What a women looks like Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

What a women looks like - Assignment Example The main essence lies in the exploring of how the country persistently follows the formula of tracing and evaluating an individuals’ characters according to their looks and attires. â€Å"In a highly mobile society, where first impressions are important and where selling oneself is the most highly cultivated â€Å"skill,† the construction of appearances becomes more and more imperative.† (Ewen, 1988: 85). Throughout the past and in the present as well, America’s view for women and men based on their appearance and dress remains unchanged. This can be best established through Douglas Bradley Smith’s question in his Quarterly Journal of Speech which asks: (1977: 215) Why has no communication scholar bothered to decode the specific meanings of the American wardrobe? While total absorption in such details might reduce us to public relations consultants, to ignore such details is to deny the global nature of human interaction. Clothing persuades. According to Susan S. Gilpin, an Assistant Professor at Marshall University, the matter has still not been explored in a deeper level by communication scholars (Gilpin, 2009). Her remark, â€Å"The workplace inequalities legitimated by contemporary dress for success rhetoric still requires scholarly investigation and critique†, (Gilpin, 2009) lucidly confirms the America still judges individuals as per their looks and attire. Despite the prevailing trend of judging men and women on the basis of their appearance and dress, a different school of thoughts still claims that America’s views in this regard has changed considerably. According to these opinions the country now perceives an individual by his or her potentials and qualities rather than the artificial facades. The best examples for them are Michale Jackson, who has rocked the world despite being not white and Barrack Obama, a black president

History 1492-1860 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

History 1492-1860 - Research Paper Example The event is significant in history because it shows that the United States was not always a cohesive country. Surprisingly few changes occured after the massacre took place, and not many people were even punished even in the larger conflict. In fact, there is still some controversy over exactly what went on, and exactly who was involved, to this very day. To really understand what happened during the Mountain Meadows Massacre, it is necessary to get a clear view of what was going on otherwise in Utah at the time it occurred The massacre was not just some random act, but one that was caused by many circumstances. It was set within the period of the Utah War, which was an "armed confrontation over power and authority during 1857–58 between the civil-religious leadership of Utah Territory, led by Governor Brigham Young, and the administration of President James Buchanan."1 This conflict itself had been caused by tensions between Mormon and non-Mormon Americans. Non-Mormons thought that the Mormons were heretics, while Mormons felt they were being unfairly criticized because of their correct religious beliefs. These two circumstances led to "a cultural clash between themselves and their neighbors ... and Mormons attempting to defend themselves or strike back before being overwhelmed in a still larger wave of violence."2 Some other reasons for the conflict include incompetence on the behalf of both President Buchanan and Governor Brigham Young, who was also the supreme leader of the Mormon Church. Buchanan "new shockingly little in 1857 about either conditions in Utah or Brigham Youngs likely reaction to his removal as governor" and also made bad choices about who he put in charge of the situation.3 Young, on the other hand, exaggerated things a lot, and his "hostile, violent rhetoric as governor" very quickly created the sort of environment where Mormon settlers who looked to

A quel point la perscution des minorits refltait-elle la volont des Essay

A quel point la perscution des minorits refltait-elle la volont des forces d'occupation et quel point refltait-el - Essay Example La zone non occupee de la [France] et l'assistance necessaires administration economique.2 Il y avait des problemes majeurs. Les deux Francais et Britanniques ont combattu pour l'independance de la France. "Dans la campagne de 1940 les Francais se sont battus courageusement, mais ... [l]es Britanniques ont combattu beaucoup plus obstinement ... ».3 Pour donner un peu de contexte, l'Allemagne avait acquis une partie de la France qui a ete envahie par les gens.  «En occupant la moitie nord du pays et toute la cote Atlantique, l'Allemagne s'est approprie le partie la plus riche et le plus peuple de la France metropolitaine ».4 En raison de l'oppression de son peuple, la reputation de Vichy est a jamais ternie. "L'histoire de Vichy, en cette epoque, abonde en pareils trompe-l'?il ».5 A la defense du peuple juif, les combats ont a l'Est. "Par consequent, au cours de la plupart des annees de combats sur le front de l'Est (ou la majeure partie de l'armee allemande a ete engage), les conditions sont devenues de plus en plus semblables a celles sur le front occidental dans la Premiere Guerre mondiale ».6 Il semblait que beaucoup de gens meprisaient les Juifs, c'etait un sentiment populaire et a la mode d'epouser a l'epoque. "Meme apres la guerre, Xavier Vallat revendiquee, avec quelque raison, que l'anti-semitisme de Vichy avait reflechi volonte populaire. Dans les registres tenus par l'administration francaise au cours de 1940-1944 il ya des signes evidents de l'antipathie populaire pour les Juifs, en particulier pour les refugies juifs etrangers ... ... repandre sur les Juifs d'origine francaise ainsi  ».7 Pendant ce temps, le cerveau se cache derriere la disparition du peuple juif etait Adolf Hitler-autrichien d'origine juive, vilipende les juifs et les exalte la race aryenne ci-dessus toutes les autres races. "Tout le monde sait Adolf Hitler. Notions du Troisieme Reich et la Seconde Guerre mondiale, [assurer] la  «Fuhrer » un endroit sur [dans l'hist oire]. Mais la situation varie considerablement dans l'histoire de cet homme.†8 Allemands voulaient eliminer totalement le peuple juif. "[L'Allemand] Armee et la Marine ... [A] l'avantage de la situation ... nouvelle [s] de faire valoir leurs interets.†9 Les gitans ont ete un autre peuple qui ont ete persecutes par les Allemands. "Si les ambitions allemandes en France concernees les moyens de maximiser l'exploitation de l'economie francaise dans l'interet de l'Allemagne, Vichy a saisi l'occasion fournie par la conquete allemande de realiser un [efficace] purge de la societe francaise, et un remodelage de la France a son image ».10 La persecution de toute personne consideree comme anormale a ete facilement acceptee par la societe francaise. Cette  «purge » de la societe francaise etait en effet l'un qui comprend un secteur important de personnes-des personnes handicapees, les personnes qui avaient des malformations congenitales, et cetera. Personne n'a ete epargne p ar le grand filet et le mal qui a ete coule pour tous ceux qui ont regarde differemment, agi differemment, ou ont vecu d'une maniere differente que le reste de la dynamique de la societe.Le francais de la

Usability Study for Website Essay Example for Free

Usability Study for Website Essay The Princeton University Library is said to be the intellectual cross ¬roads of the campus. It holds many ancient and rare records of human experience; mil ¬lions of printed volumes; hundreds of recent and current bestsellers; terabytes of geospatial data; and thousands of online databases. The Library system comprises a dozen separate librar ¬ies. In the main library, the Harvey S. Firestone Memorial Library, you will find the General and Humanities Reference Division; the Social Science Reference Center; galleries in which rare books, graphic art, and manuscripts are displayed; and a children’s library filled with books and games illumi ¬nating the history of education. In addition to printed books and scores, the Mendel Music Library holds a circulating collection of recordings of all kinds. The Marquand Library of Art and Archaeology houses a world-renowned collection of books and journals. The Public Policy Papers collection, with its focus on 20th-century American political and diplomatic history, shares Mudd Library with the University Archives, an ever-growing collection of artifacts from Princeton’s illus ¬trious history, including its original charter. Many of its science collections are now housed in the new Lewis Library, given by Peter B. Lewis of the Class of 1955, and designed by Frank Gehry. The goal of this usability testing was to determine how well Princeton University Library would meet the needs of its user population. Tasks were created based on the main goals users need to complete via the home page and the usability study participants were asked to try to complete these tasks using the current website of the Princeton University Library. This usability testing is basically focused on how quickly and easily users are able to complete pre-defined tasks using the current website of the Princeton University Library. Structured Tasks TASK 1 You are a student of Economics and your first reading assignment is to make an annotated bibliography of Adam Smith’s book on the Wealth of the Nations. Locate the book from the Library system. [Expect user to click on ‘Main Catalogue’ under ‘Books, Articles, More’, and proceed with searching for the book using Smith, Adam as author] TASK 2 You are working on a tough research project for your IT Management class. You have spent a lot of time in the library and on the Princeton University Library website, but you are not sure that you are finding all of the resources you need. You know that you can ask a librarian for help with research. Please show us how you would begin that process online. [Expect user to click on ‘Ask a Librarian’ links for chat/email/appointment] TASK 3 You are working from home and are having difficulty connecting to one of the databases you can access through the library. Where would you go to find out more information? [Expect user to find the ‘Connect from Off Campus’ link under ‘Research Help’] TASK 4 You want to browse through the Princeton University Library’s collection of books on Music at the Mendel Library. How late is the Mendel Library open today? What are its hours on Sunday? [Expect user to find ‘Hours Locations’ page and articulate the correct hours for the Mendel Library] TASK 5 How would you get a book that the PUL Libraries do not own? [Expect user to click on ‘Interlibrary Loan’]

English language student teachers pedagogical content knowledge

English language student teachers pedagogical content knowledge My study aims to analyze the relationship between English language student teachers pedagogical content knowledge learnt from the university coursework and their practice of teaching during the practicum in schools. By pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) here, I mean the knowledge to teach English as a second language at secondary level. The focus of my study is to find out what PCK student teachers learn during their English language teaching course at the university and how they apply that knowledge in the classroom during the practice teaching. In this literature review I discus the concept of teacher education programmes, the practicum, link between theory and the practicum, gaps between theory and the practicum, how to strengthen the link between theory and the practicum and brief review of research on practicum in teacher education and English language teacher education programmes. In the end I state the aim of my study and the potential research questions. The purpose of this literature review is to provide an introduction to and grounding for my study. 2. Teacher Education Programmes Teacher education programs are designed and organized to train prospective and in-service teachers. These programmes educate teachers to teach at various levels of education such as pre-primary, primary, elementary, secondary and higher secondary levels. Two common types of teacher education programmes are pre-service teacher education which is also called initial teacher education (ITE) and in-service education and training (INSET). Initial teacher education prepares the new trainee teachers to teach at different levels whereas in-service teacher education provides training to the already working teachers. (Although there is a conceptual difference between the concepts teacher education and teacher training, in this document I will be using both these concepts in the same meaning. Generally in this document, teacher education or teacher training means pre-service teacher education. If I talk about in-service education of teachers, it will be mentioned in the text). Aldrich (1990) says that teacher education programmes are important to prepare future teachers to develop their professional competencies. Laczko-Kerr and Berliner (2002) argue that university teacher preparation courses prepare better quality teachers. The objective of the teacher education programme is to equip student teachers with a set of competencies to teach in the school context (Banks et al. 2001), to cope with the complexity of challenges in their everyday teaching work (Cheng, 2010). The challenge is to help student teachers put their learning from the teacher education programme into practice. Most teacher education programmes include different components: general education; subject-matter studies; foundation of education studies; methods studies; and field experience (i.e. teaching practice) (Stuart Tatto 2000; Zeichner Gore 1990). The general education, foundation courses and methods studies comprise the theoretical component whereas field experiences focus on the practical component of teacher education programmes. Korthagen et al (2006) argue that teacher education finds itself in a difficult position in the 21st century. He presents three reasons for dissatisfaction with the teacher education programmes. First reason is the irrelevance of teacher preparation for the reality of everyday practice in schools. It has generated pressure on teacher educators to rethink about the structure and practices of teacher education. Secondly, research evidence during the final decade of 20th century shows that new teachers appear to face severe problems during their first period in the profession. Wideen, Mayer-Smith, Moon (1998) also supported this view and said that the transfer from theory (presented and learnt during teacher education courses) to practice in schools is often meager. Thirdly, new concepts of teaching and leaning have emerged and developed overtime. Constructivist (Williams Burden, 1997; Roberts, 1998; Arends, 2004; Osterman Kottkamp, 2004) and social constructivist views (Roberts, 199 8; Beck Kosnik, 2006) have dominated the theory and practice of teaching and learning. These views argue for learner-centered approaches to learning and teaching and challenge the traditional practices in teacher education. It poses challenges for teacher educators. Teacher educators have attempted to respond to this challenging phenomenon to fulfill the demand of producing effective teachers in the 21st century. Zeichner (2010) argues that the old paradigm of teacher education where academic knowledge is viewed as the authoritative source of knowledge about teaching needs to be changed to the one where there is interlink among academic, practitioner and community expertise. As knowledge is constructed and shared by learners in constructivism and social constructivism, he argues that this new epistemology of teacher education will create expanded learning opportunities for prospective teachers that will better prepare them to be successful in enacting complex teaching practices (Zeichner 2010, p. 89). Darling-Hammond, Hammerness, Grossman, Rust Shulman, 2005) concluded that research on effective teacher education programs shows that where field experiences are carefully linked with coursework and carefully mentored, teacher educators are better able to accomplish their goals in preparing teachers to successfully enact complex teaching practices. In view of the complexity of the teaching-learning process Korthagen, et al. argue that the most basic problem which is still not being addressed adequately in teacher education programmes is how to connect theory and practice in such a way that teachers would be able to handle the problems of everyday teaching through theory-guided action (Korthagen, et al. 2006, p. 1021). My research focuses on the issue of analyzing the link between theory and practice of English language teacher education in the context of Pakistan. This analysis will help to understand what student teachers learn during coursework at the university, how they learn it and how they put that learning into practice during thee practicum. In the next part I discus the concept of practicum. 3. The Practicum Practicum (also termed as teaching practice/internship/induction or field experiences) may be defines as learning by doing (Schà ¶n 1987), learning from action (Hutton 1989) or work-based learning (Foster and Stephenson 1998). Stanton Giles (1989, 180) define the practicum as field experiences that focus on professional practice and activities that are explicitly focused on pre-professional practice. The ultimate goal of the practicum is to let student teachers demonstrate specific competencies that they are expected to have mastered at different stages in their pre-service stage (Yan, 2010) Practicum placements in schools are considered to be a significant component of pre-service teachers education program (Touchon Gwyn-Paquette, 2003; Leishem 2008). Practicum plays a major role in student teachers learning. Much of what teachers need to learn must be learned in and from practice rather than in preparing for practice (Ball Cohen, 1999; Hammerness, Darling-Hammond, Bransford, 2005). Teaching practice provides opportunities for student teachers to develop a contextualized understanding of the complexities. It also provides opportunities to develop classroom management skills, lesson planning and the ability to interact with students (Richards Crookes, 1988; Farrell, 2001). According to Huling (1997), practicum experiences offer teacher candidates a place to observe and work with real students, teachers, and curriculum in natural settings (p.1). Student teachers are able to apply their theoretical knowledge in the real classroom setting. Darling-Hammond and McLaughlin (1996) note that professional development opportunities are criticized for being non-contextual and isolated from the world of practice. Practicum in teacher education programmes provides opportunities of practice in the context of school. Zeichner (2006 p. 333) says that extended teaching practice can give the student teachers exposure to practices of experienced teachers. Student teachers may observe experienced teachers and can learn from their practices. It can also develop interaction among student teachers and the other school teachers. It is clear form the above that practicum is an important component of teacher education programmes. It not only provides opportunities for applying the theoretical knowledge the strudent teachers have gained from the teacher education institutions but also develops a sense of professionalism in them. It introduces the teaching profession to the prospective teachers. They can also interact with experienced teachers and can learn from them. 3.1. Linking Theory and the Practicum (Korthagen Kessels, (1999) argue that in application of theory model of pre-service teacher education in the United States, prospective teachers are supposed to learn theories at the university and then go to schools to practice or apply what they learned on campus. (Darling_Hammond (2006, p. 307) observes that one of the perennial dilemmas of teacher education is how to integrate theoretically based knowledge that has traditionally been taught in university classrooms with the experience based knowledge that has traditionally been located in the practice of teachers and the realities of classrooms and schools. Zeichner (2010, p. 90) also supports the view that one of the most difficult tasks is to strengthen the connections between what our student teachers do in their school and community placements and the rest of their teacher education program. The inter-relationship of theoretical knowledge and practicum is further elaborated by Lewis (2007). He uses the terms conjunction and disjunction to refer to the presence or absence of the relationship between what is taught in teacher education and what is practiced in schools. By conjunction, he means that there is no clash between the knowledge gained in teacher education institutions and what is to be practiced by trainee teachers in schools. Lewis argues that disjunction or the difference between university advocated practice and what actually occurs in schools, presents the prospective teacher with a dilemma. He quotes a student teacher who in doing the practicum in school who says: the course at university emphasizes engagement and use of constructivist oriented activities however the majority of classes I am doing have teaching that is fairly teacher oriented and content focused (Lewis 2007, p. 6). This type of confusion may be common in a number of contexts. It may happen when teacher education institutions do not take into account the contextual factors in schools. Russell (1988) identifies three types of tensions in theory-practice relationship: firstly is between campus-based course work and school-based relevance; secondly, between child and teacher-centered approaches; and finally, between what a student teacher can be told and what that person does in the classroom. Such tensions can be addressed by carefully designing and implementing the teacher education courses keeping in view the context of real school teaching and student teachers previous experiences. 3.2. Gaps between Theory and the Practicum Lack of connection between campus-based teacher education courses and field experiences has been a perennial problem in teacher education programs (Bullough et al., 1997, 1999; Zeichner, 2007, 2010). Studies show that student teachers feel there is a lack of connection between the teacher education programme and the school-based teaching experiences (Hobson et al. 2008, 414). Different reasons may be attributed to the gap between theoretical and the practical component of teacher education programmes. Ashcroft Griffiths (1989) say that it is very hard to preserve the unity of theory and practice during a short teaching practice period in schools. It is very common that cooperating teachers in schools know very little about the methods courses the student teachers have completed on campus and the course teachers in the university know very little about the specific practices used in the classroom where student teachers are placed. (Zeichner, 2010). Lack of well planned supervision and guidance on the part of cooperating teachers may also lead to disconnect between what the students have learnt and what they actually practice. It is often assumed that good teaching practices are caught rather than taught (Darling-Hammond, 2009). Zeichner and Tabachnick (1981) found that many newly learnt teaching theories or conceptions developed during teacher education programmes are diluted by the initial confrontation during their teaching practice and it raises doubts whether insights from teacher education had actually been achieved (Cole Knowles, 1993). As a result of the falling short of the expected practice of the theoretical knowledge, the student teachers may adapt to the common habit of teachers to consider teacher education too theoretical and useless (Elliot, 1991). Sometimes, the courses taught at the university may not be context specific to prepare teachers. In Australian context, Commonwealth Department of Education, Science Training (2002, p. 104) reported that the theoretical components of teacher education programmes are distant, irrelevant and inaccessible. The disconnect may be in various types like the disconnect between university coursework and the teaching context, gap or lack of cooperation between the student teachers and the supervisors or/and cooperating teachers, conflict between student teachers perceived competencies and their actual performance in the practicum etc. The gaps need to be minimized if teacher educators want to produce effective teachers for complex teaching tasks. In the next part I discuss how to minimize the gaps and strengthen the link between theory and the practicum. 3.3. Strengthening the Link between Theory and the Practicum Darling-Hammond (2006) suggests that carefully constructed field experiences coordinated with campus courses are more influential and effective in supporting student teacher learning than the unguided and disconnected field experiences. Evidence shows that traditional and loosely planned and monitored model of field experiences may create obstacles in student teachers learning (Feiman-Nemser Buchmann, 1985; Zeichner, 1996). One way to prepare student teachers for actual classroom is simulative teaching in which simulations of classroom situation are enacted (Cohen, 1981). Simulative teaching sometimes proves to be a fallacy and student teachers may encounter with reality shock when teaching in actual classrooms (Korthagen et al. 2006, p. 1027). Zeichner (2010) suggests that some portion of the methods courses can be taught in partner schools to mediate the gaps between their campus courses and the students school experiences. The course tutors should deliver model lessons in the actual classroom in the partner schools where the student teachers are required to do the practice teaching. Ball Forzani (2009) also support the notion that clinical experiences should be the central focus of pre-service teacher education from which everything else in a program emanates. Cheng et al. (2010) examined theory-practice gap as perceived by student teachers in Hong Kong. On the basis of their findings, the researchers propose four strategies to close the gap and strengthen the link between theory and practice. They recommend: student teachers need to develop their own competencies and reflect on their pedagogical practice; promoting self leaning or independent learning; encouraging teacher educators to model lessons and; arranging study abroad programmes for non-native student teachers to some English speaking countries. Darling-Hammond (1994, 1999) Fullan et al. (1998) recommend more involvement of university faculty in the student teachers supervision so that they may get detailed feedback and guidance on the practicum experiences. Casey Howson (1993, 365) suggest a three-person teaching team who should meet to discuss goals and strategies and attempt to build a strong scaffolding for pre-service students. The team includes education professors, field supervisors, and cooperating teachers. Korthagen et al. (2006) argues for a close cooperation not only in the sense of school-university partnerships, but also in three-way cooperation among teachers in schools, teacher educators in universities, and those who are learning to teach. Goodlad (1990) also recommends including teacher candidates perspectives in the mentoring process. In the next part I review literature on how to improve the practicum in teacher education programmes. 4. Improving the Practicum Student teachers perceive the practicum to be the most valuable part of their teacher education for its strong influence on their views of the roles of teachers (Smith Snoek, 1996). Organizing and conducting well planned and effective practicum may better help teacher education institution to realize their objective of producing more effective teachers. There can be number of problems which reduce the effectiveness of the practicum. Yan and He (2010) identify six problems in the practicum as perceived by English language student teachers in Chinese EFL context. These are: tension between vision and reality, unreasonable schedule of the practicum, practicum schools distrust, lack of supervision, student teachers lack of motivation in preparing lessons plans and lack of sound assessment system. These problems are associated with organization of the practicum, role of supervisors, assessment system and level of motivation among student teachers to teach. As teacher educators, we will n eed to address such issues to make the practicum more effective. Some of the most significant factors which can contribute to improve the practicum in schools are school-university partnership, role of the faculty in preparing student teachers for the practicum and supervising their practice and support and cooperation of the cooperating teachers. I will discuss these separately. 4.1. School-University Partnership School-university partnership does not mean that schools are only the practice fields for student teachers. This view limits the collaboration and cooperation between schools and universities. (Korthagen et al. (2006) argues that common view of learning to teach includes the assumption that the university-based components of teacher preparation offer the theoretical underpinnings of teaching and that school teaching experience (practicum) offers a situation in which those previously learning principles of teaching are practiced. This view creates many difficulties, including the fact that the expertise of teaching practice is often assumed to reside largely in schools with teachers. Further Gorodetsky, Barak, and Hadari (2007) pointed out that even in the current wave of school-university partnerships in teacher education, colleges and universities continue to maintain hegemony over the construction and dissemination of knowledge, and schools remain in the position of practice fields where student teachers are to try out the practices provided by the university. This view implies that schools are always at the giving end. Why should the head teacher and the cooperating teachers spar enough time to mentor the student teachers and collaborate with the faculty supervisors if they are not involved in any other component of teacher education programmes? The exclusion of school teachers from designing and pedagogy of teacher education courses also limits the actual training needs of the student teachers and the scope of the practicum. The practicum in particular and teacher education programme in general can be strengthened if experienced school teachers are involved in the university programmes. Zeichner (2010) gives an example of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where teachers with evidence of a high level of competence in the classroom spend 2 years working in all aspects of the pre-service teacher education program, including student recruitment, general education, professional education sequence, ongoing program evaluation and renewal ef forts, and in supporting graduates in their early years of teaching. University faculty may also join the partner schools to teach the actual classroom for some period of time to refresh their knowledge of school teaching. This sort of useful partnership may help improving the practicum. 4.2. Role of the University Faculty in the Practicum In addition to working as course developers, course tutors, examiners, evaluators, managers etc. teacher educators serve as role models for the actual practice of the professional (Korthagen, Loughran, Lunenberg, 2005). This role model may be intentional or not. Loughran (1997) is of the view that modelling behaviour by the educator gives the student teachers an opportunity to experience and understand some likely outcomes of teaching. Research shows that explicit modelling of teacher educators can facilitate the translation into the student teachers own practice (Lunenberg, Korthagen Swennen 2007). Modelling is an effective tool to prepare student teachers for actual classroom teaching. The teacher educator can also deliver model lessons in the partner schools instead of creating simulative classrooms in the university. Supporting the concept of modelling, Russell (1999, p. 220) goes on to say that Universities generally, and university-based teacher educators particularly, have no right to recommend to teachers any teaching practices that they have not themselves used successfully at the university. Korthagen et al. (2006) argues that if teacher educators advocate some innovative practices that they do not model and explain in their own teacher education classrooms, teacher education reform will continue to elude us. University faculty can use modelling as a powerful strategy to prepare student teachers for the practicum. There can be some implications of model lessons as it may not be possible for trainee teachers to adapt themselves to the model lesson after some period of t ime. Furthermore, there may be more than one method of teaching the same lesson; sometimes it can be ridiculous to confine the student teachers to the method/methods used by the faculty in his/her model lesson. 4.3. Cooperating Teachers and the Practicum Support from cooperating teachers may be useful for student teachers during the practicum. But sometimes, cooperating teachers are overburdened because they also need to do their routine teaching and other school assignments simultaneously. In such a case it is likely that they do not take the practicum seriously and may not assist student teachers as they should have or would have wanted to help them. Guyton McIntyre (1990) emphasise the role of the cooperating teacher, who is most available, in developing student teachers practice. Farrell (2001) argues for support from the practicum school and cooperating teachers. He further contends that student teachers should be placed with competent cooperating teachers. If the cooperating teachers are not competent enough, they are likely to be less effective in student teachers development. Randall (1992) says that the cooperating teacher may heavily influence student teachers teaching styles through direct contact. He can provide on the s pot guidance to the student teacher. It is very common that cooperating teachers in schools know very little about the methods courses in the universities (Zeichner, 2010). Cooperating teachers need to be involved in the university courses and also trained by the university faculty for mentoring of the student teachers. It can help them perform their role more effectively in helping student teachers. In the next part I review research on the practicum in teacher education and English language teacher education and also argue for my proposed study. 5. Research on Practicum in Teacher Education and English Language Teacher Education Darling-Hammond (2006) states that there has been much discussion about the structure of teacher education programmes but there has been less discussion on what actually goes on in the teacher education courses and the clinical experiences that student teachers encounter and how the programmes add up to the knowledge and skills of the student teachers to prepare them for classroom. Yan (2010) argues that research on the practicum is mainly limited to general higher education programmes from the Western world, and the English language teaching practicum has received scarce attention. Little is known about how learners conceptualize their initial teaching experiences, and about what impact these experiences have on their professional development as teachers (Johnson 1996, 30) and what actually occurs during the practicum (Richards Crookes 1988; Freeman 1989). Snoek (1996) claimed that student teachers perceived the practicum to be the most valuable part of their teacher education for its strong influence on their views of the roles of teachers. Hodge et al. (2002) reported that the practicum had a positive impact on the student teachers attitude towards their work. Yan, (2010) contends that most second-language teacher preparation programmes simply assume that once pre-service teachers have completed their required coursework, they will be able to transfer their knowledge into effective classroom practices. It is, therefore, well worth investigating complexities and problems arising from the practicum to enhance its effect on student teachers professional growth and teacher education programmes. Cheng et al. (2010) examined the theory-practice gap by reporting a study that researched the inconsistencies between student teachers best teaching strategies and their most commonly employed ones. They conducted this study in the context of Hong Kong. A questionnaire and in-depth interviews were used to generate data. Total 228 final year student teachers of 4 years B. Ed programme completed and returned the questionnaire. In addition to it, 31 Year 4 student teachers enrolled in these programmes participated in in-depth interviews. Findings revealed three main dimensions of consideration attributing to the inconsistencies in the conceptions of teaching: pre-training experiences of student teachers, teaching context of the partner school and student needs. These considerations lead to expansive or constraining impacts on the student teachers selections of teaching strategies. Nevertheless, teacher education programmes are expected to have an expansive impact on the student teachers conceptions of teaching as well as to help them overcome constraining impacts from other sources of influence. Koeppen (1998) observed that student teachers face multiple difficulties in classroom instruction as theory versus practice occurs. Her case study of a student teacher found that the student had problems in linking university courses and classroom context during the practicum. What the student had studied for example, planning instruction and modeling did not match the reality he found in school. This student teacher struggled to reconcile himself to the teacher-centered teaching he was doing which was totally against the theory of teacher-centered learning which he had learned in his course. In the context of Pakistan, no such study has been conducted on the link between theory and teaching practicum in English language teacher education. Keeping in view the above cited literature, the present study aims to analyze the link between English language student teachers pedagogical content knowledge learnt from the university coursework and their practice of teaching during the practicum in schools. By pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) here, I mean the knowledge to teach English as a second language at secondary level. The focus of my study is to find out what PCK student teachers learn during their English language teaching course at the university and how they apply that knowledge in the classroom during the practice teaching. I pose the following questions to achieve the aim of the study: What type of pedagogical content knowledge the student teachers learn during English language teaching course at a selected teacher education department in Pakistan? How and to what extent English language student teachers apply/practice their pedagogical content knowledge to teach during the practicum in schools? What is the relationship between student teachers pedagogical content knowledge and their practice of teaching English at secondary level in Pakistan?

Celebrity Endorsement on Rural Consumers

Celebrity Endorsement on Rural Consumers The celebrities in India are the role models for majority of Indians, they are so influenced by them that most of the population follows the trends of their dressing, styles and habits. This is the major reason for the companies to hire the celebrities to promote their products. The companies invest billions of to hire the celebrity for the promotion of their product. The companies believe that the celebrity changes the purchase intention of the consumers in India. The study is conducted to find out the impact of celebrity on rural consumers of Lucknow district of Uttar Pradesh. In order to analyze the objective of the study the data was collected using convenience sampling from 300 respondents belonging to the randomly selected areas of Lucknow. The secondary data was collected through different sources such as- Journals, Magazines, Internet, and Newspaper etc. Null hypothesis was framed and analytical Techniques are the statistical tools that are used for analyzing the collected da ta. The frequency tables were used to represent the collected data. One sample T-test was used to test the hypothesis and ANOVA was used to calculate the significance level of impact of celebrity endorsement on rural consumers. The SPSS 17 is also used as statistical software to analyze the collected data. It is found that the Indian consumers prefer celebrities in the television commercials. Keywords Brand Building, Brand Promotion, Celebrity Endorsements, Indian Television Commercials. INTRODUCTION The celebrities in India are the role models for majority of Indians, they tries to follow their styles, clothes and their small habits. Celebrity endorsement is most acceptable and common phenomenon that companies use to attract their consumers across the world. They believe that celebrities can influence the purchasing decision of their prospect consumers as they have special places in the heart of consumer. Therefore after analyzing the degree of involvement to follow the celebrities, the companies started hiring various bollywood and sports stars for the commercial advertisements. That is why the promotional budget for advertising has taken many financial folds compared to past investments. The companies invest billions of Rupees over hiring a celebrity for their product promotion. Such endorsers are seen as dynamic with both attractive and likeable qualities and companies plan that these qualities are transferred to products via marcom activities. Furthermore, because of their f ame, celebrities serve not only to create and maintain attention but also to achieve high recall rates for marcom messages in todays highly cluttered environments. Theory and practice prove that the use of super stars in advertising generates a lot of publicity and attention from the public (Ohanian 1991). Therefore, Celebrity endorsement has been established as one of the most proffered tools of advertising. It has become a trend and perceived as a winning formula for product marketing and brand building. It is very easy to have a celebrity for a product or brand but it is very tough to establish a very strong association between the product and the endorser: because the objective is to build a brand not the celebrity: if properly matched it can do wonders for the company, but it also has a number of potential problems like failure of celebrity in his profession, controversy, etc. LITERATURE REVIEW According to McCracken (1989), a celebrity could be defined as, Any individual who enjoys public recognition and who uses this recognition when they appear in the advertisement in front of the Consumers. There are multiple roles that a celebrity spokesperson may play (and the roles may not be mutually exclusive) (Kamen, Azhari and Kragh, 1975) in an advertisement such as that of a spokesperson, endorser, provider of a testimonial, or an actor. A spokesperson represents the company or brand like a salesman, while an endorser is associated with the brand even though he may not be an expert in the product category of the brand. In case of testimonials, the superiority of the product is attested by an individual or the personal experience of the celebrity. Lastly, the celebrity actor is only a character in a dramatic presentation in the advertisement. McCracken (1989) suggested four different modes of celebrity endorsers namely, Explicit mode, Implicit mode, Imperative mode, and the Co-present mode. In the explicit mode, the celebrity announces the endorsement of a product, while in the implicit mode; the celebrity uses verbal or physical communication for the product. In the imperative mode, the celebrity suggests the audience to use the endorsed product while the celebrity only appears with the product in the co-present mode. The studies of celebrity endorsements in the past 30 years have centered around two broad themes: source credibility and celebrity-brand congruence. Source credibility studies focus on the factors defining the credibility of a celebrity. Credibility of a celebrity has been found to be a major factor influencing consumer attitudes. Research has identified three dimensions of source credibility: attractiveness, expertise, and trustworthiness. Some of the studies (e.g., Ohanian, 1990) have used all the three dimensions to develop a scale that can measure credibility. On the other hand, there are studies that have analyzed only one or two dimensions of credibility and its impact on the consumer (Weiner and Mowen, 1986; Friedman and Friedman, 1979; Kamins and Gupta, 1994). However, the findings from these studies have been quite contradictory. While some studies have found trustworthiness to be the most important dimension of source credibility (McGinnies and Ward, 1980; Atkin and Block, 1983 and Kamins, 1989), others have emphasized attractiveness (Baker and Churchill, 1977; Kahle and Homer, 1985; Caballero et al., 1989; Silvera and Austad, 2004) or have suggested expertise (Maddux and Rogers, 1980; Ohanian, 1991) to be the most important parameter. Around 64 per cent of the commercials used the implicit mode of celebrity portrayal for different product categories. Usage of film celebrities was more extensive than sports celebrities in major product categories. This was probably because the shelf life of fame for a film celebrity is more than that of the sports celebrity. Male celebrities dominated the product categories like food and beverage, automobiles, and consumer durables. The female celebrities were featured majorly in beauty products. No distinct association was found between the product categories considered and the mode used for celebrity portrayal. (Jain et al. 2010) Using a celebrity for endorsement is not a new occurrence but prevalent since 19th century. Celebrity endorsements help to break the clutter and differentiate the brand. It also helps in image repair of a brand (Kaikati, 1987). In todays world where thousands of advertisements come across people in various forms, celebrity endorsement can easily win the confidence of consumers (Sabnavis, 2003). Celebrity helps in increasing profitability of the organization. In fact, celebrity endorsement is more effective than non-celebrity endorsement in generating attitudes towards advertisement (AAD), attitude towards brand (AB) and purchase intention (PI) (Erdogan, 1999). Research findings suggest that the percentage of celebrity advertisements out of the total number of ads aired is as high as 25-30% in western countries and around 60% in India (Patel, 2009). In such a scenario both academia and industry look for the issues in selection, use and effectiveness of celebrities as product endorsers. Research in celebrity endorsements in the last thirty years have tried to address various issues in celebrity endorsements such as the effects of credibility of endorser on the consumers (Friedman and Friedman, 1979; Goldsmith et al., 2000), issues in celebrity product match-up (Kamins, 1990; Till and Busler, 1998), meaning transfer in celebrity endorsements (McCracken, 1989) and a host of other issues such as effect of negative celebrity information, cross country comparison of celebrity advertising, gender and celebrity endorsement perceptions, etc. Celebrity endorsements is been accepted to be a ubiquitous feature of modern day marketing (McCracken 1989). It has also been seen that one quarter of all advertisement use/feature a celebrity to endorse a product or brand. This validates the effectiveness of Celebrity endorsements as a means of persuasive communication. It has the potential to enhance audience attentiveness, make the ad more memorable, credible, and desirable and add glamour to the endorsed product (Spielman, 1981). OBJECTIVES OF THIS STUDY The study is conducted to find out the impact of celebrity endorsement on rural consumers of Lucknow District. HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY The null hypothesis that there is no impact of celebrity endorsement on rural consumers was framed for the study. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY STUDY AREA The Study is conducted in the Lucknow city of Uttar Pradesh. Further, the respondents are selected from four different areas namely, Malihabad, Mohanlalganj, Banthara and Bakshi ka Talab of Lucknow. SAMPLING METHOD AND SAMPLE SIZE The sample method used to select the area for this study is random sampling technique. The sample method that was used to collect data from the population was convenience sampling. Sample size identified for the research is 300 respondents from Lucknow district. DATA COLLECTION The Study is based on Primary data and Secondary data both. The primary data is collected through structured questionnaire from the 300 respondents from Lucknow. The secondary data is collected through the magazines, journals, periodicals, people opinion and internet. ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES Analytical Techniques are the statistical tools that are used for analyzing the collected data. The one sample t-test was used to test the hypothesis. ANOVA was used to find out the impact of celebrity on rural consumers. The SPSS 17 statistical software is also used for doing the calculations RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS The study was conducted in rural areas of Lucknow. Using the random sampling technique the rural areas of Lucknow were selected. The study was done at Malihabad, Banthara, Bakshi ka Talab and Mohanlalganj. The total sample size targeted for study was 300 respondents from the selected areas but the responses were received from 277 respondents. The convenience sampling was used to collect the data from the respondents using structured questionnaires. The respondents were categorized in the age group 0- 10, 10- 20 and above 60, with the class interval of 10. It was found that maximum number of respondents were in the age group of 20- 30 with 67 respondents, followed by 10- 20 with 60 respondents as represented in Table 1. As per Table 2, the numbers of male respondents were 173 (62.5%) and the numbers of female respondents were 104 (37.5%). This shows that males participated the maximum in the study. Table 3 shows the preferences about the celebrities in the advertisements. The respondents are categorized in three categories name yes, no and cant say. The numbers of respondents who prefer the celebrities in the advertisements are 103 which contribute 37.2% of the responded population. Further, 96 respondents responded that they do not prefer celebrity in the advertisements which contribute to 34.7% of the responded population. 78 respondents replied cant say which is 28.2% of the responded population. Null Hypothesis: There is no impact of celebrity endorsement on rural consumers. Alternate Hypothesis: There is impact of celebrity endorsement on rural consumers. The null hypothesis indicates that there is no impact of celebrity endorsement on rural consumers, to test this hypothesis one-sample t-test is used, and as per the Table 4 the significance value is .000 which is significant at 5% level of significance. Hence the null hypothesis there is no impact of celebrity endorsement on rural consumers is rejected and alternate hypothesis there is impact of celebrity endorsement on rural consumers can be accepted. ANOVA was used to identify the impact of celebrity endorsement on rural consumers. Here age group of rural consumers is considered as dependent variable whereas prefer celebrity in advertisement is considered as Construct. There is a significant impact of celebrity endorsement on rural consumers. The value of significance level is .000, which is significant at 5% level of significance. Therefore, it can be said that there is an impact of celebrity endorsement on rural consumers based on the data collected for the study. CONCLUSION The statistical tools were used to determine the conclusion of the hypotheses framed. The tools used for analysis of the data are- frequency distribution, which showed the percentage by which the hypotheses has been accepted, one- sample t-test to test the hypotheses at 5% of significance and ANOVA to analyze the impact of celebrity endorsement on rural consumers. The following points were concluding observation to satisfy the objectives of the study and prove the hypotheses: 37.2% of the rural consumers prefer celebrities in the advertisements followed by 34.7% of rural consumers who do not prefer celebrities in the advertisements. There is an impact of celebrity endorsement on rural consumers as it is been proven in the study by calculating the significance level.

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David Sylvester A.P.U.S.H. Mr. Pickford February 11, 2014 Douglas MacArthur And The Korean War Arguably one of the greatest generals in American history Douglas MacArthur was born to be in the military, his father Arthur MacArthur was a great soldier who honorably in the Army and it MacArthur went to West Point to follow in his father's footsteps. MacArthur served for rising through the ranks at a rapid pace, he became most well known for his leadership during the second world war but after that he led his troops on the battlefields of Korea in his seventies. Although MacArthur proved to be a brilliant general, his aggressive decisions towards the end of the Korean War led to his honorable removal as general of the United Nations Army and his heroic actions and tales to be cemented permanently in American History. June 27th, 1950 was the day the United States announced its direct assistance in the Korean War. The following day United States planes were already bombing the North Korean Army and the United States is getting prepared for more attacks. On July 7th, 1950 General Douglas MacArthur was appointed to be commander of all UN forces which was an easy choice for President Truman to make because he and MacArthur were great friends and Truman admired MacArthur for his great military leadership. After being appointed MacArthur said to Truman "I can only repeat the pledge of my complete personal loyalty to you as well as an absolute devotion to your monumental struggle for peace and good will throughout the world. I hope I will not fail you"(MacArthur). When MacArthur took command in Korea he provided the soldiers with a much needed moral boost that kept them fighting harder and gave them a new sense of hope. During the begin... ...or his country and freedom sores past many others it led him into some trouble when he began speaking out against the government for not helping them and instead restricting how they could fight the war. MacArthur's words and actions he took against Harry Truman did not help him because he wanted to fight a full war to get a full victory and liberate all of Korea but Truman wanted to fight a restricted war and only liberate South Korea. The constant disputes between Truman and MacArthur ultimately led to Truman firing MacArthur. MacArthur's fate had already been cemented in history as an American hero and one of the greatest generals in military history, his tactics, moral and leadership were all driving factors that made him such a great general and he was always well respected by the men who served him because he was always right in the battle with them.