Developing a marketing mix for a new product or service Essay

In this assignment I will be looking at how product and services are marketed and look at how a marketing mix is developed using the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. The Marketing Mix provides an excellent framework for developing marketing plan. They are generally accepted as being made up of four parts which are: †¢Product †¢Price †¢promotion †¢place These are ideas to consider when marketing a product and shall be described in more detail below:- The Four ‘P’s Product A product is anything that can be offered to the market to satisfy a customer needs and desires. Product include physical goods, services experiences, events, person, place and etc. It is therefore the combination of goods and service that are offered to the target consumer. A business will constantly change and update its product range and mix to constantly please their customers and be above competitors. A product can be viewed in three different levels: Level 1: The core Product (rather than the physical product) is the benefit of the production that makes it valuable to you. Level 2: The actual product is the physical item. At this level branding and added features and benefits are important as this what will differentiate the product from competitors. Level 3: The augmented product is additional value beyond the physical product: it usually consist of after-sales service, warranties, delivery and so on. The extent of the mix is another significant issue. If a business doesn’t have many products, there is a chance that one will go out of date as newer type of products are in the market and this can seriously damage the business scale. It is recommended to never have one product in one market as if the product isn’t successful and fails this could mean a complete failure of the business. Some businesses will adapt and anticipate change, while  others reacts to the need to change. An example of this is that IPhone makes changes to their products such as their mobile phones, they add more features to their products giving their customers a range of features to look for in a product. Once a business has identified their target group of customers it has to know what products or services it needs to do and provide in order to appeal and attract to them. The information they provide their customers should illustrate the features of the product or service so that the customers know what to expect and it reaches their expectations and the business will make a profit. However it’s important to take into consideration that the benefits to a customer are not always for a practical sense there are psychological benefits such as status for example. An example of this is if everyone has a specific phone and a person went and got the same phone they may get it more for a status reason. The product life cycle concept reflects the theory that product, like people, live a life. They go through 4 stages. The main stages of the product life cycle are: †¢Introduction- researching, developing and then launching the product †¢Growth-when sales are increasing at their fastest rate †¢Maturity-sales are near their highest, but the rate of growth is slowing down, e.g. new competitors in market or saturation †¢Decline-final stage of the cycle, when sales begin to fall So understanding what part of the cycle your product is in will shape your marketing mix. Price Price is the one element of the marketing mix that revenue; the others produce costs. A business must set a price for a product and in deciding the products price; marketing must follow a six-step-process. 1.Select the price objective-This could be to survive or to maximize market share. 2.Determine demand-the higher the price, the lower the demand. 3.Estimate cost-charge a price that covers the cost of producing, distributing and selling the product. 4.Analyze competitors’ costs, prices and offers-take into account its competitors cost and prices setting its price. 5.Select a pricing strategy-there a number of pricing, which is listed below. 6.Select the final place-this is decided after testing on a range of pricing points. Premium pricing This is where the business will keep the price of a product or service high in order to encourage customer to associate it will high quality. Penetration pricing This is when a product is sold into a market at a low initial price in order to generate sales before the price is increased. Economy pricing Economy pricing is the deliberate setting of low price in order to boost sales. Skim pricing when launching a new product there will be less competition in the marketplace. Skimming involves setting as reasonably high initial returns from those consumers willing to buy the new product. Psychological pricing This based on customer pricing method. It relies on consumer’s emotive responses, subjective views and feeling towards specific purchases. Captive product pricing This is a strategy that can apply to products with consumable supplies. This is where the pricing at high prestige levels, otherwise they will not sell; customers equate higher quality with higher prices. Product line pricing This is the pricing of different products within the same product range at different price points. Place Place in marketing mix refers to where the product is purchased from and how it’s distributed. For example, most consumer of confectionery will buy products form retail stores. Businesses need to adapt their marketing mix depending on the end customers- that is whether they are a consumer or reseller- as each seek different benefits from the same product. Distribution A business may use two types of distribution method: indirect or direct. Indirect distribution is when a business sells its products via an intermediary such as wholesaler, who then sells to retailers. Direct distribution is where the business sells and distributes direct to the customers. Choosing indirect distribution may mean that a business loses some of the control over the pricing of their products, as they have offer discounts to wholesalers and retailers, who may choose to pass on saving to their customers. Online The growth of online shopping have given businesses a new place to sell their products to customers. This offers businesses an advantage as they can sell directly to the customers. This mean they can avoid the wholesaler and therefore increasing the profit margin on their products. The promotional mix involves the blending of number of variables to satisfy the needs of a business’s target market and achieve its organizational objectives. With the promotional mix, a business attempts to achieve the best blend of promotional elements to suit their promotional objectives. The components of the promotional mix are: †¢Advertising †¢Sales promotion †¢Personal selling †¢Public relations Advertising This may be defined as paid promotions through various media by businesses, non profit organizations and individual’s that are in some way identified in the advertising message and hope to inform or persuade members of particular audience. Advertisers have many tricked up their selves such as: †¢Excitement †¢Personality power †¢Put-down: Business put down their competitions †¢Jumping on the bandwagon: Advertisements encourage the audience to join the crowd. Personal selling This is where a seller presents a product direct to a consumer often face to face but can be done over the phone and through video conferencing. Public relations This covers a firm’s communications and relationships with its public. This includes customers, suppliers, stockholders, employees, the government, the general public and the society in which the organization operates. This can be formal or informal. Publicity is important part of effective public relations efforts. It can be defined as the non-personal stimulation of  demand for a good, service, person or cause. Sales promotion This is related to marketing activities that fall outside of the categories such as coupons, trade shows, displays, samples and other promotional efforts that occur on an irregular basis. Some of these promotions are short term and opportunistic. In this assignment I have examine how products and services are marketed and look at how a marketing mix is developed using the four p’s: Product, Price, Place and Promotion.

Allegory of the Cave Summary

Allegory of the Cave Summary Plato’s Allegory of the Cave presents an enthralling concept that holds strong to this day. In the allegory three main ideas are illustrated : that we have been conditioned to a definite reality since birth, we scorn being brought into the ‘light’ of knowledge, and that we (as a society) reject anything that contradicts the notions of our preconceived reality. Clever Plato took these ideas and weaved them into an intriguing story of prisoners trapped in an underground cave, and then what happens when one of them was enLIGHTened.Surprisingly it applies in many ways to our society in modern times, nowadays no one questions what is true and what is false. It’s exactly as Aldous Huxley feared, we’ve become lost in a sea of information which debilitates us to gain conscious understanding of information. We’ve been raised in a society of ‘don’t question it’ which leaves the people vulnerable to the pe ople carrying the statues across the fire, creating our sense of reality. When we are first brought into this cave at the beginning of the allegory, it contains prisoners bound by chains in such a way as to force their heads to stare at this wall.It continues to tell us that they’ve been this way since birth, and that a massive fire behind them that allows them to see shadows broadcast onto the wall, periodically people go be the fire with statues of people and creatures which cast shadows onto the wall and this ‘shadow world’ is what the prisoners consider their reality. They are all content with this knowledge and nothing changes until one of the prisoners is set free. The prisoner, once he’s set free, is blinded by the fire the moment he turns his head to face the fire.He looks back to the shadows which he identifies as reality, and looks back and forth between the fire and the wall until he finally accepts that the fire may be more ‘real’. His enlightenment is continued as he’s forced up the stairs and forced into the sunlight to view the real world. He begins slowly only identifying shadows at first and slowly progresses until he’s able to identify the sun, and contemplate the sun as an idea and not just as an object.He continues learning about this new reality until he is fully convinced. Remembering his former companions he grows full of pity for them, knowing that they don’t share his knowledge of what is ‘real’ and what is a mere shade of reality. With this thought in his head he heads back to the cave. Once he’s back in the cave his eyes are full of darkness and he’s unable to see things as clearly as his companions, for he had grown accustomed to the reality of light, because of this his former companions made fun of him.They knew he wasn’t as adept to their reality, which they perceived as being the right one. Seeing what happened to their former companio n when he was taken into the light, they decided that they’d never ascend because if they ascended they’d lose their sight of ‘reality’. With that the enlightened one left, knowing that his companions were lost in blissful ignorance, and he could do nothing to convince them for fear of death.

Facilitating Case Management Essay

Why is it important for a case manager to develop rapport with a client? Provide three examples of how rapport can be generated. 2. Why are statutory requirements necessary? What impact do they have on the case manager’s role? 3. What information might you need to gather from the families of clients? 4. List two elements that may be considered to be characteristics of a complex case. 5. Describe two strategies you may employ when dealing with a client with complex issues. 6. Case management plans must be developed in order to reflect the initial assessment of needs. Why is it essential that these plans be designed in consultation with clients? 7. Casework processes should be continually monitored for effectiveness. a) List two reasons why this is necessary. b) How should monitoring be undertaken? 8. If changes to a case plan are required, who should be consulted prior to the changes being made? 9. Why is cultural consideration important as part of case management planning? 0. Outline three strategies you think a workplace needs to have for including cultural awareness in the planning process? 11. You are a Team Leader in a Community Service Organisation and your organisation has just employed a new case worker. Describe two strategies that can help facilitate casework consultation between staff to maximise their performance in their new role. Best practice and promoting high-quality case management 12. What is meant by the term ‘best practice case management’? Why is best practice a significant service delivery benchmark? 13. How can case workers benefit from appropriate leadership, support, advice, supervision and challenges? In what ways might these improve service delivery? 14. Legislation, organisational policies and procedures can change over time. How might case management leaders support case managers in keeping up to date with organisational policies and procedures?

Retail failue Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Retail failue - Essay Example Failures and bankruptcy cannot occur overnight. The symptoms start showing years ahead of the actual failure. According to Mellahi, Jackson and Sparks (2002) organizational failure can occur due to changes in both the external and internal business environment, but failure is necessarily caused by the external factors over which the managers have no control, contend Sharma and Mahajan (1980) and Mellahi and Wilkinson (2004). This is because the external environment imposes pressures and constraints on the firm’s strategies that can lead to failure. This suggests that firms do not fail due to the inefficiency of the management but they fall victims of the external environment. Changes in customer tastes, brand switching, cyclical decline in demand, competitive rivalry, technological uncertainties due to product and process innovations, are some of the external factors that can lead to organizational failure (Mellahi, Jackson & Sparks, 2002). In addition, retailers undergo the à ¢â‚¬Ëœwheel of retailing’ where they start as low cost, low set business offering modest products but as they develop, they add to the ambience, the products and then they make themselves vulnerable to the other new entrants. Circumstances lead to the inability to respond to the threats of the business. This suggests management inefficiency as the cause of organizational failure. ... When trading conditions became difficult, they sought new trading opportunities. Their decisions were such that at one point they were confused whether they were retailers or consumer finance company (Pal, Medway & Byrom, 2006). They operated under uncertain micro-environment conditions; they changed their format and refurbished their stores when the real estate market was at its height. Failure at AGS was a multi-factor issue. There was no top management homogeneity and hence continuity and growth was also affected. Each decision maker had his own perception and this was based on the micro- and macro- environment prevalent during his tenure. Managers also tend to become blinded to their own weaknesses and strengths, to the customer demands and to the competitors (Mellahi, Jackson & Sparks, 2002). Once success is achieved, overconfidence and arrogance steps in. When organizations become conditioned to exploit their old advantages, they become vulnerable to failure. They either ignore or do not respond to new opportunities. These are internal inadequacies in dealing with external threats. Impulsive decisions, poorly informed managers and the habit of taking unwanted risks are also some of the causes that can cause failure. Managers fail to react to external threats and they continue to focus on the internal methods that were successful in the past. Marks & Spencer’s (M&S) the legendary UK retailers, referred to as ‘managerial giant in the western world’ by Peter Drucker, was recognized as one of the best managed companies in the world. It started facing survival crisis since 1998. M&S were blinded by their past success and refused to advertise (except for new store openings) or make any other

Develop a framework to summarize the literature in enterprise Essay

Develop a framework to summarize the literature in enterprise architecture - Essay Example This paper introduces three essential domains of the enterprise architecture framework. The domains are: It is oblivious from this definition that Enterprise architecture is not just a group of the component architectures. The interrelationships amongst these architectures and their shared properties are crucial to the enterprise architecture. According to [1], the business architecture describes the basic organization and necessities of the business based on company plan and objectives. It is made of four building blocks business model, process architecture, information architecture and organizational architecture. The business model provides a high level view on the type of the business in terms of goods and services existing in the market, the business partners, the value chain, market channel is used and the combination of property and data for producing value add. The process architecture categorizes and describes all process of the company and their individual value adds. It is the key construction block of the company architecture. The progression architecture is classified in the key business process client relationship management, product life cycle management, supply chain management and the operation and support processes. The application architecture offers a general idea on all applications behind the process of the business with the structure blocks applications, entry and information organization policy, statistics repositories, and EAI Services. The infrastructure or technology architecture is made up of software, hardware and network communications essential for operations of all applications. Infrastructure building blocks are the foundation services, place of work services, storage and server system, and network. Work place services give for presentation and work with facts and for output back up at the work place. They are composed of mobile and permanent

Letter to Francesco Vettori and The Prince Essay

Letter to Francesco Vettori and The Prince - Essay Example Alternatively, we can choose to act, and discover our own truth behind the layers of apparent realities. Different approaches to reading into events in our lives have been described down the ages, one of the most dramatic being that of Machiavelli, who suggested an alternative concept of truth, in terms of a philosophy of power, an "effective truth". According to him, reality was much opposed to the idealistic Greek and Christian concepts, and it was not primarily moral or ethical , but political, to be manipulated in order to gain power. He recommends in the fifteenth chapter of The Prince: And many have imagined for themselves republics and principalities that no one has ever seen or known to be in reality. Because how one ought to live is so far removed from how one lives that he who lets go of what is done for that which one ought to do sooner learns ruin than his own preservation: because a man who might want to make a show of goodness in all things necessarily comes to ruin among so many who are not good. Because of this it is necessary for a prince, wanting to maintain himself, to learn how to be able to be not good and to use this and not use it according to necessity. (Machiavelli,1513) Not only does Machiavelli feel that manipulation and distortion of facts is not just a part of reality, he also claims that one who truly worships power as the only truth can bend his destiny to his designs, and fate herself would comply. He clarifies this in Chapter 25 of The Prince: Nevertheless, not to extinguish our free will, I hold it to be true that Fortune is the arbiter of one-half of our actions, but that she still leaves us to direct the other half, or perhaps a little less....So it happens with fortune, who shows her power where valor has not prepared to resist her, and thither she turns her forces where she knows that barriers and defenses have not been raised to constrain her.(Machiavelli, 1513) In stark contrast is Jorge Luis Borges, for whom the reality of destiny is inescapably omnipotent, and the only way to deal with it is to fashion alternate realities, understand it in terms of myth, an opinion for which he has often been criticized : Borges takes away the "real" weight of history, situating it in a mythic horizon, negating it. When he places the whole episode (and, we might say, the whole period) in a place outside of the concrete and the factic, outside of the historical, he deprives it of all concrete importance, of every possibility of influencing reality, of forming part of the historical process.... Once again, Borges negates reality. ( Borello, 1991) Despite creating commentaries on books that did not exist, historical events that never took place, and practicing literary forgery, his concept of reality was very much accepting, in creating myths he sought not to negate reality but to pause its triumphal march so as to grasp it better. Our destiny (unlike the hell of Swedenborg or the hell of Tibetan mythology) is not frightening because it is unreal: it is frightening because it is irreversible and ironclad. Time is the substance of which I am made. Time is a river that sweeps me away, but I am the river; it is a tiger that tears me apart, but I am the tiger; it is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire. The world, unfortunately, is real; I, unfortunately, am Borges. ( Borges, 1946)

Questions and Answers - The Politics of Program Evaluation Essay

Questions and Answers - The Politics of Program Evaluation - Essay Example On the other hand, a communication plan for a quantitative evaluation is more concerned with objective and scientific factors. Where the qualitative evaluation was concerned with â€Å"how well† the plan worked, quantitative evaluation is concerned with â€Å"how much† the plan worked (LinguaLinks Library). Quantitative evaluation measures the level of awareness before and after the implementation of the plan. It takes into account the numbers of people, classes, and materials; measures investments against the results achieved. The aim of the quantitative evaluation is the measure all the aspects of the plan, including factors such as: the number of people involved, the amount of material used, the time allotted for the plan, the cost of plan, and most importantly the extent of transformation generated by the communication plan. 5. Some important aspects of a person’s demeanor that would encourage one to consider his recommendations would include: honest and simple mannerism, non-judgmental attitude and understanding of limitations. A person, whose demeanor or nonverbal behavior (Rashotte, 2002) is superior and judgmental, makes the person receiving the recommendations feel uncomfortable, unsure of him-self and looked-down upon. Hence, such a person’s recommendations will not be well received. The superior and judgmental attitude will only inspire resentment and disdain. On the other hand, a person who treats subordinates with respect and is accepting of their differences, without making them feel small, will always find his recommendations not only followed, but always sought after. A well-reasoned demeanor and un-pretentious attitude of the recommender serves as a positive role model, inspiring confidence and trust, thereby making it easy to understand and accept ones shortcomings without becoming defensive and

Geico Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Geico - Case Study Example Such, each company must strive not only to attract talent, but also to retain them as well through a total rewards program. Traditionally, rewarding employees has been equated with pay. Today, it is no longer applicable and â€Å"the definition of rewards encompasses the overall value proposition that the employer offers to the employee. It’s a total package that includes compensation (comprising of base pay, short-term incentives and long-term incentives), benefits (including health, retirement and work/life benefits, which account for an increasing portion of the rewards package) and careers (including training and development, lateral moves,stretch assignments and career incentives)† (Morris, nd, pg 6). In the case of Geico (2012), it employed a six facet item as part of its Total Rewards program which include Health and Well-being, Building and Securing Your Financial Future, Time Off and Leave Programs, Family and Life Programs, Education and Development and Amenit ies and Perks. Many aspect of Geico’s total rewards are consistent or aligned with the lectures in the Chapter 2 of our textbook which are as follows; 1. Increased Flexibility Geico’s reward program is not only tied up with pay. ... This provides Geico greater latitude to address the needs of its employees that would not keep them but also to make them highly motivated to perform. 2. Improved?recruitment and?retention The range of Geiko’s total reward program is indicative that the company really intends to retain its employees. More especially is the emphasis on family and life programs which very few companies offer as part of its compensation package. This component of Geiko’s total reward program would also be very attractive if not hard to resist among prospective employees who values work-life balance (Guld, 2007). It would also serve as a retention tool among its employees who have families to attend. For Geiko’s part, it would retain its best talent and attract the best talent in the market because of its attractive total rewards program. 3. Reduced Labor Costs/Cost of Turnover Having a flexible reward system designed to retain its employees will have an effect on Geiko’s bott om line in terms of minimal attrition rate, reduced labor cost and low or no cost for turnovers. Opportunity costs associated with labor turnover such as the low learning curve of a new recruit, higher inefficiency and disrupted work will also be avoided. 4. Heightened Visibility in a Tight Labor market One of the big advantages of having a responsive reward program is that employees would not only stay longer in the company but are also motivated to perform. Highly motivated employees performance would resonate to the labor market that a particular company, such as Geiko is a good place to work thus becoming Geiko as a preferred place of work among the best talents in the labor market. 5. Enhanced Profitability All of the

Analysis of Virtual Distance Learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Analysis of Virtual Distance Learning - Essay Example To this effect, it can best be answered that distance learning will not face out the traditional classroom, though elements of these two modules are likely to be fused to enhance learning standards in both models. The wider pool of intelligentsia which comprises students and lecturers, college departmental heads, and education policymakers serves as the wider audience. The paper specifically intends to win over those who are postulating that since virtual/ distance learning is becoming increasingly popular, it will elbow out into inexistence, the traditional mode of learning. The lecturers supervising this paper and the heads of department form the basic audience. The secondary audience is made up of those who may later refer to this academic piece later. Students, lecturers, education policymakers and researchers from the secondary audience. This means that the audience is complicated since it is trifurcate of those who may endorse the position statement, those who may repudiate it, and the neutral parties. Above all, the audience is part of the intelligentsia. This means that the paper or the argument must be above partisanship, logical fallacies, and factual inaccuracies. First and foremost, fusing traditional classes with elements of e-learning will be helpful in ensuring a comprehensive and concise coverage of the topic being covered. For instance, having a traditional classroom watch an excerpt of Noam Chomsky’s illustration of Universal Grammar will greatly help in inculcating concepts needed by the second language acquisition class. Elements of virtual learning can also be used by students of the traditional model of learning for further referencing and extensive learning. This is especially the case when virtual learning materials are availed in libraries of traditional teaching models.

Structural failures in buildings Research Paper

Structural failures in buildings - Research Paper Example The Harbour Cay Condominium in Cocoa Beach, Florida in March 1981 is another important example. The five-story casting-place reinforced concrete building collapsed due to design and construction deficiencies killing eleven construction workers and injuring 23 others. Structural failures occur when there is a reduction of the capability of a structural system or component to such a degree that it cannot safely serve its intended purpose (Janney, 1986, pg. 1; Yates, 2007, pg. 68). A construction failure is a failure that occurs during construction and such failures are considered to be either a collapse or distress of a structural system to such a degree that it cannot safely serve its intended purpose. Failures may result from a single error. However, it is more common for a failure to be the result of several interrelated contributing factors. These may involve technical problems and unexpected deficiencies in material performance. Procedural deficiencies may result from human errors in judgement or from human tendencies towards ignorance, incompetence, negligence and greed. The constructed project may be subjected to environmental conditions or loads that are unpredicted by the designer or by accepted standards of practice. According to Thornton (1985, pg. 14), construction failures may be classified into three categories: safety, functional and ancillary, while the causes of failure fit into five general areas of deficiency, design, construction, material, administrative and maintenance. Yates (2007, pg. 68) identified two broad causes of construction; technical causes and human causes. Technical causes of construction failures are those that are actual physical proximate causes. For example, improper compaction of soil could lead to excessive settlement of a foundation. Procedural causes are related to human errors and they include things such as communication problems or shortcoming in the design and

Commentary on the questionnaire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Commentary on the questionnaire - Essay Example Due to this fact, I oftentimes predisposed to being more of an evaluator of a situation and/or a particular issue. Although I realize that the test is not capable of analyzing or measuring each and every aspect of my personality, it is quite possible that I have overestimated my skills as an evaluator and should instead focus upon improving this particular aspect of my approach as a function of affecting a more positive outcome in the future. Interestingly, and somewhat surprisingly, the test denoted that irate and 11 out of 12 as far as being an â€Å"ideas person†. Whereas I have long prided myself with respect to the fact that I come up with potential solutions to issues and seek to engage teams in a positive way, the ranking of 11 out of 12 with respect to this category was not expected. In such a manner, this encourages me to continue this particular approach and engage team members with potential solutions and ideas as a means of effecting positive outcomes in the future. Furthermore, due to the fact that I have long held an interest in creativity and focused upon approaching issues from a standpoint that is uncommon to others, the potential for maximizing efficiency and benefit of being and ideas person comes to be represented to an even more full and complete degree. Additionally, as has been noted above, I have long understood myself to be both shy and somewhat in approachable in a situation that is defined by group interaction. Because of this, my scores with respect to leadership are rather low/moderate. Although ranking 6 out of 12 does not denote the fact that I am fearful of any level of leadership, it most certainly underscores the fact that I am not at ease or within a zone of comfort engaging with a position of leadership and directing others with respect to how they might best engage the tasks at hand. What was additionally noted had to do with the fact that I ranked relatively

Adolescence problems Essay Example for Free

Adolescence problems Essay Adolescence describes the teenage years between 13 and 19 and can be considered the transitional stage from childhood to adulthood. However, the physical and psychological changes that occur in adolescence can start earlier, during the preteen or tween years (ages 9-12). Adolescence can be a time of both disorientation and discovery. The transitional period can bring up issues of independence and self-identity. Sometimes adolescents may be experimenting with drugs and alcohol or sexuality. During this time, peer groups and external appearance tend to increase in importance. Home BiologyHuman Population and Health Top Problems of Adolescence Most problems of adolescence are due to failure in understanding the anatomical, morphological and psychological changes expected during adolescence. Psychologically, adolescence is such a vulnerable stage that boys / girls of this age are easily carried away by perceptions generated by Misleading and misguiding parents, teachers, friends, brother/sisters. Ignorance of elders. Half informed or ill informed friends, brothers, sisters. Wrongful messages depicted through TV serials, advertisements, films Publications carrying partially or fully false information. Such perceptions can be anything in the range of studies, sex, society, married life, career, religion, politics, or any relevant subject. Every adolescent boy or girl is prone to such exposures which ultimately are retained as perceptions in their minds to form their behavioural patterns. The problems of adolescence are classified as morphological / developmental psychological social educational Some problems are absolutely unimportant and trivial. They could be easily ignored. But even such problems cause great concern to adolescent people. Psychological Problems 3. Social 4. Educational 5. Social Implications Morphological / Developmental Problems Back to Top over growth of hair or undergrowth of hair over weight and underweight skin colour problems Facial deformities, pimples, etc. Limb deformities Abnormal growth of genitals and breasts. Psychological Problems Back to Top Ignorance about many basic facts leads to psychological problems like Misconceptions about sexual feelings, sex related issues. Misconceptions about child birth, reproduction. Misconceptions about coitus, menstrual cycles. Fear about sex and sexual issues. Guilt feeling about sex related issues. Inferiority / Superiority complex about skin colour, beauty, mental ability and IQ. Inexplicable perceptions about dress and fashion codes. Wrong and unrealistic ideologies about friendship and courtship. Perceptional or communicational or preconceived complications about their teachers and parents. Attraction towards opposite sex. Unrealistic and illogical curiosity about sex and sex related issues. Exceptional vulnerability to suicide psychology. Social Back to Top Anticipated unemployment and insecurity due to unemployment. Unwarranted and inexplicable hatredness towards brother / sisters, friends. Intense closeness with brothers / sisters, friends. Unpredictable and volatile relationships with friends. Unrealistic social perceptions about violence, love, sex as influenced by media. Unusually vulnerable and volatile relations with relatives. Fear / imagination about married life, life partners. Educational Back to Top Tensions of attending the classes, examinations and tests. Low IQ feeling. Fear about failure in examination. Fear about low score. Fear and concern about a future career. Misconceptions about teachers. Due to many problems faced during adolescence, the boys and girls of the age between 8 16 form a separate category by themselves. Their problems are specific to themselves. Most of the problems faced by them are perceptional. By timely and effective guidance many of their problems could be solved. Some of them may need medical / psychiatric attention. In India, the parents influence their behaviour, thoughts and are in position to solve many problems if they have positive approach. Despite all efforts being made by parents, teachers, large number of adolescents face one or many problems. When the problem is aggravated, the parents may take them to doctors. But most of them face minor problems modifying their behavioural patterns, personality as a whole. The implications of problems in adolescence can be moral or social. Social Implications Back to Top Future citizen may have a high IQ due to positive thinking and reorientation of their mental resources towards positive personality development. A section of future population may turn into disgruntled, impatient group of people due to grooming of misconceptions about society, love, law, relations, etc. Due to wrong educational policies and ever growing unemployment problems a section of population may turn hostile against the whole society, which breeds and deepens the antisocial activities and perverted thinking. Many of the wrong perception about sex related problems may lead them to unwanted motherhood, anxiety or illegal termination of pregnancy. Some problems during adolescence are decisive in building the personalities (positive and negative) who may or may not utilize the opportunities open to them during their later life. When teachers, parents, brothers /sisters or any close person has positive dominant personality to effectively guide the adolescent at right time they turn out to be very useful section of future population. Imaginary fear, imaginary anxieties and unrealistic expectations as well as host of strong misconceptions may ultimately end up with personalities of negative / perverted thoughts. In extreme disillusions, tension, wrongful personality and maladjustments a section of population may have to be psychiatric patients. Psychosis of mild nature may remain untreated and unnoticed. Such people will not do anything useful to the society or their families. Adolescent being influenced by mass media like electronic media, print media or computer culture may be guided or misguided by such exposure. When misguided they are likely to develop negative perception about many social values. The social implications of adolescent problems are dependent upon social structure. In a country like India where family ties are strong due to emotional, financial, religious attachments the gravity of implications are less. But in an individualistic society like US / Europe where family ties are shallow the gravity of implications can be far more serious. Finding help for families, teenagers and children can be a challenge. But there is good news. Information and referral systems are available from our schools, medical offices, news magazines, the yellow pages and even the Internet. Many parents are finding help and discovering resources by asking family, friends and their co-workers. In fact, information and referrals based on a personal recommendation is a great way to find help. Unfortunately, finding help for children and families has become more  difficult than finding help for most adults problems. For instance, health insurance has many restrictions that limit who you can see and what services they can provide. Most of the problems that families and children face are not covered and only certain diagnoses will be treated. Public programs across the country lack adequate funding. The schools have programs, but they desperately need more staff and money to meet the demands that currently exist. There are many private counselors who work with children, but there are only a few who work with families and children who have serious behavioral and emotional problems. The consequence when children don’t get the help they need can be tragic. Parents and families give up when they don’t know what to do, when they are discouraged and when they lack adequate information. Finding and getting help means you need to get oriented and understand the problems and potential solutions. Behavior Problems. In order to deal with a problem it will help a great deal if parents can describe the problem in terms that may lead to a solution. Here are the problems that I see parents and their children facing. Many of these will surface in small children or they may not appear until children become teenagers. Social withdrawal and isolation Refusal to go to school Demanding and selfish attitude Disregard for rules, responsibilities and family functioning Poor study behavior and skills Unfocused or disruptive behavior in classroom Grades and school performance dropping Erratic or emotionally unstable behavior Poor hygiene and grooming Behavior is disrespectful or defiant Involved in high risk and reckless activities Using alcohol or other drugs Skipping school Stealing or theft Destructive, threatening or violent behavior Self-harming or suicidal behavior Typical Causes. It takes time for problems to become critical, life threatening or intolerable. At some point, one can trace the cause to one or more factors. A pattern of problems will usually occur over time before a problem becomes a crisis. Identifying these factors can help characterize the evolution of a problem or a crisis, the appropriate response and the potential solution that may be necessary. Brittle or fragile emotional temperament Social demands exceed current ability Peer and social pressures Failure to provide rules, discipline and a bonded relationship with a child Parental divorce or separation Family conflict and discord Neglect or abandonment Traumatic experience Undiagnosed medical or psychological problem Untreated parental alcoholism, drug abuse or mental disorder Alcohol and other drug use What are the Solutions?. The first step is to define the problem and a potential cause. After that, you need to explore potential solutions. There are at least several dozen potential solutions to any problem. That is a lot to consider. Unfortunately, access to many of these resources may depend on the parent’s employment benefits and their income. Many public programs have waiting lists and may exclude children if the problem is not severe enough. Exclusion from public programs does not mean the problem is minor. Many programs are full and can only take children with more severe problems. The following is a partial list of potential solutions. Self-help Parenting education and training Individual counseling and therapy Group counseling and therapy Parenting consultation and advice Family counseling and therapy Increased parental involvement and supervision Tutoring Special education programs Change schools Outdoor activities or adventure programs Move to a new area Parenting by other family members Foster care Health and human service case management Private school Day treatment therapy program Boarding school Therapeutic boarding school Residential treatment program Medication intervention Psychiatric hospitalization Police or law enforcement response Diagnosis can be misleading. There are many ways to define problems. One of the least useful and potentially harmful is to rely entirely on a diagnosis. A diagnosis alone can be misleading. Many problems are not solved because the problem was diagnosed, the underlying problems were missed or ignored, and the diagnosis suggested an approach that was inadequate and unfocused. A diagnosis can create a false sense of certainty. Why? Because the diagnostic procedures used in mental health are not much more sophisticated than one used to diagnose a headache or a stomach ache. For instance, there are many forms of headaches and stomach aches. There are many things that can cause a headache a tumor, tension, injury, eye strain, diet, disease, flu, allergies, a cold or bacterial infections etc.. In mental health, no matter how rigidly we use diagnostic criteria, or how sophisticated the interview process, we are still looking at patterns that have many origins. There can be many sources and causes for a particular problem – especially family problems that involve children. A traumatic experience can result in many different problems. The behaviors associated with attention deficits and hyperactivity can be caused and maintained by many things. As a result, there are many potential outcomes and approaches, and these can vary with each family, their beliefs, values, attitudes, culture, ethnicity and their resources. Parents need more than a diagnosis. It helps to understand a problem in a manner that can tell us how a potential solution may work. It’s not enough to say that a child is depressed and they need to talk to a counselor. A child who is living in an abusive home may be depressed and emotionally withdrawn, but they don’t necessarily need therapy to express their emotions. The family may be the more important focus and the most important part of the solution. Counseling and Therapy. Counseling and therapy is a mixed bag as far as solutions go. There are more than 200 types of counselors and therapists. Trying to find the right one can be overwhelming or end up a waste of time. There is also a great deal of similarity between some counselors and some therapists. Counseling is not therapy. Counseling usually results in a realization, a plan or a decision. A therapist provides an environment of activities that bring about change – almost like exercise. There are no simple words of advice or a formula that will absolutely insure that your family or child will find the right person. Trial and error may be required. But there are four guidelines that have been shown to increase the likelihood of success. Become invested. Educate yourself, gather information and become actively invested in understanding the problem and selecting a counselor or therapist. Learn how it works. Don’t select a particular counselor or therapist unless you believe they can clearly describe the problem, how their approach to therapy or counseling works, and how that approach will resolve the problem. The relationship heals. The relationship you and your child have with a counselor or therapist as well as their approach are equally important. Work with people you and your child trust, like and believe is competent. Get references. Ask for the names of other parents or professionals who can recommend a potential counselor or therapist. There is no better reference than a credible recommendation and past success with similar problems. Medications. The use of medication can present a real solution and a real problem for most parents. Medications can have a powerful effect on the mood and behavior of children. For parents who have tried everything else, medications can make the difference between a life lost and a chance to become a reasonably successful adult. There are certain realities when one decides to use medication. For one thing, psychiatric medications for behavioral and mental health problems will treat the symptoms and not the cause. Medications do not cure psychological, emotional and behavioral problems. Psychiatric medications that are used to treat depression, anxiety, mood swings, attention deficits, hyperactivity and disorganized thinking always affect another part of a child’s body and brain. These side-effects are not clearly understood and the long term impact on growing children is still uncertain. Law suites are surfacing and legislators are proposing legislation to address recognized dangers in the wrongful medication on children. While one should be cautious about the use of medications to treat behavioral problems, there is certainly a place for these drugs. In severe cases, and cases where parents cannot afford therapy and special schools, medications can bring hope to an otherwise hopeless situation. In some cases, children may require medication to simply participate in school, family activities and counseling or therapy. More importantly, a child’s personality and attitude in life will be damaged if that child is left in a depressed, anxious or otherwise dysfunctional state for an extended period of time. Medication can be a life boat and deterrent against psychological and social trauma that come from serious but temporary problems that would otherwise destroy a child’s attitude toward life. But before you start any medication, ask your pharmacist for information on the side effects. The Power of Parenting and Family. Parents and family members can have the most powerful impact of a child’s behavior, attitude and approach to life. Put simply, children are persuaded and impressed by the people they spend the most time with and the people who matter most. That should be the child’s parents and family. Why? Because a therapist can only provide an exceptional environment, relationship and activities for an hour or so a week. Individual counseling and therapy may not be enough for most children especially if that child is facing social pressure, temptations, painful experiences and inappropriate role models during the remainder of the week. In most cases, individual therapy or counseling without parental or family involvement is not enough. In some cases, therapy and counseling can result in a child developing unrealistic expectation of their parents and family. It is easier to be a therapist than it is to be a parent. This is why family education and involvement in counseling and therapy may be essential. Therapy and counseling should never replace the essential role of parents or a family. It should support those roles. But if parents are unwilling or unable to become involved with their child or in therapy, then therapy can provide the support that some children desperately need. Peers and Social Pressure. At a very early age, many children are profoundly influenced by their peers. It has been repeatedly observed in social science that children learn behaviors and will adopt the attitude of children they are emotionally bonded with. As children begin to bond with other children, they seek approval, advice and even direction for their life. The struggle for independence and separation from parents is a natural process. However, problems will invariably surface, attitudes may become hostile, and values can become lost when parents become less involved with their children. Social pressure is a powerful tendency for children to imitate and adopt the behavior and emotional sensitivity of others. Children begin to think the way they talk with their friends. Children tend to become what they think about.

Psychological research studies

Psychological research studies It was first believed, according to the empiricists view (e.g. Locke, 1939) that a newborn infants ability to perceive, developed solely through a process of learning via experience. These pinnacle underestimates could have existed due to the extremely difficult nature of assessing what one could consider inaccessible to direct measurements. Contemporary knowledge in this domain has proliferated markedly due to the development of inventive techniques used to measure infants perceptual abilities. These perceptual abilities are considered to form the basis for rapid learning and development (Mehler Dupoux, 1994) and therefore are considered not only fascinating, but of pronounced importance to the study of developmental psychology. This interest is reflected in the numerous methods (e.g. behavioural, psychophsiological, and methods that assess brain responses) applied to infer the abilities of infants to perceive. In the present paper, focus will be dedicated to exploring the various research methods and reference to psychological research studies will be made in order to place the various approaches into a relatable context. The preference method devised by Robert Frantz (1958) is a straightforward technique which involves presenting an infant with two or more stimuli simultaneously, and as the name implies, assessing which was attentionally or perceptually preferred (Houston-Price Nakai, 2004). Early research generally relied on an observer watching the infants face and measuring how long one of the stimuli was looked at; however, present-day research relies on objectively scoring video film of the infants face or recording eye fixation, thereby strengthening accuracy of results (Smith, Cowie Blades, 2007). A variation of this technique was used to evaluate infants responsiveness to pictorial depth cues, in which two objects were placed at equal distances away from the infant. A strong reaching preference was demonstrated under monocular viewing conditions for the object that seemed closer due to pictorial depth cues. As this effect ceased during binocular conditions it was deduced that infants percei ve distance from pictorial cues (Kavsek et al., 2009). Along with this illuminating realization, the preference method has enabled many other intriguing deductions regarding infants perceptual abilities. For example, infants prefer to fixate on emotionally significant (i.e. familiar) stimuli (Burnham Dodd, 1999) as well as visual stimuli that match auditory stimuli (Golinkoff et al., 1987). This matching effect was also investigated and verified by Jeffrey Pickens (1994) through the use of visual preference to one of two television monitors. This method therefore leads to two types of inference; whether discrimination occurred and the salience of the preferred stimuli to infants (Houston-Price Nakai, 2004). The most popular method for measuring infants perceptual abilities is the habituation method, which capitalizes on the simplest form of learning. This technique involves a system in which a repeated stimulus becomes so familiar that initially associated responses cease to occur (habituation). If a new stimulus is presented and can be distinguished from the previous, attention can be renewed (dishabituated) (Shaffer Kipp, 2007). This method is also referred to as the familiarization-novelty procedure as the infants terminated response indicates recognition of a previously experienced stimulus, whereas regained attention indicates a novel stimulus (Bertenthal Longo, 2002). As this method can be applied to a myriad of research questions, it has elicited numerous substantial discoveries. For example, evidence for perceptual colour categories in pre-linguistic infants was obtained through the classical experiment conducted by Bornstein, Kessen and Weisskopf (1976). After habituation to one stimuli (e.g. red1), more attention was focused onto a colour from what an adult would consider a different colour category (i.e. preferred yellow instead of red2), even though the wavelength of the two novel stimuli where equal (Franklin Davies, 2004). Mayo, Nawrot and Nawrot (2009) proved that dihabituation results (obtained through use of the initial stimulus with manipulated depth) can indicate that infants as young as 16 weeks of age may be sensitive to indisputable depth from motion parallax. Conditioning focuses on the postulation that infants will learn to carry out behaviours if they are reinforced, which allows infants control over their environment and reflects understanding of relationships within the world (Smith et al., 2007). For example, Bower (1965) conditioned infants to turn their heads to one side by rewarding them with an adult engaging them in a peek-a-boo game. Once this response was established, the infant only received the reward if the infant turned his/her head when a certain stimulus was present. Discrimination can thereby be detected and in this case, size constancy was observed, as conditioned responses were three times more probable to the same stimuli (i.e. a 30cm cube) regardless of fluctuating retinal image size than to different stimuli (i.e. a 90cm cube) . Kuhl (1983) found that infants are capable of categorizing speech sounds by adopting the conditioning method and using a battery operated toy as a visual reinforcer. High amplitude sucking takes advantage of the fact that infants have good motor control of their sucking behaviour and this fact can be used to determine discrimination as well as likes and dislikes of the infant in question (Werker, Shi, Desjardins, Pegg, Polka Patterson, 1998). The infant is given an adapted pacifier containing electrical circuitry, and once the infants baseline sucking rate is recorded, variations (i.e. harder or faster sucking) trip the circuit thereby activating the reward (e.g. tape recorder)(Shaffer Kipp, 2007). Siqueland and De Lucia (1969) used a projected light as a visual stimulus to condition infants sucking, with strength of sucking directly proportional to the brightness of the visual stimuli. They concluded that at 4 months this relationship could be learned. A habituation version of the high amplitude sucking procedure was used to determine that infants perceive speech in a categorized manner. This was evident by familiarization (habituation) to the first stimuli (e.g. /ba/), followed by an increased sucking rate (dishabituation) in response to a second, novel stimuli (e.g. /pa/), thereby indicating discrimination between the categories had occurred (Eimas et al., 1971). Unobservable responses can also be accessed through measuring evoked potentials and changes in heart rate. With regards to changes in heart rate, it is expected that if an infant is surprised or upset their heart rate will increase, decreasing when focusing or attending. These effects can thus be manipulated through the habituation method to determine discrimination (Smith et al., 2007). Evoked potentials are measured by use of electrodes placed in positions on the scalp that process the presented stimuli. If a stimuli is perceived, it is reflected by a pattern of brain waves (i.e. evoked potentials), with different stimuli producing different patterns of electrical activity (Shaffer Kipp, 2007). Discrimination can therefore be deduced. A study using evoked potentials proved that visual acuity and contrast sensitivity are poor in the neonate, but improve during the first year of life (Atkinson et al., 1974). There is no question regarding the tremendous impact of these experimental methods; however they are not without their limitations. The preference method is praised as it is easy to employ, has a wide scope of application and response demands are minimal, although results can be confounded by familiarization effects prior to the preference procedure (Houston-Price Nakai, 2004). Another issue appears if an infant fails to show preference between the stimuli, as it is unclear whether the infant failed to discriminate or if the stimuli where found equally interesting (Shaffer Kipp, 2007). These effects can to some extent be controlled for by the use of the habituation method, which exploits the familiarization effect. This is a well understood, versatile procedure which is suited to investigations across many age groups (Werker et al., 1998), although data of an individual infant cannot easily be examined and discrimination behaviour is therefore only described with reference to a gro up (Werker Lalonde, 1988). Another probable inadequacy of this method concerns the lack of motivation of infants to show discrimination from a familiar stimulus, due to novelty being the only reward (Werker et al., 1998). Conditioning methods can rectify these problems as they provide reward and are able to provide data on individual subjects and hence able to identify individual differences. This paradigm is also useful in studying developmental changes through implementing experiments at different ages (Werker et al., 1998). The high amplitude sucking method is advantageous as it can measure a newborns (only a few hours old) perceptual ability due to sucking being easily conditioned (Werker et al., 1998). Williams and Golenski (1979) identified the major limitation with this study being that there is often a high drop-out rate due to infants who are fussy or sleepy, which may result in skewed data. Neurological and autonomic understanding has undoubtedly developed from studies involving evoked potentials and heart rate fluctuations; although these studies do little in accessing what differences are significant to the individual infant. All the above discussed paradigms are beneficial in assessing infants perceptual abilities, each having both strengths and weaknesses. As the habituation-dishabituation method is the most popular method of assessing infants perceptual abilities, along with the fact that many methods may be considered a variation of this paradigm, one might be lead to the inference of its superiority. However, over the years the differences between the methods have diminished due to modern research methods encapsulating on positive aspects from the various paradigms (Houston-Price Nakai, 2004). Therefore, with regards to methods in assessing infants perceptual abilities, what seems of most importance is the link between the research question of interest and the appropriate method to answer that question. References: Atkinson, J., Braddick, O., Braddick, F. (1974). Acuity and contrast sensitivity of invant vision. Nature, 247, 403-404. Bornstein, M. H., Kessen, W., Weisskopf, S. (1976). Colour vision and hue categorization in young infants. Journal of experimental psychology: Human perception and performance, 1, 115-129. Bower, T.G.R. (1965). Stimulus variables determining space perception in infants. Science, 149, 88-9. Burnham, D., Dodd, B. (1999). Familiarity and novelty preferences in infants auditory-visual speech perception: problems, factors, and a solution. In C. Rovee-Collier, L. Lipsitt, H. Hayne (Ed.), Advances in Infancy Research, 12, (pp. 170-187). Ablex: Stamford. Eimas, P.D., Siqueland, E.R., Jusczyk, P., Vigorito, J. (1971). Speech perception in infants. Science, 171 (3968), 303-306. Franklin, A., Davies, I. R. L. (2004). New evidence for infant colour categories. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 22, 347-377. Frantz, R. (1958). Pattern vision in young infants. The Psychological Record, 8, 43-47. Golinkoff, R., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Cauley, K., Gordon, L. (1987). The eyes have it: lexical and syntactic comprehension in a new paradigm. Journal of Child Language, 14, 23-45. Houstin-Price, C., Nakai, S. (2004). Theory and Method in Developmental Research: Distinguishing novelty and familiarity effects in infant preference procedures. Infant and Child Development, 13, 341-348. Kavsek, M., Granrud, C. E., Yonas, A. (2009). Infants responsiveness to pictoral depth cues in preferential reaching studies: A meta-analysis. Infant behavior and development, 32, 245 -253. Kuhl, P.K. (1983). Perception of auditory equivalence classes for speech in early infancy. Infant behaviour and Development, 6 (2-3), 263-285. Locke, J. (1939). An essay concerning human understanding. In E. A. Burtt (Ed.), The English Philosophers from Bacon to Mill. New York: Modern Library Longo, M. R., Bertenthal, B.I. (2006). Common coding of observation and execution of action in 9-month-old infants. Infancy, 10 (1), 43-59. Mehler, J., Dupoux, E. (1994). What infants know. The New Cognitive Science of Early Development. Oxford:Blackwell. Nawrot, E., Mayo, S. L., Nawrot, M. (2009). The development of depth perception from motion parallax in infancy. Attention, Perception and Psychophysics, 71 (1), 194-199. Pickens, J. (1994). Perception of Auditory-Visual Distance Relations by 5-month-old infants.Developmental Psychology, 30 (4), 537-544. Shaffer, D. R., Kipp, K. (2007). Developmental Psychology: Childhood Adolescence (8th ed.). Belmont, USA: Nelson Education Ltd. Siqueland, E. R., De Lucia, C. A. (1969). Visual reinforcement of non-nutritive sucking in human infants. Science, 165, 1144-1146. Smith, P. K., Cowie, H., Blades, M. (2003). Understanding Childrens Development (4th ed.). Oxford, England: Blackwell Publishing. Werker, J. F., Lalonde, C. E. (1988). Cross language perception: initial capabilities and developmental change. Developmental psychology. 24 (5): 672 683. Werker, J.F., Shi, R., Desjardins, R., Pegg, J. E., Polka, L., Patterson, M. (1998). Three Methods for testing infant speech perception. In A. Slater (Ed.), Perceptual Development: Visual, Auditory and Speech perception in infancy (pp. 389-418). Hove, UK: Psychology Press Ltd. Williams, L., Golenski, J. (1979). Infant Behavioural State and Speech Sound Discrimination. Child Development, 50, 1243-1246.

A Critical Analysis Of Alternative Renewable Energy

A Critical Analysis Of Alternative Renewable Energy Introduction In this chapter I will provide brief overview and scope of the dissertation. I will present the highlights of the major topics that will be covered in this dissertation and summary will be presented of the later chapters. The dissertation will be research based and the research sources will be from journals, books and internet articles. Through this research I will explain the aims and objectives of the dissertation which will be covered in this chapter. Furthermore I will also look upon the need for alternative renewable energy in this chapter and the benefits alternative energy brings to the environment, society and corporations. The growth in the alternative energy industry will also be mentioned along with theoretical framework and research methodology. Aims and objectives The main focus of the dissertation will be on the benefits of alternative renewable energy. The supply of traditional energy resources such as oil, gas and coal are depleting and ever increasing demand of these energy resources is drawing our attention towards alternative renewable energy thus one of the aims of my dissertation is the need for alternative renewable energy. Alternative renewable energy doesnt impact the environment, society and climate in a negative way thus the second aim of my dissertation will be the advantages of various forms of alternative renewable energy sources. The investment in development of alternative energy sources is very limited primarily because of the perception that this investment will not match the profits generated by investment in traditional energy sources. Contrary to this popular opinion I have designed another aim of my dissertation which will be the benefits of alternative renewable energy to corporations. Since there is lack of confidence in big corporations so I will also consider the limitations in development of alternative energy industry and will present the solutions to these limitations in my dissertation. Justification of the subject: In the recent past the world has heavily relied on traditional energy sources such as oil, gas and coal. The growth in industrialization in all parts of the world particularly India and China and in developed parts of the world U.S, Japan and Europe has increased the global demand of oil and made these countries net importers of oil. The supply of oil by OPEC and Non-OPEC members is decreasing and there are not sufficient oil resources to meet the ever increasing demand of energy. Moreover oil has huge impacts on the society and the environment particularly in the form of oil spills. The dependency on oil is changing the climate of this earth and increasing the threat from global warming. I believe to meet the demand deficit of energy it is time that the world should consider investment and growth in alternative renewable energy sources. The decreasing supply of oil and its adverse impacts on the environment and society increases the need for alternative energy sources. Alternative e nergy sources bring along benefits to the society, environment and corporations and thus it is the need of this hour that upcoming and large oil and gas companies shift from traditional energy to alternative renewable energy. Some background to the problem: Need for alternative energy: As Hasan stated in his report Introduction to alternative energy on page 1 that the worlds dependence upon oil and the decrease in traditional sources of energy such as oil, natural gas, coal and nuclear power is changing the structure of this world. The world is heavily oil dependent rather I will say addicted to oil and the growth in industrialization in all parts of the world is increasing this dependency on oil. However at the same time there is decrease in the supply of traditional energy. The resources of traditional energy are limited and due to depletion these resources cannot match the demand of energy and thus it is believed by every authority that without alternative energy the growing demand of energy in the future cannot be met. The global supply of coal, oil and gas is limited while nuclear energy is dangerous and thus the discovery of alternative renewable energy sources is of utmost importance to meet the energy challenge. The traditional energy sources such as oil, g as, coal and nuclear power are not renewable and produce a lot of waste products and harm the environment. The smoke and chemicals produced by these sources pollutes the air and affects global warming. On the other hand alternative renewable energy doesnt impact the environment and for these reasons the need for these sources is at its peak. Alternative energy sources are environmental friendly and technologically advanced and at the same time renewable energy will strengthen the core businesses of oil and gas companies. It is believed by all that alternative renewable energy will replace the traditional energy in years to come. 1.4.2 Growth in the Renewable Energy Market: With time the world is seeing the growth in alternative renewable industry and greater investment is coming in this industry from public and private sector e.g. the investment in renewable energy capacity rose from $30 billion in 2004 to $38 billion in 2005 (Alternative energy: A global survey, 2007 pg 4). According to survey on alternative energy conducted by Goldman Sachs in 2007 the increase in investment can be attributed to following factors: The supply of traditional energy resources is uncertain and at the same time the energy cost is high which increases the cost of production. On the other hand the cost of renewable energy is low and the supply is unlimited. Alternative energy reduces cost and thus increases competitiveness and at the same time it allows small players to match the threat from big players. Traditional energy doesnt bring economies of scale not energy efficiency. Various governments through laws are promoting the use of alternative renewable energy e.g high tax on coal and at the same time grants for companies expanding in the alternative energy sector. People these days are more aware of impacts of traditional energy on the environment and thus for better future the support the alternative energy sources. Moreover the global survey conducted by Goldman sachs in 2007 also identified certain macro factors are also increasing the importance of alternative renewable energy and among them include: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Continued global economic growth: The world is seeing the emergence of new economic powers in the form of Brazil, China, India and Russia and in order for these countries to continue grow economically new alternative energy is required. . à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Continued population growth: The worlds population is growing and moreover people from rural areas are shifting to urban areas. In order to meet the energy challenge of this growing population new cost effective alternative energy sources are required. .à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Climate change: the traditional energy is a great threat to the climate particularly in the form of GHG emissions associated with fossil fuel and thus in order to protect the climate environmental friendly renewable energy is required. 1.4.3 Various forms of alternative energy: Alternative renewable energy is a form of energy that is renewed by the natural processes of Earth and is environmental friendly such as sunlight from the sun or wind from the air. In this section I will consider various forms of alternative renewable energy sources available which were presented by Hasan in his report Introduction to alternative energy on page 2, 3 and 4. Solar energy: Solar energy comes from the light of sun and it can be harnessed through the use of solar power cells. Sunlight is free, easy to harness and accessible to everyone. It is difficult to harness solar power on a larger level and thus solar power has more usage in home electricity production. The only cost involved in creating solar energy is the cost of solar panels. Apart from the low cost of solar energy, the power is environmental friendly and no waste byproduct is produced through the creation of this power. At the same time solar power promotes a greener future. Sun light from the sun can be used to create solar power at a domestic level and at the state level. Currently many households and companies create solar energy by putting solar panels on the roof of their buildings and thus protect the environment from unfriendly waste material and at the same time benefit from low cost of energy. Wind Energy: Wind power is another form of renewable energy which protects the environments and creates electricity at low cost. Wind power is harnessed though the use of wind turbines which are turned by the wind to produce electricity. Wind is vulnerable to weather conditions but in costal offshore and high altitude areas there is a steady supply of wind. Wind power can be used to produce electricity at a large level by using multiple turbines and at the same time at a household level. Critics of wind power claim that the generation of wind power through use of turbines result in ugly noise and kill birds however the benefits in the form of low cost and friendly environment outweigh the disadvantages. Geothermal energy: Geothermal energy is another cost effective renewable energy which draws energy from the planets core through thermal power stations. The heat from planet boils a liquid which evaporates to turn turbines, producing the electricity. The cost is low because the heat is free and only cost incurred is of a thermal station. Geothermal is an environmental friendly energy that doesnt pollute or produce waste material and it can be used for heating and cooling purpose. Hydroelectric energy: Hydroelectric power is created through water and it comes from dams which harness the power of rivers. The water passes through turbines at base of dam and thus electricity is generated. Hydroelectric energy is created on macro level by the state of or companies and not at a household level. Hydroelectric energy produces no pollution at all and promotes a greener world. Tidal Power: Tidal power is another form of renewable energy that can provide clean and free energy in the future. It is created when water from the ocean flows through the tidal stations and thus turbines create the energy. Biomass technology: Any form of renewable energy that can be created from biological matter is biomass technology. Biomass can be in the form of biofuel and biogas. Through biomass technology any material e.g. dead vegetable, crops, meat and plants can be converted to create biofuel and biogas. The transformation of these materials into electricity will save the cost and the material which if unused will be a waste product and spread pollution. Biofuel will be in liquid form while biogas will be in the form of natural gas. This technology is very cost effective and can be used to create electricity or satisfy any needs from oil or gas. . 1.4.4 Advantages of alternative renewable energy: According to the article Seven most beneficial alternative energy advantages Alternative energy offers various benefits to the environment and society and these benefits have been explained below: 1. Municipal Solid Waste Elimination The harmful fossil fuels will run out in the near future and thus to meet the energy demand the solid waste material can be used to create energy. The municipal waste or household garbage will be used to generate energy and it will be very cost effective and environmental friendly. 2. These Energy Sources Are Renewable Through alternative energy there will be unlimited supply of energy as the sources are renewable. So whether its the solar power, wind power, biofuel or hydroelectricity it wont get wasted and unlimited supply will be available for households and industries and thus there will never be an energy crisis. The oil, gas and coal resources will be finished one day however renewable energy will remain forever. 3. Local Production and Benefits The traditional energy in the form of oil and gas are produced by big players such as BP, Shell and Exxon Mobile. These companies operate in various countries and use the local resources to supply oil and gas. Moreover these resources are sold to the local population at high prices and profits are returned to the shareholders. Thus there is nothing for the local economy and the local population. On the other hand alternative renewable energy can be produced by local investors in the form of large and small businesses. The local businesses, society and government will benefit from local production of renewable energy and benefits will be in the form of low energy cost, steady taxes, generation of jobs and returns to local investors. The renewable energy will be produced locally and the involvement of foreign companies will be minimal. 4. More Environmentally Friendly Oil and gas result in creation of smoke and pollutants which impact the environment e.g. greenhouse gas emissions which harm the environment and contribute to global warming. Thus these energy sources are increasing the temperature of planet and making it a more dangerous place to live. On the other hand renewable energy does not have carbon emissions nor do they cause damage to environment. The environmental friendly renewable energy will make this earth a better place to live. 5. Better National Security: The reserves of oil and gas are under control of some countries while they are explored and distributed by only a couple of companies this means that rest of the world are dependent and on mercy of some hands. A catastrophe, unstable government or war will heavily impact the supply of oil and national security will be at threat. However on the other hand renewable energy will secure the countries more and will enhance the national security because of domestic production. 6. More Price Stability As seen in the recent past the fluctuations in the prices of crude oil resulted in financial crises and it also affected the economies of many countries and left some companies on the verge of bankruptcy. The high price of traditional energy also keeps the cost of production high. On the other hand renewable energy is very cheap which will keep the cost low and there will be no fluctuations in prices that will result in catastrophe. 1.4.5 Benefits to upcoming companies: Oil and gas sector is dominated by a bunch of large companies and thus it becomes difficult for upcoming startups to compete with them. The high barriers to entry, limited resources and control over the production reserves by these large oil and gas companies makes it difficult for upcoming companies to enter the traditional energy industry. However on the other hand through favorable government policies towards renewable energy, unlimited supply and local production startups from emerging and developing economies can compete on the basis of cost with these large companies. The alternative renewable energy brings along various benefits for these upcoming companies which were identified by Goldman Sachs in 2007 during the survey Alternative energy: A global survey and they are explained below: Feed-In Tariffs In order to promote the alternative renewable energy sector the government purchases power from these upcoming companies at a fixed rate this is set above the market price. The fixed price creates stability and reduces financing barriers for these startups. Feed in tariffs result in stable long term payments for these companies and also gives the incentive to the producer to use the most efficient source of energy. Through long term stable cash inflows from the government the upcoming companies can compete with large firms and at the same time their liquidity needs will addressed and profits will be generated. The subsidy which the government provides to these startups in the form of feed in tariffs help them to grow and match the threat from competition. Tax Credits: In certain countries government offers two kinds of tax credits to companies that produce electricity through renewable energy. Production tax credit is based on amount of energy produced from renewable sources while investment tax credit is based on amount of investment in renewable energy projects. The tax credit can be in the form of income tax, sales tax or property tax. For upcoming companies the tax credits bring along a great opportunity to invest in renewable energy. The tax credits in any form will increase their liquidity position and allow them to expand more through money saved. The tax credits along with feed in tariffs will result in cost savings and organic growth for startups. Minimum GHG emissions: Regulators in certain countries set standards for minimum GHG emissions and encourage companies to reduce GHG emissions. Those companies that exceed the minimum level are penalized while others that are below the minimum level are given incentives. Thus for upcoming renewable companies this kind of laws gives them a great opportunity to get incentives under such programs as renewable will result in minimum GHG emissions and companies will benefit from incentives. Similarly certain governments have imposed carbon tax and this kind of tax is discouraging for traditional energy companies and thus gives a great opportunity to upcoming companies to pursue a carbon free strategy. . Loans, Grants and Subsidies: In order to promote the alternative renewable energy many governments and authorities like World Bank or United nations offer grants and subsidies for upcoming companies. The grants and subsidies can be in the form of provision of land and technology, expertise or even low interest rate loan. Thus new upcoming firms can take this opportunity to address their capital requirements and though such grants and loans can step in the alternative renewable energy sector. These grants also offer great opportunities to companies in under developed countries in Asia and Africa to produce power from alternative renewable energy. Other benefits: There are various other benefits to startups investing in alternative renewable energy sector according to article Dollars from sense: The economic benefits from renewable energy and these can be later passed onto the society e.g. an investment in renewable energy project by the local investor will strengthen the local economy, help government in the form of taxes and at the same time create jobs for the local community. Secondly because of low cost of production and unlimited supply the prices will remain stable and thus this will ensure steady profits and cash flows to the company. On the contrary a sharp decline in oil prices result in losses to these big oil companies. Thirdly people now prefer energy from alternative sources because of less impact on environment so money invested in renewable energy will generate more returns than money invested in traditional energy. The increasing demand of alternative energy will result in high returns and high profits for shareholders. Theoretical framework To make the study more effective journal of corporate governance, journals of management in science and journals of industrial management were analyzed. The articles from internet were also analyzed and the theoretical framework is based on these journals and articles. In order to determine the benefits from alternative renewable energy to the environment, society and upcoming startups I will also consider the reports of various government agencies that support these programs. Many governments in developed countries offer subsidies and grants to upcoming companies planning to expand in the alternative renewable energy and moreover financial and technical assistance is also offered from international institutions like World Bank. The policy framework and benefits offered by these institutions will be analyzed in the literature review section of this dissertation. Methodological framework In order to make the dissertation fact based and reliable a lot of data was required. The research method I used to gather data was from secondary resources. Secondary resources were used first in order to understand the subject matter and validate the aims and objectives set earlier. The secondary resources that I used were journal articles, internet articles and reports from various government agencies. A lot of research has been done on alternative renewable energy in terms of benefits offered to the economy, environment, society and companies. This research from secondary data sources will be used and analyzed with literature reviews in the dissertation. The secondary research is cheap and easy to find moreover the information gathered is from reliable sources. The data was collected from librarys database and this research will be used to validate the research objectives. Quantitative and qualitative information is available on renewable energy sector and this information will b e presented during the course of dissertation. Outline of the following chapters I have divided the dissertation in five chapters. Literature reviews will be discussed in the second chapter and published information from reliable sources such as books and journals will be analyzed. In the 3rd chapter I will explain the research methods, the process used to collect data and their limitations. . In chapter 4 I will critically analyze the information gathered earlier through literature reviews and recommendations and data analysis will be presented. The last chapter will provide the synopsis of the study, limitations and the need for future study. Summary of the chapter In the initial part of the chapter the aims and objectives of the study were mentioned which are based on the need of alternative renewable energy, the benefits to the society, environment and companies and limitations of this sector. While in the later part of the chapter the overview of various alternative renewable energy methods were presented along with the benefits to the environment and upcoming companies. Last but not the least the theoretical framework and the methodology was presented.

The presentation of Mr. Lockwood in Wuthering Heights The novel, Essay

The presentation of Mr. Lockwood in Wuthering Heights The novel, Wuthering Heights, begins in the year 1801. The presentation of Mr. Lockwood in â€Å"Wuthering Heights† ======================================================= The novel, â€Å"Wuthering Heights†, begins in the year 1801, where we as readers are firstly introduced to the character Mr. Lockwood. Mr. Lockwood narrates the entire novel throughout, almost like an entry in his diary. Lockwood, a young London gentleman, is a newcomer to the Yorkshire Moors, Wuthering Heights. The novel opens after he has just returned from a visit with his landlord and neighbour, Mr. Heathcliff about Thrushcross Grange. One of my first impressions of the character after reading the opening chapter of the novel is that he is enthusiastic about renting out Thrushcross Grange, â€Å" Mr. Lockwood, your new tenant, sir- I do myself the honour of calling as soon as possible after my arrival, to express the hope that I have not inconvenienced you by my perseverance in soliciting the occupation of Thrushcross Grange. I heard, yesterday, you had had some thoughts-â€Å" Mr. Healthcliff, wincing, stops him mid sentence, â€Å" Thrushcross Grange is my own sir,† ------------------------------------ Here Mr. Heathcliff cuts him off quite abruptly, a command that most people would understand and would react to, pursuing the questioning no further. However, Mr. Lockwood responds quite differently, showing a weak side to his character early on in the novel. Heathcliff seems to dislike the company of others, he enjoys living in a country place, where quiet and peace is welcomed. Lockwood seems amused that Heathcliff is more extreme and ignorant of social graces; he’s amused that ... ...rds reasons for his behaviour may be quite different from his own. Mr. Lockwood, a somewhat vain and presumptuous gentleman deals very clumsily with the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights. He finds himself at a loss when he witnesses the strange household’s disregard for the social conventions that have always structured his world. As a narrator, his vanity and unfamiliarity with the story occasionally lead him to misunderstand events. His initial visit to Wuthering Heights, in which the mysterious relationships and lurking resentments between the characters create an air of mystery, in particular Lockwood’s ghostly nightmares, during the night he spent in Catherine’s old bed. I think that many of the events that happen in the opening chapters of the novel prefigure many of the events that are to come and show the qualities of the character Mr. Lockwood.

Isolation Form Love In The Film east Of Eden :: essays research papers

East of Eden by John Steinbeck is an optimistic film about a boy becoming a man and trying desperately to earn the love of his father and mother in the troubled times of the Great Depression. Cal, the main character is a troubled teen who lives with his entrepreneur father, and a brother who is following closely in his fathers steps. Cal’s mother left him and his brother to become a madam of a whorehouse. The struggle takes place between Cal and his father due to his fathers lack of compassion for his son. The conflict rises further when Cal tries to help his father repay a debt, his father further isolates his son and this turns to violent outbursts. Steinbeck focuses on Cal in order to suggest the theme that without love people become violent and mean. Steinbeck shows Cals isolation from love and its aggressive results when Cal angrily throws stones at his mothers house. When Cal first learns of his supposedly dead mothers existence he is outraged and goes to seek her. When he is not allowed to see her he violently throws stones and yells "Why can’t a kid see his own mother?" and "Why cant I see my mother". This is the first of several violent actions taken by Cal in an effort to be redeemed by his parents affections. His actions, although violent, are a symbol of his not being loved and the isolation he feels towards his family. In the scene where Cal tries to confer with his mother it is also learned that his mother does not want to have any contact with her children. Steinbeck shows Cals isolation from love, and its violent repercussions again when Cal reacts to his brothers lack of compassion for him with violence and destruction. In the scene when Cal is spying on his brother Aaron and his brothers girlfriend, he is outraged by the things his brother has to say and he decides to throw large blocks of his fathers ice out of the barn. This sole action shows how childlike Cal has remained due to his isolation from his families love. His unassuming father only says "that boy is out of control" not even acknowledging that there is a greater problem at hand, and even less does he understand the fact that it is partly his fault. Steinbecks theme of isolation form love is greatly illustrated because his father does not even take to scolding Cal, which shows no feelings what so ever.

The Important of Semantics Knowledge in Teaching English

Speech act theory and the analysis of conversations. Sequencing and interpretation in pragmatic theory Jacques Moeschler Department of Linguistics University of Geneva 1. Introduction Conversation has recently become a focus of interest for speech act theory and several proposals have been formulated concerning the possible extension of speech act theory to the analysis of conversation. This debate (cf. Searle et al. 1992) has to be interpreted as a reactive move rather than as a natural extension of the domain of speech act theory.Nevertheless, this reaction, either sceptical (cf. Searle 1992) or optimistic (cf. Dascal 1992, Vanderveken 1992 and 1994), has brought interesting issues which contrast with the various attempts by linguists at extending speech act theory to the domain of discourse1 . The first purpose of this paper is to explicit the divergence between philosophers and linguists about the possible extension of speech act theory to discourse analysis. This paper has anoth er purpose : it also deals with the possible domain of pragmatic theory with respect to discourse analysis.I shall argue that the main purpose of discourse analysis is the definition of necessary and sufficient 2 MOESCHLER conditions for sequencing and interpretating utterances in discourse. I claim that these two aspects of discourse (sequencing and interpretation) are intrinsically related and cannot be accounted for independently from each other. I claim furthermore that speech act theory cannot give any insight into the sequencing and interpretation problems, because speech act theory is neither a theory of interpretation (it is a theory of meaning) nor a global theory of action.Finally I show how a radical pragmatic theory (in the Gricean sense) accounts for the sequencing and interpretation problems. 2 2. Speech act theory and conversation There is a common sense argument shared by philosophers and linguists in favour of the possible extension of speech act theory to discourse analysis. This argument is the following : Speech acts are not isolated moves in communication : they appear in more global units of communication, defined as conversations or discourses.Vanderveken (1994, 53) gives an explicit version of this thesis when asserting that speakers perform their illocutionary acts within entire conversations where they are most often in verbal interaction with other speakers who reply to them and perform in turn their own speech acts with the same collective intention to pursue with success a certain type of discourse. Thus, above all, the use of language is a social form of linguistic behavior.It consists, in general, of ordered sequences of utterances made by several speakers who tend by their verbal interactions to achieve common discursive goals such as discussing a question, deciding together how to react to a certain situation, negociating, consulting or more simply to exchange greetings and talk for its own sake. For terminological convenience, I will call such ordered sequences of speech acts conversations. SPEECH ACTS AND CONVERSATION 3 The basis of this argument is that conversation is made of sequences of speech acts.This certainly is a plausible theoretical claim3 , but gives rise to a certain number of objections, raised mainly by Searle (1992) in his skeptical argument. These objections concern essentially the possible relations between questions and answers in conversation, and can be stated as follows. First of all, questions are defined in speech acts theory as requests for information, and as such impose representative acts as replies. But this cannot be correct, since a reply may have another illocutionary point (as a promise) if the question is a request for a promise.Secondly, certain questions require a directive as a reply, and not a representative, when the question contains a modal auxiliary verb (cf. the exchange : â€Å"Shall I marry Sally ? † – â€Å"Yes, do†/ â€Å"No, donâ€⠄¢t† / â€Å"*Yes, you shall† / â€Å"*No, you shall not†). The third counter-example is given by indirect reponses, which do not satisfy syntactic conditions, although the answer is pragmatically appropriate. To these three arguments, we could add an even more embarrassing one : answer is not a specific illocutionary force, which could be analysed by the seven components of illocutionary force (cf.Searle & Vanderveken 1985). Answer is a functional discursive qualification, but certainly not the semantic definition of a speech act type. These objections make explicit an important difference between the structure of illocutionary acts and the structure of conversation. In speech act theory, and more precisely in illocutionary logic, illocutionary force is decomposed into seven components, which are all necessary conditions for the successful and non defective accomplishment of illocutionary acts.These components (cf. Searle & Vanderveken 1985, 12-20) are the illoc utionary point, the degree of strength of the illocutionary point, the mode of achievement of the illocutionary point, the propositional content conditions of the illocutionary act, the preparatory conditions of the illocutionary act, the sincerity conditions of the illocutionary act, and finally the degree of strength of the sincerity conditions. That predictions 4 MOESCHLER bout the sequencing in conversation are difficult to come by follows from the fact that the internal structure of illocutionary acts (and more specifically the set of conditions for success) cannot determine the set of possible replies for any type of illocutionary act. By contrast, discourse analysis, while specifying sequential relations in discourse between speech acts, does not constrain sequencing in conversation depending on the set of possible components of illocutionary force. The constraints are not structural, in the sense of speech act theory, they are on the contrary functional.This means that the b asic structures of conversation (exchanges) are made of lower order conversational units (moves) which carry functional properties. If speech act theory has been used so extensively within this paradigm of discourse analysis4 , it is because the functional properties associated with speech acts as units of meaning have been exported to speech acts as units of communication and discourse. This has several consequences for the description of speech acts within discourse analysis. The first consequence is that the structure of conversation is not only based on a hierarchy of constituency, but is also functional.To take a classical discourse model (cf. Sinclair & Coulthard 1975), discourse categories (exchange, move, and act) are defined functionally. For instance, an act of ELICITATION is part of a move of ELICITATION, which governs an exchange of ELICITATION. Thus all discourse constituents receive a communicative function, that is, an interactive meaning. But we are here far from the conventional and semantic-meaning defining speech acts in speech act theory5 . As we have just noticed, discourse analysis supposes principles of constituency which allow interpretive or functional inheritance.If we assume, as above, that an ELICITATION is a two-place predicate relating utterance-units and discourse-units, we must assume too that the functional properties of the smallest discourse units (acts) are inherited by the larger constituents (moves and exchanges). This principle is structurally identical to the projection principle in generative grammar : a phrase is a maximal projection of a lexical head (for SPEECH ACTS AND CONVERSATION 5 instance NP is a maximal projection of a N); in discourse, then, an exchange is thus functionally a maximal projection of an act.The principle of functional projection is not a necessary consequence of discourse analysis. Another classical discourse model, the Geneva hierachicalfunctional model (cf. Roulet et al. 1985, Moeschler 1985, M oeschler 1989a) makes a different claim : functional values do not stand in a one-to-one relationship with discourse structures. In this model, there is a basic difference between rules of discourse formation and principles of functional interpretation. The structural dimension is based on the following rules of formation : R1 Units of type Exchange are made of units of type Move.R1’ Exchanges are composed of at least two Moves. R2 Units of type Move are made of units types Act, Move or Exchange. R2’ Moves composed by a single Act are well-formed. R2†Moves composed by an Act and another discourse-unit type (Move or Exchange) are well-formed. R2†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Moves composed by a single Exchange are ill-formed. Thus, the following discourse structures are well-formed : (1) a. b. c. > where E = exchange, M = move, A = act The structures in (1a-c) are the hierarchical representations corresponding to the following short exchanges in (2)-(4): (2) A B A B A Are you re ady ?We can leave. Are you ready ? Why ? We must leave now. (3) 6 B (4) A B A B A MOESCHLER Okay, but when I am in a hurry, I always forget something. Are you ready ? Because we must leave now. Yes I am Good. Let’s go Let’s go Okay We can represent the bracketting structures given in (1) by the following tree-schemata : (5) (a) E M2 A We can leave. M1 A Are you ready ? (b) E E M2 M M1 M1 M2 M M1 A A A A A A A A A A A A A Are you ready ? Why ? We must leave now. Okay, but when I am in a hurry, I always forget something. (c) M1 E M2 M3 E M2 M3Are you ready ? Because we must leave now. Yes I am Good Let's go Let’s go Okay These structures mean that in (5a) the exchange is made of two moves both composed of a single act, in (5b) the exchange is composed of two moves, the second of which is made of an exchange with two moves, and a move composed by an act and a move, and in (5c) the three-move exchange contains in the first move an exchange made of three moves. SPEEC H ACTS AND CONVERSATION 7 What are the functional counterparts of the structural aspects of conversational discourse ?There are two dimensions of functional properties associated with the structural device : the first dimension is a restricted inheritance principle, and the second, a general procedure for assigning interpretation to discourse constituents. The first principle is a principle of functional composition : Principle of functional composition (i) Constituents of exchanges bear illocutionary functions. (ii) Constituents of moves bear interactive functions. Definitions (i) Illocutionary functions are of three types : initiative, reactive, and reactive-initiative. (ii) Interactive functions are of two types : directive, and subordinate.The first move of an exchange (M1) is always initiative; the final move of an exchange is always reactive. For instance M2 in the exchange is the reactive move, and M1 is the initiative move. An inserted move (for example M2 in the structure ) is a reactive-initiative move. A directive (D) constituent is of the type move or act, and contains the act from which the move receives its illocutionary function; a subordinate (constituent (of rank act, move or exchange) is cancellable, and generally completes, argues for, or justifies the main or directive constituent of the move. We can now ive the complete hierachical-functional structures given in (1) and (5) as (6) and (6’) : (6) a. b. c. 8 MOESCHLER where E = exchange, sE = subordinate exchange, M = move, sM = subordinate move, dM = directive move, sA = subordinate act, dA = directive act (6’) (a) E M2 dA We can leave. M1 dA Are you ready ? (b) E M2 dM sE M1 M1 M 2 dM dA dA dA sA sA dA dA sA dA dA dA dA dA Are you ready ? Why ? We must leave now. Okay, but when I am in a hurry, I always forget something. (c) M1 E M2 M3 sE M1 M2 M3 Are you ready ? Because we must leave now. Yes I am Good Let's go Let’s go OkayThe second functional counterpart of the stu ctural device is a procedure of interpretation assignment. It is not sufficient to have functional values assigned to discourse constituents; required is also to have a procedure governing the assignment of a functional interpretation to each constituent. In other words, the types of structures given in (1), (5) or (6) are syntactic representations of discourse; we need in addition a semantics, which can for instance assign to the hierarchical-functional structures given in (6) the following functional interpretations : SPEECH ACTS AND CONVERSATION 9 (7) a. b.