideal state. â€Å"Large numbers of people in the world are chronically hungry, meaning th ey are undernourished because they don’t receive enough energy to live active lives. While chronic hunger has been an issue of global concern for decades, recent events, including a global recession and rising food prices have significantly increased the number of chronically hungry people† (McDonald, B., 2010, 4). The United Nations Agriculture organization stated that there were one billion of hungry people throughout the world in 2009. This condition motivated the increase of food supplies in the global sense by means of development of infrastructure and reduction of poverty. As we can see, the state authorities work intensively on this issue, trying to prevent the future growth of hunger level in the world. The national policy is aimed to create the more sustainable food systems. If we take the USA as an example, we can see that the farmers have to wait three years, after the usage of pesticides, before these products are recognized as organic  and ready for consu mption.  

Management Decision Support Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Management Decision Support Systems - Essay Example Decision Support Systems (DSS) are developed based on generally two sets of assumptions. Firstly, it assumes that gaining of the right quality of information contributes in effective decision making. Secondly, the knowledge of use of computers by the managers contributes in enhancing the level of managerial decision making activities. Use of computers contributes in helping the managers gain the right quality of information and analytical tools which tend to be used for effective decision making. In the modern world, the development of World Wide Web and also other technological interfaces like e-commerce requires the development of the concept and use of DSS (Power). The paper intends to reflect on an effective review of the earlier studies conducted relating to Decision Support Systems (DSS). It further aims to reflect on the development of models and analytical concepts for use of DSS in e-commerce platform. Druzdzel and Flynn (2002) observe Decision Support Systems (DSS) as computer based interactive systems that contribute in helping the users take the right type of decision and choice relating to various activities. DSS also helps in retrieving and storage of effective data in terms of enhancing the existing mode of data accessing and storing functions. The system also generates potential support for the building of data modeling and reasoning activities based on the creation of different types of analytical models. DSS systems as a whole contribute in three different types of functions related to framing of decisions, generation of models and finally in formulating solutions based on the models created. Decision Support Systems gain key usage in managerial and planning activities related to different sectors like healthcare, business management and also in military operations. The system relating to the above areas contribute in fulfilling the objectives relating to complex decision making

Paraphrase creditor rights, remedies, and insurance as a component of Essay - 1

Paraphrase creditor rights, remedies, and insurance as a component of risk management - Essay Example The scenario given involves Eagle Sales Company who owned a warehouse after obtaining a mortgage from First National Bank. The two companies obtained insurance policies separately from the Good Hands Insurance Company to insure the warehouse. Later on, Eagle Inc. sold the warehouse to Interstate Distribution Company but kept the insurance policy. Furthermore, the bank agreed to be Interstate’s mortgagee, and Interstate also obtained an insurance policy from Good Hands Inc. to cover the warehouse. If a fire destroys the property, the companies that will recover an amount of the loss are Interstate and the mortgagee. Eagle Sales Company cannot have any share because they have no insurable interest for the warehouse. This is because the only person who should recover from the loss is the owner of the property (Miller, 2011). Eagle cannot recover from the loss even if they had retained the insurance policy of the warehouse since, they do not have the insurable interest of the property. For instance, Eagle Inc. can only be entitled to a refund of premiums paid to the Good Hands Insurance Company. Insurance interests are not dependent on the premium payers of the insurance policy. Therefore, Good Hands risk was under the insurance policy that it sold to Interstate Distribution Corporation. This case is also unbelievable based on the fact that there is only a single insurance policy to any property insured. Insurance companies cannot offer multiple insurance policies on the same property. If an insurance company does this, then it will have to compensate the multiple claimants who had insurance policies for the property (Cheeseman, 2009). In this scenario, First National Bank and Interstate Distribution Company are the only claimants who can claim compensation for the loss of property. The information given clearly shows that the mortgagee who is represented by the First National Bank and the Interstate Distribution Company sites them

Using Roleplay To Help Students Learn English

Using Roleplay To Help Students Learn English 1. INTRODUCTION The more students talk, the better they learn; Speaking skill is not given special significance in the teaching of English in Vietnamese universities. Traditional English education in Vietnam focuses heavily on reading skill. Also, many Vietnamese students and even teachers have examination-orientation. In the first semester, students start the elementary level with the textbooks Lifeline set (Hutchinson, 2001). The textbook cover four skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing. The assessment at the end of each semester is based on a written test involving reading and writing skills only. As a result, pre intermediate students spend more time improving reading and writing skills and mostly ignoring listening and speaking skills. This fact happens at not a single university in Vietnam but across the country. In the first semester, pre intermediate students do not have many chances to communicate in English; therefore, their speaking skill is restricted with lack of naturalness, reaction and pronunciation. Many are shy to speak out in English as they are afraid that listeners cant understand well what they say. Role play is considered one teaching method which motivates pre intermediate students to get involved in speaking lessons. In opinion of James G. Clawson (1997, p.2), role play is a superb vehicle for bringing the distiction between concept and reality to the fore. During role play, students are motivated to perform and act and speak in English class. They are challenged to use their English words in mind to apply into simple conversation in daily life. This indeed enables them to get familiar with normal conversation in their real life. Also, motivation influences how and why people learn as well as how they perform (Chin Chun Shih, 2001). While role play contributes to affect students attitudes positively and improve their English speaking skills, there is little research examining its effectiveness towards pre intermediate students in universities. In Vietnam, much of the research focuses on role play aiming at junior high schools students in foreign countries like Hong Kong, Japan and Korea. There is little research that indicates how role-play could influence students learning attitudes directly. Scarcella Oxford (1992, p.54) also pointed out that most researchers talk about using cooperative learning activities or student-centered learning in order not to put too much pressure on an individual student in front of the class. Therefore, this particular research is intended to focus on the effectiveness of role play in teaching speaking skills for pre intermediate students. Based on the above rationale, this research tends to seek answers to two below research questions: What are pre-intermediate students attitudes toward the role-play activity? In what way does role play improve pre-intermediate students speaking skills? Generally, this research aims at making clear two important aspects of role play: affecting attitudes positively and improving speaking skills properly. Firstly, this research shows how role -play has a direct effect on learners attitudes. Secondly, this research intends to point out how role play help improve their speaking skills in particular. The structure of this research includes the context and methodology as the qualitative method. Data will be collected via oral test, interview and observation, which will then described and analyzed in item data analysis. Next, the content of reflection shows what is gained and which possibly further research questions are. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW Definitions of terms Role-play can be divided into role and play. Gillian (2002, p.7) refers role as to play a part (either their own or somebody elses) in a specific situation. He also indicates that Play represents the role is taken on in a safe environment in which students are as inventive and playful as possible (p.5). This teaching method enables students to enjoy the experience of having conversations with people in real life so as to develop their social communication. The function of role-play in language learning Teaching English in Vietnam mostly concentrates on grammar translation methods and is examination oriented. Adian Doff and Maxwell (2002, 1997) pointed out the problems of those English teaching methods, and argued that there is a need to develop more diverse English teaching methods or activities. Vietnamese students have common weakness reportedly as their speaking ability. They have little chance to practice conversation, even in the second language classrooms. In order to encourage students to speak in public, role -play is often used by teachers as one of the teaching methods. Maxwell (1997) holds the opinion that the purpose of role-play is to improve students verbal and nonverbal communication skills and to link and use previously built schemas, in both structured and improvised situations (p.1). This viewpoint shows that role -play could improve students in verbal or nonverbal communication while they are performing the roles in the dialogue. James G. Clawson (1997, p. 4) pointed that A common theme in the benefits of using role play is that the techninque can bring abstract discussions alive, make them live, and in so doing, open up students willingness to learn When taking part in the dialogues created by teachers or extracted from the text books, students will be required to act as the characters in the dialogues, therefore, they will find it easier to use the conversation in daily lives. Daily conversation will create lots of unpredictable situations that make students confused how to deal with. As noted by Salies (1995, p.6), role-play helps learn ers to deal with unpredictability, motivating them by adding emotion and increase the awareness of the listeners. Accordingly, role-play helps create a safe environment for students to practice their language skills. The influence of role play on attitudes Attitude plays an important role in learning English speaking skill. Without adequate and appropriate attitudes, pre-intermediate students are usually unwilling to learn what their teachers try to teach them. To make a change about students learning attitudes, teachers can use role play to increase their confidence because role-play proves to be a good choice for them to understand and handle the learning content. James G. Clawson (1997, p4) indicated that role play helps improve learners abilities to communicate their thoughts and feelings in effective and productive ways among peers. They will find themselves better motivated to learn if they are recognized as a part of the class. Motivation is important because it helps create good start. Role-play can also help reinforce students knowledge gained through constant practice and acting. Also, students learn to how to cooperate well with each other through working and discussing English together, which will lead to mutual affection. He pointed that emotional climate is a good motivation during learning process (Ray, 1992, p.9). Students can gain more confidence in a safe environment brought by role play method. The learning environment ha s become particularly important for students. Ray (1992) also agreed that students prefer a consistent learning environment with good order at which they feel safe. (p.5). In other words, students can learn better in a little pressure environment. Furthermore, role-play helps create peer relationships which have become very important in improving attitudes. Ray said that the main motivational factor for pre intermediate students is the social incentives reflected in peer relationships (1992, p.13). The speaking and practicing subjects would be their classmates, who are familiar to the students and cause them less pressure and nervousness. Students work in small or big groups and there is a competitiveness among these groups. By this kind of stimulus, students are able to increase their learning attitudes, and to learn the second language further. Therefore, in the context of this research study, the findings above show that role-play could affect students attitudes positively in four aspects: improving students confidence, motivating their participation, creating interest in speaking lessons, and improving peer relationships through moderate competition. In conclusion, the literature above may lead to the fact that the main function of role-play is to help students improve speaking skills. Below context will indicate that there is a need to examine how role-play can facilitate students speaking ability in Vietnams education environment. 3. CONTEXT In Vietnam, the teaching of English has been criticized with lack of practice and heavy focus on written examination. In most universities in Vietnam, students are tested in written form, meanwhile, oral tests are ignored since they are time consuming and too difficult for students. Many pre- intermediate students are reported with lack of English communicative ability due to their emphasis on the written exam in previous grades. Adian Doff (2002) stated that teachers would look at prior tests to assure that they covered the subject matter of the test or test objectives (p.2). The Entrance Exam is the main examination for high school students to enter university. There are two parts of questions. The first part include multiple choice grammar questions for each of which students must choose the best answer. The second part is a reading comprehension assessment that includes cloze tests (Ministry of Education and Training, 1999). Thus, students focus on writing and reading rather than speaking skills. Also, starting their learning in universities, pre-intermediate students are lack of chance to improve their speaking skills. They feel shy and can hardly speak and listen to English in their daily lives. Although they are taught the curriculum Lifeline set (Hutchinson, 2001) with four skills, the speaking skills are often ignored due to limited time in one period. Grammar or reading exercises are taken greater priority. Besides, teaching speaking seems to put a lot of effort into and not every teacher will be successful in a speaking lesson. As a matter of fact, so many teachers of English in Vietnam universities are trained with grammar translation method. That is the reason why they will face a big challenge to create an environment in which students are given more opportunities to use English as a means of communication. It has become more and more difficult for Vietnamese teachers when they have to work with large classes which are more suitable to give lectures instead of asking students to work in small groups. Teachers of English make it impossible to control such large classes if they have intention of teaching English in communicative way. A serious problem teachers in Vietnam have to tackle is that although there is a number of a method of teaching speaking skill, it is not easy at all to find out appropriate methods which help Vietnamese students, especially those at pre-intermediate leve l make some improvements in speaking skill. Researchers argue that role-play can help learners improve it. Firstly, role-play helps improve students listening ability. In viewpoint of Salies (1995, p.8), role-play makes students aware of the listener. Therefore, listening ability is as important as speaking ability and role-play might help to improve this skill. Secondly, role -play contributes to improve speaking ability. In order to speak well in a daily conversation, one should take consideration about the pronunciation as well because clear pronunciation helps speaking become two-way communication. In this case, while students are performing in speaking lessons, teachers will be able to listen to each students pronunciation and correct him/her individually during speaking sessions. In conclusion, the context above is critical because it indicates that there is a need to examine how role-play can facilitate pre intermediate students speaking ability in Vietnams universities. 4. METHODOLOGY According to C. Pope and N. Mays (1995), the goal of qualitative research is the development of concepts which help us to understand social phenomena in natural (rather than experimental) settings, giving due emphasis to the meanings, experiences, and views of all the participants. In the researchers viewpoint, qualitative method is proper to discover pre-students attitudes towards role play and how role play motivates them in speaking lessons. This part presents subjects, data collection instruments consisting of oral tests, interview and observation via two role play activities. 4.1. Subjects Participants Six students are randomly chosen. All are between the age of 19 and 20 and study English at pre-intermediate level. Students at pre-intermediate level but not other levels are chosen as they have more chance to take part in communication activities. In order to get an exact result, the participants English speaking ability is different. The backgrounds of participants are stated below. Name Sex Background English Level Nam Male He is quite good at English. He performs enthusiastically and confidently in English class. Good Mai Female Her English is at medium. However, she is willing to learn and perform in class. Medium Trung Male He is a person who is enthusiastic in English lesson even though his English is not as good as others. Medium Hoa Female Her English level is medium. She is very shy. She likes English, especially English speaking skill. But she is too shy to perform in class. Medium Sy Male He likes taking part in all games in class. Although his English is not good, he is not afraid to speak English. Not good Phuong Female She likes to talk loud in class, but not in English. Due to her weakness at English she seems to be very quiet in English lessons. Not good Teaching materials The main pilot teaching material is The New Headway Pre-intermediate textbook compiled by Liz John Soars. There are two dialogues used in this research. The researcher asked the informants to play the roles of the dialogues. Students are voluntarily encouraged to contribute their own ideas to make the play role activities more creative and interesting. 4.2. Instruments of data collection 4.2.1. Oral tests and Interviews Two oral tests and interviews were conducted for this study with the participation of six students. The first oral test was done before the two-week experiment, and the second oral test was held after the experiment of the two-week experiment. Moreover, during the interview the researcher asked them related questions to clarify the purpose of the study. Yes-no questions and WH- questions that students have to answer are included in oral test questions. Yes-no questions are for students who can not have long answers, and WH- questions are for students who are at better learners. The questions are displayed in Appendix A. After finishing the pre-oral test, the study proceeded to the main part, which was role-play. During role-play, I interviewed every student individually. The interview questions were based on some basic questions but might be changed to adapt the situations and students reactions (see Appendix C). Moreover, students were interviewed in their mother tongue so that they felt at ease to express their feelings. When the pre-oral test, two role play activities and interview were finished, it was time to examine how students improve their speaking ability. And the post-oral test was done to compare the students performances from the beginning to the end (see Appendix A). 4.2.2. Observation The researcher observed six pre-intermediate students participation during two role play activities. The observation in this study was done via my note-taking or keeping diary, and tape-recording through the pilot teaching. The purpose of this part is to see what pre-intermediate students behaviors are when role play is employed as a speaking activity. Furthermore, during the pilot teaching, tape recording was also carried out to get the data for the research. The students utterances were recorded and analyzed later to find out how the role play was used and how it motivated students. 5. DATA ANALYSIS Descriptive data are analyzed by qualitative method. 5.1. Descriptive data of oral tests The oral tests were arranged and conducted at the participants convenience. The oral tests (see Appendix A) were given before and after the two-week experiment. In order to give descriptive data of oral tests, interviews and observation, I have based on seven criteria to review pre-intermediate students English speaking ability including: 1) the influency of speaking, 2) the frequency of using words that have been taught, 3) the accuracy of grammar application, 4) the listening skills absorption, 5) the anxiety of students, 6) the accuracy of pronunciation, 7) the pause while interviewing. The oral tests showed that students speaking ability did improve after the use of role-play. Specifically, three fourth of the participants spoke more fluently. While doing the oral test, I also felt that students would try hard to answer in English. They might not give complete sentences, but they would manage to use the words they had learned. They also tried to use correct grammar when giving answers. However, some students who were not good at English such as Sy and Phuong sometimes produced wrong grammar sentences. Moreover, students not only understood what I asked during the oral tests, but also tried hard to listen to whole sentences and digested them. I, myself, had a strong feeling that students tried very hard to pay attention to the post-oral test, because most students had enthusiastic responses with me. Moreover, students anxiety had been decreased during the second oral test. One of the reasons that the researcher postulated was that students were familiar with the res earcher, and might not be afraid to speak English. They also learned how to pay due attention to their pronunciation while performing in front of their classmates. This also made them have better pronunciation during the oral tests. Some of them even tried to improve their pronunciation by making repetition of what they spoke. The pause frequency of interviewees was really high during the first oral tests, but it seemed lower during the second. Some students said I dont know or I have no idea when they could not find the answers to the questions. In general, the oral-tests showed that role-play had a positive influence on pre-elementary students speaking skill. Most students might not have the ability to answer in complete sentences, but they showed positive attitudes during the oral tests. They paid due attention to the questions, and answered the questions using the vocabulary they had learnt, which showed their willingness to attempt to learn English in general and speak English in particular. Therefore, I can conclude that role-play not only stimulated students when they learned English in speaking lessons, but also made them eager to learn more. 5.2. Descriptive data of observation In order to assess the participation and effectiveness of using role-play in speaking lessons, I based on four levels: 1-3 (bad), 4-6 (medium), 7-9 (good), 10 (excellent). In this part, I would like to use two dialogues and asked participants to play role (see appendix B). For the first role play activity, the researcher used the telephone conversation between the receptionist and client in book New Headway Pre-intermediate by Liz and John Soars (p.77, unit 9). I asked the participants to work in pairs which mean three couples did the same role play. In order to make the role play more effective and to have an exact observation, I asked Nam to work with Mai, Trung with Phuong, and Sy with Hoa. Nam, Trung, Sy played the role of the receptionist whereas Mai, Phuong, Hoa played the role of the client. The researcher instructed first and three pairs presented in turn. During the role play activity, I would observe, take notes, and record. The first role play is easy and simple so that students can feel comfortable and confident to take part in. The results of observation basing on the four levels are presented as below. For the second role play activity, the researcher used a more difficult role play activity which was extracted from the book New Headway Pre-intermediate by Liz and John Soars (p.57, unit 7). This role play was an interview with the band Style. Participants had to play the role of an interviewer a journalist and the role of two interviewees Suzie and Guy. In this part, students worked in group of three. Nam, Mai, Sy were the first group. Trung, Hoa, Phuong were the second group. Nam, Hoa who are better at English were the interviewers. The rest were the interviewees in which Mai, Phuong played the role of Suzie, and Sy, Trung played the role of Guy. Similar to the first role play, the researcher instructed first, and the two groups presented in turn. The results of observation from the second role play activity basing on the four levels are stated as below. The second role play After experiencing the two role-play activities, the researcher found that the pre-elementary students English speaking ability has been improved. Specifically, four out of six participants made a clear progress in the influence of speaking ability, and the ability of expressing him/her self. Moreover, half of participants used grammar more correctly. Also, half of participants became more confident such as Mai, Trung, Sy. In addition, Nam the best participant at English speaking improved his vocabulary. Thus, the observations results show that pre-students English speaking skill has been improved when the researcher uses the role play in speaking lessons. 5.3. Descriptive data of interview The interview was conducted during and after role play. All the students were interviewed once. Additionally, the interviews were conducted in Vietnamese. During the interviews, the whole procedure was recorded and taken notes. The questions of interview are available in Appendix C When being asked to compare the traditional teaching method most of the students answered that they really like the role-play teaching method. They explained that role-play gave them a joyful feeling and avoid being sleepy in class. In general, most students feel that role play is an interesting teaching activity and they really like it. In other words, their feeling of this teaching method is positive. For example, one of the interviewees, Hoa, expressed that: Well, I extremely like this teaching activity. It helps me be more confident in speaking English. Especially, it makes me more interested in lesson instead of being sleepy. I always feel bored and sleepy in lessons which are given in a traditional way. Another participant Nam said that: I think using role play in speaking lessons is good because we get more confident when playing role and speaking in front of other friends. I like this teaching method than the traditional method. For the second question Do you think that your speaking skill has been improved after doing role-play in class? all participants answer Yes. For example, Sy pointed out that role-play can help him improve his speaking skill: I thinkà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ my speaking is better after doing role-play several times. My speaking ability seems to be more fluent. Andà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.I feel more confident. When replying this question, Trung also determined that his speaking English skill had been improved. He said Ummà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.You know that now I can speak English a little bit fluently. I feel more confident to speak in front of other students. Does it mean that my English speaking skill has been improved? Furthermore, I asked the participants whether there are any negative sides when applying role-play in class. And most of them answered that the problem is the class order was not very good in that case. Sometimes, there was too much noise for students to act in class. Participants, however, still show a positive attitude. Mai said: I think noise is unavoidable when we learn speaking skill. I really like this kind of teaching activity. It is fun. It makes me want to study English and want to speak English in class. However, in order to add to the negative sides of using role play in class, Hoa stated that Sometimes role play takes much time. In my opinion, it is a negative side of role play. I asked the students if it was tiring or stressful for them to plan the dialogues beforehand. As a result, most students showed a positive response to the preparation. Phuong who is not good at English expressed that I feel difficult to have a good preparation at first. My English is not very good. I can not study it at home without teachers instruction. However, after preparing for the class for several times, I start to feel that preview is really important. I know the lesson prior to class and I can understand what the teacher talks about in class. Furthermore, as I have had preparation before class, I become less nervous and shy when speaking on the stage in English. Similarly, Trung said eagerly: Well, my teacher also asked us to prepare in advance. For the first time I felt quiet tired because I didnt get familiar with this learning method. But for the third time, everything seemed to be better. And now I have no problem with preparation in advance. When observing participants doing the first role-play, the researcher recognized that some of the students were very extroverted. However when they were asked to perform the role play in class, they started to keep avoiding from this opportunity. I wanted to know what resulted in such a reaction. Some students told me that they were really shy; some of them could not find out the proper way to act. However, after doing the second role-play the participants responses seemed to be more positive. They participated to the activity more enthusiastically. They did not appear to be shy any more. For example, Trung said that I am an extroverted person. However, I dont feel confident when speaking English in class because I know that my English is not good and as a result, I dont want to speak English in class. But now I feel better. After doing the first and the second role-play activities I recognize that theres no reason to be shyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦please take part in the activity, please spea k. Wellà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦it is really good. In short, most of the participants hold the positive attitudes to the role-play teaching activity in speaking lessons. For example, students showed more interest in learning speaking English with the role -play activity, students agreed that role-play helped improve their speaking skills, and they showed higher willingness to perform in public. 6. REFLECTION This study was designed to research the effectiveness of using the role-play to motivate pre-intermediate students in speaking lessons. There were six participants in the research. Also, the researcher used qualitative method to do the research in which oral tests, interviews, and observation are used to collect data. Based on the results of the study, the findings have been drawn. These findings are: (1) participants have a positive attitude to role-play in speaking lessons. (2) Role-play motivates pre-intermediate students in learning speaking. Moreover, the findings of this study may offer three practical implications for English teachers in Vietnam to help students develop speaking ability. The first implication for English teachers is that they should apply a communicative teaching technique in English speaking classes such as role play. However, role play should be merged with the traditional English teaching. The second implication is that teachers can affect students learning attitudes/motivation positively by lively activities. The last implication is to provide a safe environment with tender discipline in class because this will make student feel more comfortable and eager to learn, especially to speak English in class. In other words, English teaching in Vietnam should be added lively and interesting communicative teaching methods in class, especially in English speaking class. I believe that the study is successful. Also, it is proper to use the qualitative method for this study. However, there is one limitation which may influence the outcome of the study. The limitation referred in this study is time limitation. Because of limited time, I can only give two role-play activities to experience and test the effectiveness of role-play on pre-intermediate students. Suggestions for further research In order to have a more accurate and complete result, further study can be done with the cooperation of the involved students English teacher. Working with the English teacher is advantageous as he/she might help me understand every students English level in a short time. Moreover, it would be better to have two instructors to review students during oral tests and performances. Besides role-play, I would like to add some other activities to class and think of some interesting topics for students to act in role-play. It would be boring if the whole period of class was proceeding in the role-play teaching activity only, thus, added activities may help students concentrate in class more effectively. The dialogues in students textbooks did not really attract them. Students already had those contents in their regular English classes. It would affect students attitudes/motivation positively if there were more interesting topics for students to discuss and act. Last but not least, in a future research, I may have more chances to videotape the whole process of the experiment which includes the oral tests, interviews and performances. Students gestures, facial expressions or body languages could serve as the sources to interpret their intentions as well. Besides, some non-verbal languages could appear beyond expectation, so those expressions are also important for descriptive data. 7. CONCLUSION I would like to conclude my research in two aspects. Firstly, role play is not beneficial only for the pre intermediate students but even students of upper levels as well as lower levels. Role play proves to be a good way to motivate English learners to speak out what they want to say. In fact, students have to experience different situations in real life. The final and the most important goal of teaching English is none other than helping students use English in those situations. Role-play creates many daily situations for students to practice their English. In addition, it really creates a safe environment and productive learning environment in language class which would be interesting to absorb knowledge. Secondly, although role play works well in speaking lessons as well as with pre-intermediate university students, it is not the only method for teachers to apply in every lesson. In other words, there are numerous different ways Vietnamese teachers are offered to apply to motivate students communicate in English naturally and effectively, to affect their attitudes positively and to increase s

My Turn at Bat :: English Literature

My Turn at Bat Book Review My Turn at Bat: The Story of My Life, written in 1969, could be the name of any number of hitters that have played the game of baseball. It could even be a metaphor for something that doesn’t even relate to the game of baseball. But that’s not the case here, this book is about, arguably the greatest hitter to ever play the game. This book is about the only player to ever hit .400. The only man to be inducted into seven different hall of fames. This book tells the story of Ted Williams through his eyes, the way he lived on and off the field. The author John Underwood does a good job in terms of letting the reader get a first person point of view when it comes to the life of this Boston Red Sox legend. The book first starts out with Ted Williams stating that, â€Å"I’m glad it’s over†, he then goes on to explain what he means by this. Williams says that he is so grateful for what baseball has done for him as a person but he was glad to be out of the game as a player. He tells the reader through out the book that if he could go back to when he was 18 or 19 years of age he wouldn’t do it because knowing now what was in store for him. He says that he had to deal with so much physical pain, the weight of the world being on his shoulders, and last but certainly not least the Boston reporters. At that point in his life, Ted Williams had finished playing Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox and moved on to managing the Washington Senators, a move that he wasn’t all that comfortable with, but was willing to try. This book is a constant one-way conversation with the reader. It seems that is just the way Williams wanted it to be, just so he could tell the story without any interruptions. Williams’s talks about how he always wanted to be the greatest hitter of all time through out the book. He says that a man needs to have a goal for a day, a lifetime and his was to hear people say, â€Å"there goes Ted Williams the greatest hitter of all time†. Williams also talks about how his 22 years of playing the game were the best years of his life but they were also some of the unhappiest. Through out his time as a professional ball player, he felt that people didn’t like him,