Saturday, April 11, 2020

Sample Essay About My Name: College Essay to Get a Job at Disney World

Sample Essay About My Name: College Essay to Get a Job at Disney WorldThe Sample Essay About My Name is one of the most famous and best selling internet sites in the world. It is called the domain name of a very successful teenager from the United States. He and his sister have been using it as their primary email address.Many college students have reported that their colleges take their college application essays very seriously. They look at every sentence as if it will determine if they get in or not. This shows the inconsistency in hiring college teachers as well as hiring interviewers.The proper sample essay will go a long way in preventing a college candidate from being turned down for a position based on a poor academic performance. The more legitimate an applicant, the more chance there is that the admissions officer will feel the student is worthy of the job. This allows students to focus on their application and not be so concerned with the person doing the hiring.For instan ce, if you are applying for the post of tour guide at Disney World, you should write an essay about your love of Walt Disney's cartoon shows. Now this may not be your best work, but it is much better than the one you wrote a few years ago. If you are looking for a tour guide position, this could mean the difference between getting the job and being passed over because your writing was not up to snuff. It is easier to change the story if you don't feel the essay is adequate.To get a sample essay written for your position at Disney World, contact a management person there and ask for permission to do the hiring process. If they say no, then a manager at the front desk would be able to help you. Then the employee would follow up with an email saying they found your sample essay very impressive. They will want you to send them the essay along with some letters of recommendation.When sending them the sample essay, make sure it is in paper form and formatted correctly. Include the name of the Disney world and the address and phone number. Also include the address where you are looking for the job.If you look at the sample essay of a Disney employee, you will see the goal is to make sure your admissions staff or college admissions officer feel you are worthy of a job at Disney World. Your essay will show them you deserve to get the job.

Saturday, April 4, 2020

Factors to Be Considered by Researchers When Defining Data Collection Essay Example

Factors to Be Considered by Researchers When Defining Data Collection Essay Data are materials or information gathered during the process of making inquiry about problems. â€Å"Data of whatever form do not just appear or lie around waiting to be causally picked up by some passing researcher but have to be given form and shape in other to quantify as data; made relevant in a word to a research problem† (Ackryod and Hughes, 1992). In other words, data are systematically collected groups of information that represent either qualitative or quantitative results. From the point of view of social research, the world only exist as data and data can exist only through the interpretations placed on materials gathered from the world†(Williams and May,1996). This essay question will be looking at factors that should be considered to define data of a study. Looking at two empirical researches based on injecting drug users Study 1 looked at a community based cross-sectional survey among out of treatment male opiate injecting drug users (IDU) between ages 15 to 45.Data on nonfatal overdose were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire from 299 IDU from two district of Bac Ninh in North Vietnam in 2003. Study 2 examines the range of HCV services that treatment programs provide to their HCV positive clients using data collected from 233 drug free and methadone maintenance treatment programs (MMTPS) throughout the united state. Although findings indicated that MMTPS offer more HCV services to more of their HCV positive clients than drug free programs, but drug free programs provided more individualized services.Researchers are people that make inquiry into things that are obscure to human and tend to find possible solutions to this problem. They must put some factors into consideration to determine the type of data to be collected such as: aims and objectives of the research, research design, sampling strategies, methods research strategy, data collection technique, reliability, validity and ethics of the research. â€Å"The resear ch process usually begins with the theoretical perception or formulation of the research topic† (Sarantakos, 2005).According to Gilbert (2001) theoretical perspective are not just important as elements of good research practice, but also enormous value in inspiring and stimulating us to ask new question. This is also supported by Ackroyd and Hughes (1992) saying theory is a veritable feast of notions, viewpoints, perspectives, abstractions and ideas which plays different roles in sociological enquiry. Theory gives explanation on something that one would find difficult to understand. â€Å"Theories ought to be firmly based on data if they are to be useful in understanding social world† (Gilbert, 2001).Theory could be generated deductively or inductively. Gilbert (2001) said that inductive theory has to do with moving from a known knowledge to unknown, quantitative research makes use of this while deductive theory begins with a theory and use it to explain an observation, qualitative research makes use of this. Study 2 hypothesized that because MMTPs serve a greater portion of IDUs than drug free programs, it is expected that it will offer more comprehensive services for their HCV positive clients. The two articles made use of an inductive theory because they both used quantitative methodAims and objectives of the research is also another factor that determines data collection. â€Å"The aims and methods of research is to put links between the empirical world and theoretical perception† (Ackryod and Hughes, 1992). For example, the aims and objectives of the study 1 were to evaluate the effectiveness of a peer network intervention in reducing HIV and STD transmission and to assess the prevalence and characteristics associated with non-fatal drug overdose among IDUs between 18-45 years in North Vietnam.Here, the researcher is interested in knowing the features and the total number of people using non-fatal drug overdose within a specific age gr oup injecting drugs into their body in Tu son and and Bac Ninh township, North Vietnam. Data collected here will only be within a particular age group from only the two districts. The aims and objectives of study 2 are to evaluate the effectiveness for addressing drug users’ HCV needs using expert in hepatitis and drug addiction and to know the types of services provided by HCV service delivery to the HCV positive injecting and non-injecting drug users in USA.Based on the objective, data collected must be from all HCV service delivery in all the states. Research design is the criteria used when evaluating social research. â€Å"The function of research design is to ensure that evidence obtained enabled us to answer the initial questions as unambiguously as possible† (De Vaus, 2005). It has been suggested that every research needs a design or structure before data collection or analysis begins. Good research design should make it possible for generalization and possible valid inferences from the data.Study 1 and study 2 used a cross-sectional design . According to Burton (2000) cross-sectional design uses data collected from at least two groups at one point in time and compare the extent to which they differ. For example, in study 1 survey among out of treatment male opiate IDU age 18-45 with population of 299, data on non-factual overdose were collected from two Bac Ninh district which are Bac Ninh township and Tu Son in North Vietnam in 2009. While in study 2 survey among drug treatment program was collected throughout the USA from 2001 to 2003.Bryman (2004) suggested that in order to examine association between two variables, it is necessary to have a systematic and standardized method for gauging variation. In study 1, in other for the interviewer to ensure a standardized definition of overdose, a description of common signs and symptoms of overdose due to opioid use was read out. Cross-sectional design does not ensure validity of data because data were only collected at a point which might not be a true representative of the study sample.A much preferred design that would have been preferable will be the use of longitudinal design because most especially for study 2, it will ensure reliability of the data collected by asking the organisation same question over again. The major disadvantage of this study is that it does not give access to generalization of the population creating a kind of bias since******** research is based on the views of organisations concerning the use of treatment programs. According to Babbie(2007) Longitudinal study permit the observation of the study sample over a period of time especially for an in-depth interview.Longitudinal can be more difficult for quantitative studies such as large survey in study 2, nevertheless, they are the best way to study changes over time â€Å"A sampling method is a technique of collecting information about some members of the population† (De Vaus, 2002). Th ey way participant are selected could affect data collection in a way that selecting wrong participant could lead to wrong gathering of information so it is important to define the target group from the population. â€Å"The two sampling approaches are probability and non-probability sampling†(Burton,2000).Study 1 used a non-probability sample example include snowball sampling while study 2 used probability approach example is random sampling. The difference between probability and non-probability sample is that: â€Å" Probability sample is one in which each person in the population has an equal, or at least a known chance of being selected while in a non-probability sample, some people have a greater but unknown chance than others of selection†(De Vaus, 1996 pg:60). â€Å"Snow ball sampling refers to the process of accumulation as each located subject suggests other subject† (Babbie, 2007).In this type of sample, researcher gathers data on the few members of t he target population that can be located. In study 1, the IDU were recruited by 20 trained current and former drug using peer outreach workers through a snow ball-sampling approach in Bac Ninh. â€Å"Statistical theory states that the most reliable way of obtaining a representative sample is to use random sampling whereby each case, whether that be an individual, household, or organisation has an equal probability of being selected†(Burton,2000 pg:309).Here, a researcher has equal chances of selecting members of the study population. In study 2, project staff made telephone calls to screen for eligibility a group of randomly selected drug treatment programs that were listed in the year 2000 inventory of substance abuse treatment database. Non-probability sampling is a useful method of sampling where the researcher is interested in respondent within the sample size as opposed to making wide generalization. Limited resources, inability to identify members of the population and the need to establish the existence of a problem all justify the use of non-probability sampling† (Burton, 2000 pg: 316) Babbie (2007, pg: 187) argued that non-probability sampling cannot guarantee that the sample observed is a true representative of the whole population and is supported by Henry (1990) that as a result of the subjective nature of the selection process, involved in non-probability sampling ,there is a risk that the result will not be valid due to bias in section process. Probability samples are often regarded as the preferable way of obtaining samples that is true representative of the population† (Burton, 2000 pg 309). The major strength of probability sample is that the selection allows the development of statistical theory to examine the attributes of sample estimators to reduce bias. Coomber (1997) argued that probability sampling becomes a problem if the information needed to construct a sampling frame is absent. If not done properly, probability sa mpling can generate different types of error.Bryman and Cramer (1993) suggested that response rates on sample survey are sometimes so low that there is no great difference between probability and non-probability sample. Research methods are ways of gathering materials in research. There are two ways of collecting and collating materials which are quantitative and qualitative method. Quantitative method is the use of statistical analyses, real figures to collect data from the environment without subjective interference of the researchers. â€Å"The aim of the research is to collect fact about society which can be statistically analysed† (Gilbert, 2001).Quantitative data makes observation more explicit and can make it easier to summarise aggregate and compare data. Both study used quantitative study but the disadvantage of this type of method is that it does not give rich meaning to a study due to the fact that it is making use of statistics unlike qualitative data which gives a richer and in-depth meaning to a social phenomenon . According to Strauss and Corbin (1990) qualitative methods broadly define means any kind of research that produces findings not arrived by means of statistical procedures or other means of quantification.The aim of qualitative research is to offer a view of a situation and provide a written research reports that shows the research reports that shows the researchers ability to illustrate phenomena but its disadvantage is that it deals with just verbal description. Surveys are the most common and best method used for of data collection in social research, and it is useful in collecting original data for describing a population too large to be observed .According to Sarantakos (2005), surveys are methods of data collection in which information is gathered through oral or written questioning. For example, study 1used a semi-structured questionnaire survey which is a type of written questioning while study 2 used interviewing which i s a type of oral questioning. Survey research according to Babbie(2007) offers advantages in terms of economy, the amount of data that can be collected and the chance to sample a large population. In study 1, the survey was carried out in 2 district with the total population as 185825.The disadvantages of survey is that it is difficult to to gain a full sense of social processes in their natural processes. â€Å" In general, survey research is comparatively weak on validity and strong on reliability† (Babbie, 2007) Using a semi- structured questionnaire in study 1, the respondent must be put in mind. In study 1 for example bearing in mind the respondent,, the semi-structured questionnaire was translated into their native language which is Vietnamese for the respondent to be able to understand what it is all about. t could explore large number of people’s view. 399 participants in study 1 had face to face interviews and the questionnaires included questions on demograph ic characteristics, history of drug use, sexual behaviour to mention a few. The tendency of a questionnaire survey to ask rigid questions which force respondent answer into particular categories which they may not have thought of is one of the reasons why it is preferable to use interview as an alternative†(Valentine, 1997: 110) Study 2 used telephone interview.Interviewing is a type of research method that does not ask fixed answer questions. . â€Å"Quatitative interview may be used either as a primary strategy for data collection or in conjunction with observation, document analysis, or other techniques† (Bogdan and Biklen, 1982). The use of telephone interview in study 2 for initial screening process reduces cost of interviewing a large number of programs across the 50 states in United States. According to Sarantakos (2005), interview is employed when the interview are simple and brief, when quick and inexpensive result are sought.In this study, the interview was co nducted for 3 hours which might prove too strenuous, difficult and time consuming for the respondent. â€Å"Telephone interviews enable researcher to gather information rapidly and allow for some personal contact between the interviewer and respondent† (Kvale, 1996)*****.. I The advantage of this method is that it produces quick result, and allow more open communication since the respondent is not confronted with the interviewer. The disadvantages of this method is high refusal rate.In study 2, 614 programs were interviewed during screening, but just 233 programs participated in the study. ********Using sampling size in study 2 might not be a good way of recruiting program services from the whole of 53 countries in the state because it might not be a true representative of the programs********* The advantages of interview over questionnaire are that it answers the Why questions rather than just the how many, how often. For example, in study 2 the interviewers ask questions on the organisational characteristics of the program as well as demographic information about the clients in the programValidity and reliability of data collection is very important during research. Babbie (2007) defined validity as the extent to which an empirical measure adequately reflects the meaning of the concepts under consideration and reliability is a matter of whether a particular technique when applied repeatedly to the same object yield the same result at the same time. In study 2, in other to collect most reliable and valid data, interviewers generally conducted the telephone survey with several different staff each responding to their areas of expertise.In study 1,. Field were tested to ensure adaptability to local Vietnamese context. ELISA technique was used for HIV testing and univariate analysis was performed to test the associations of having overdosed in the past 12 months. Researchers must put into consideration the ethics and values of the participants. According to Sarantakos (2005), the researcher becomes aware of a lot of ethical consideration during the process of data collection. An important aspect of ethical consideration is â€Å"veracity, voluntary participation and confidentiality†.In study 1, participant were provided with written voluntary consent form which contains the detailed information on the purpose of the study and potential benefits and risk of participation which was read by a trained and experienced Vietnamese interviewers at the study site. In study 2, the interviewers described the purpose of the research to the participant through the telephone, gave a number of assurance concerning the voluntary nature the research and the confidentiality of responses.Some of the participant gave their consent and continued with the interview while some decline participation. It is important to take into consideration the limitation of the method used during data collection. In study 1, the use snowballing sampling is unlike ly that the sample will be representative of the population even though the interviewers claimed that recruitment of hidden population through peers has been successful in obtaining a broad sample. A better method would have been random selection.The second limitation of study I is that representativeness of the entire IDU population in the province can not be ascertained despite the fact that three fourths of the registered IDU were recruited from provincial level of government records of registered IDUs because there could be possibility of under-reporting and institutionalization of IDUs In study 2, the data reflected the provision of HCV services by drug treatment program from the person most knowledgeable about the medical services provided at the program, this will not give a rue data collection because the program managers may have over-reported the quality of services provided by the program. Clients assessing the programs should have been interviewed instead, these would ha ve supplied accurate information about the program and the data would have reflected the view of the clients In conclusion,

Sunday, March 8, 2020

How I Brought Historical Legends Into My Modern-Day Novel

How I Brought Historical Legends Into My Modern-Day Novel How Blending the Past and Present Allowed Me to Ask: "What If?" Along with being an author, Finian Black is a doctor who served in the British Army. He lives in Winchester, which is chock-full of medieval reminders of the time and story inspiration. In this article, he talks about how playing with myths and legends - stories steeped in history but often in little solid facts - gave him the freedom to weave elements of the past into his modern-day novel.Every story, whether it's a parent making up a simple tale for a sleepy child or a  sprawling saga, can be boiled down to a simple question:  what if? So, whenever a new idea for a story starts to take shape, the first thing I do is look for the magical question that gets to the heart of it all, and everything flows from there. Speculating on the past allows authors to write about a different version of present-day. Writing allows me to ask, "what if?"I live in the beautiful cathedral city of Winchester near the south coast of England. It's a great place to wander around, and wonder about! The idea for my new historical fiction novel,  The Final Raven, came during a visit to the Great Hall in Winchester, where an ancient round table has hung on the wall for centuries. As I looked upon that table, one question sprang to mind: what if a child discovered they are the last living descendant of King Arthur? Simple as that, I was ready to get started.With the base idea established, I had to think about where the story might go. The "what if?" part is always the easy bit! What follows is countless hours of story mapping, character plotting, running up blind alleys and falling into bottomless pits as the story takes on a life of its own. I asked myself: Would it be set in the present day or recent past? Who is this child? What is their background? Why now, after so long, would it come to light that th ere is a living descendant? And, of course, how much of the existing Arthurian legend would I incorporate? However, being rooted in Arthurian legend, I knew that there were some road signs readers would expect in my novel: Merlin, a sword in a stone, the Lady of the Lake, and Morgan le Fay, to name just a few. But I didn’t want to just re-write what’s already been done so well before, so I purposely toned down the obvious Arthurian elements, bringing them subtly into present-day so as to not distract from the story I wanted to tell. Lastly, I knew I needed a very strong cover that would convey mythical history but also appeal to the YA demographic. The cover designer I hired through Reedsy, Edward Bettison, captured exactly that with the bold typography and visual of the Tower of London raven.Pulling from the PlantagenetsMany of the kings during the Plantagenet period used the myths of Arthur for their own propaganda, and their stories are more incredible than any fiction. Furthermore, the Plantagenet period was hugely important in shaping what modern Britain looks like - w hich made it a great source of inspiration both regarding the historical aspects of my book and my modern-day characters. My historical research about this time period was extensive, delving into the lives of the different kings and what drove them to act the way they did. Two of the books that helped my research immensely were Dan Jones’ The Plantagenets and Desmond Seward’s The Demon’s Brood. Both brought to life the period and its individuals in a way that was invaluable.The Plantagenet period saw great kings like Edward III, but also terrible ones like John - and it is the terrible ones that first come to mind when thinking about this period. The bloodletting, violence, and cruelty were beyond anything we see in Game of Thrones, and those who wanted to challenge the king had to be prepared to act abhorrently. Amongst the pool of eligible individuals, it was often the maddest that took the crown. All of these qualities provided ripe inspiration for my villai n and clarifying his motives: which is to be king, at any means necessary - an ancient grievance of his. He is someone with medieval values in the modern world, and this combination makes him a lot of fun to write. "Turning to the past inspired my modern-day villain with medieval values." Drawing from the legendary Tower of London RavensAs for the novel’s title,  The Final Raven? Well, I’ve been fascinated by these wonderful birds for a long time. They are intelligent, beautiful, and mysterious. From the outset I knew that I wanted to incorporate the famous legend of the Tower of London ravens in my story as I find it to be a very powerful tale. The legend says that if ever the ravens were to leave the Tower, Britain would fall. There are different views on just how old this legend is. It has been said it only goes back as far as World War Two, when Churchill used it as propaganda to build national resolve. Others suggest it is a Victorian story. I like to believe the version that tells of King Arthur slaying a Celtic warrior called Bran at the site of the Tower. In this version, Bran turns into a raven and it is his descendants who still live there today. Magical!This legend offered me another great chance to blend mythical pasts and presents by incor porating modern technology: in my version of the story, the ravens are implanted with microchips so that the villain can track their demise on his tablet - green, to amber, to red! I used the motif of the dying birds as a countdown through the book, culminating in a race to save the last bird†¦ but if you want to know more, you'll have to read the book!It was important to me to go back to the Tower while writing this novel - which was fine by me! I love it there. It’s a thousand years of history brought to life in front of your eyes (much like a well-written novel can be!), and of course, you can meet the ravens. The Ravenmaster is a real person, too - he’s active on Twitter. Check him out. A great way to put a modern twist on historical legends is to incorporate technology. I've written stories since I was very young. Words are magical things - they can amaze, inspire, scare, and excite us. I love books that make me want to read one more page, then another, and another. To be a writer, I passionately believe that you also have to be a reader. Use of language shapes us, teaches us, and helps us find our own voice. I once read that the first million words we write *are* just practice for the proper writing that follows - in other words, keep going. Never lose sight of how to improve, and never worry if a paragraph or page doesn't flow. It might not make the final edit but it all improves our skills as writers.This book is the first in a series of three, and will be continued in The Devil's Blood, due out April 2018.The Final Raven is available in  paperback and on  Amazon Kindle.Interested in learning more about conducting historical research? Sign up for our Reedsy Learning course:  How to Research a Historical Novel or Nonfiction BookPlease shar e your thoughts, experiences, or any questions for Finian Black in the comments below!

Friday, February 21, 2020

Surprises of The God of Surprises Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Surprises of The God of Surprises - Essay Example The book is built around some of the cardinal pillars of traditional Christian spirituality. The aim of Christian spirituality is to establish an intimate partnership with God the Father, which encompasses the entire creation. Hughes analyses the spiritual malaise of the contemporary life and seeks to show the way to set it aright, drawing heavily on the Word of God and the perennial sources of traditional Christian spirituality whose relevance is undying and a valid tool for the moral reawakening of the sordid world of ours. interiority. There is a cleavage in our thinking, between the spiritual and temporal. This prevents us from achieving an integrated spiritual life. The book invites us to make a journey to our own inner self and there encounter God, the God of surprises. This encounter will integrate us to ourselves and to the world around and in the process, we will see how the creation is permeated with the all-encompassing touch of a benign Father. Through out the book Hughes seems to warn the danger of creating a God in our own image. The point that he reiterates in his work is the mystery of God's ways with the world and men. Some times God gives us the bread of adversity and the water of affliction. However to balance this view of God, Hughes has delineated the Prodigal Father. The chief delight of this Father is to share his everything in banquets to which all are invited. The invitees are not the best specimens of humanity, rather the poor, the cripple, the blind and in fact all who are interested in sharing His generosity. In the parable of the prodigal son, the father's prodigality towards the son who defamed the status of family in wasteful debauchery shocks the reader. To our prudent and well-measured dealing to others based on their merit and our future benefit from them, the God of surprises is foolishly lavish in his blessings, which is gratuitously given to all. The foolish prodigality of the God of surprises who leaves the ninety-nine to look for the one that is missing baffles our logic trained in the Aristotelian idea of virtue which is the choice of the golden mean avoiding extremes. Similarly the system of paying all who worked in the same measure at the end of the day, irrespective of the time they joined for duty, puzzles us who are used to time punching cards and attendance registers. Â  As we progress through the pages of The God of Surprises, the picture of God that looms large before us is that of a God who is more close to all of us than we can ever imagine in our wildest dreams. It is also a book of spiritual pilgrimage to discover the treasure hidden with in us. The book helps us to discern the unexpected ways in which God shows Himself. We see the image of God delivered to us by the stars and storms. Just like the Spiritual Exercises, the book is not meant for gulping at one sitting. The book can transform the person to enable him to surrender his will to the will of God, if relished in small meditative tonic dozes. Personal Reflections on The God of Surprises Gerard Hughes' The God of Surprises is one of the books worth reading a second or third time. The work of Holy Spirit is to renew the God's people constantly and to make them fit to fulfil the purpose for which God has made them.

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

The Police and Higher Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Police and Higher Education - Essay Example To consider any job a profession a person must go through rigorous academic training. The only reason we entrust our lives to a doctor is because we know he or she has gone through at least a decade of tough training. (Bueermann, 2006) A doctor treats people who are sick. To determine how sick the patient is a doctor must know all the symptoms, the medical history and the possible allergic reactions. Any one who commits a crime has a disease. A police officer is a criminal's doctor. To find out how sick the criminal is the police should look at the effect of the crime, the criminal history and possible future reactions to the both the police and the criminals action. For a police officer to do his job he must have some academic training because he must diagnose the criminal. The Chief of Police of Redland California says, "We need to advance the educational levels of police officers. Today's challenges-greater ethnic and racial diversity in the service population, increased outside scrutiny of police practices, added responsibilities arising from homeland security-require officers to be able to think critically."(Bueermann, 2006) The Chief believes that society today is way more complex and to meet all the challenges an officer must be able to critically analyze a situation and take action accordingly. 'Street smarts' cannot be acquired by a college degree but the ability to critically think can. "Higher education does not guarantee that a candidate will become a great cop, but it does promote critical thinking. And requiring a college degree of incoming police officers is an effective way to foster organization-wide critical thinking."(Bueermann, 2006) The basic purpose of college besides producing a professional is to teach a person to think outside t he box and to critically analyze a situation. Education diversifies people's thoughts and transforms ideas into revolutions. A high school education strengthens the bud's roots so it can go to college, receive proper exposure to sunlight and have enough water to bloom into a rose. Education helps the human brain bloom into a perfect rose. It should be expected of police officers, the guardians of our society, to not only have strong roots but an open mind as well. Although college education is the formal way of getting an education it is not always the only way of getting one. A police department in Connecticut has taken a different route to police education. Instead of having a military like building their institute looks like a regular college. Instead of wearing uniforms the recruits wear normal clothes and the head is civilian. They have also changed what they teach; initially the training focus was on the physical aspects of policing. (Travis, 1995) Now the emphasis is on problem-solving, conflict resolution, diversity training, and acquiring organizational skills. Previously, only the minimum State requirements were taught. Now, recruits study such problems as sexual harassment, bias and hate crimes, HIV-AIDS, stress, and violence against women conversational Spanish and American Sign Language [and

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

The scope and limitations of Reiss text typology

The scope and limitations of Reiss text typology Reiss translation-oriented text-typology provides a systematic approach to translation. More interestingly, it approaches translation at the text level. This essay will examine Reiss typology with focus on Parting the Waters, published in National Geographic, a monthly magazine that borders on science, geography, history and culture. REISS TEXT-TYPOLOGY Reiss sees translation as an act of communication whereby the translator acts as a medium (secondary sender). This presupposes that a message has to be passed across, from a primary source to a target receiver. The major media are the source language and the target language. The aim here is to produce a target language text that is functionally equivalent to the source language text (Reiss 2000:160). This means the source text should be the consultative point for the translator. In order to achieve this functional equivalence, Reiss proposes a functional approach of text-typology. This approach takes into account the major communicative function of a source text as a basis for translating into the target text. In other words, a target text that does not have the same function as the source text is not entirely a translation, but what Reiss calls transfer. Reiss text-typology includes a two-phase approach in translating a text: Phase of analysis and phase of reverbalization. The analy sis phase basically involves establishing the text type, genre and style (linguistic form).The phase of analysis is the most important as that is what would inform the translation method to employ. Text-type of Parting the Waters Reiss identifies three text-types according to their communicative function namely: the informative type (communication of content), the expressive type (communication of artistically organised content) and the operative type (communication of content with a persuasive character). There is another hyper-type which she calls the audio-medial text type. This is more of a super-ordinate term for the other three and does not concern the text in question since it is a written text. Parting the Waters can be seen chiefly as an informative text type; first given the context of the text: magazine and second because it gives factual information about a place: Korea, and the geographical events that take place there. The translation strategy recommended in this case by Reiss should thus focus on conveying content. Text variety of Parting the Waters This stage has to do with the conventions of structure and language adopted by the text. However, Reiss explains that they may differ according to different cultures. The importance of this is to be able to find a functionally equivalent convention in the target text culture. In this light, Parting the Waters is a kind of popular scientific text. This suggests also that it seeks a wider audience other than scientists. This leads to the final stage of analysis: style. Style in Parting the Waters The final stage of analysis has to do with detailed semantic, syntactic and pragmatic analysis of the language use (Reiss, 2000:166). Ordinarily, one would expect that when a text is an informative type, even the language used should be such that it is aimed only at giving facts. But that is often not the case, as Reiss herself admits, not in one single language do form and function show a 1:1 relation (2000:166). Hence, looking at the text, one would find a similar occurrence. The text has expressive language such as the internal rhymes: tides, divine, divide; of 15 feet. There is also an allusion to a biblical story: not divine interventions, an expression that answers the presupposition in the title itself Parting the Waters. Reiss thus considers this stage of analysis the most important, as the translator is faced with a decisive battle on what would inform the translation: the language or the function of the text. At this point, Reiss posits that if using an equivalent language style may weigh on the content of the text, then the translator should stick to the predominant function of the text. Translating Parting the Waters to Yorà ¹bà ¡: limitations Taking into consideration the content-focused function of the text, the translator is expected to employ a method that would achieve the same function as that of the target text by translating according to the sense and meaning (Reiss 2000:167). This suggests that the meaning conveyed by the target text should be equivalent to the meaning in the source text. Being a popular science text, and specifically about geography, Parting the Waters has terms such as peninsula, southwestern, mile, width, feet, and spring. While some of them might have some kind of equivalence (i.e. peninsula, mile width), a climatic description like spring poses a problem because Yorà ¹bà ¡ neither has a word nor group of words for it. This is basically due to the different weather conditions. The question is: what should the translator convey here? This is important because spring as used in the text plays a major role in the content; by telling us when an event takes place. The only alternative here would be to replace the word with the time of the year this season occurs in Korea. The problem with this is that it might change the meaning, as the sense of season is different from the calendar year. To solve this translation problem, the translator could adopt Nidas gloss translation of formal equivalence, that is, the use of footnotes in order to make the text fully comprehensible (Nida 2000:129). What this means is that Reiss method is not sufficient to solve this translation problem. The expression divine interventions in the text makes allusion to a biblical story about the Red Sea. This could be because the author had a target audience in mind and presumes they know about the story in the Bible. Although this can also be linked to the use of expressive language, it is however difficult to ignore the fact that this type of language use plays a role in the text- to maintain the interest of the reader. If the original audience for the source text were specialists, there is doubt as to whether expressive language would have been used at all, since all that would be needed are facts. The question is whether or not to include it in the translation. The answer to this is dependent on another question: who are the audience? Sacrificing the expressive form might change the text to an entirely scientific or historic one. This means a different readership, as it may not appeal to a common reader. The problem here is that Reiss method overlooks the fact there is an address ee for even an informative text type. She acknowledges this only in the text variety stage. However, communication itself is not complete without a receiver, in this case the readers. The title, Parting the Waters, also draws attention. It first makes the reader think of the biblical story of the Red Sea, and then makes a reader assume that is what the text is about. But this effect can only be achieved based on a shared knowledge between the author and the reader about the biblical story of the Red Sea. This assumption too must have been informed by the fact that the author had an audience in mind. However, the author quickly attends to this curiosity and possible misconception by the following opening sentence Tides, not divine interventions, divide Unfortunately, the target language (Yorà ¹bà ¡) audience is a mixture of different religions. In this text the title performs an expressive function, but that is not to say its predominant function is expressive. Since it is an informative text, one would expect again that the title would be informed by the major content being conveyed. But this is not the case. Moreover, attractive titles seem to be a common featu re of this genre. This is also a common feature of Yorà ¹bà ¡ magazines (Salawu 2004:100). The question here is: since content is the aim, should the target title be informed by the content alone and leave the use of expressive language? This of course is possible, as Reiss already advises on ignoring such language use especially if it will weigh on the content. Thus the translation can simply have à pa-Õnà   Ã’kun Korea which means The Path between Korean Waters. The consequence of this however is that it might not appeal to the wider audience except a few, specialists. This brings up again the question: who are the audience? Reiss considers this an appropriate factor only when the function of the target text is different from the source text (Reiss 2000:170). What her typology fails to recognise is that both source and target texts can have the same function (as in the case of Parting the Waters) but different addressees. CONCLUSION While Reiss translation-oriented text-typology provides a systematic method of approaching a translation task, it does not provide a complete solution to some problems in English to Yorà ¹bà ¡ translation of Parting the Waters. This suggests that it is not absolute that a text function will provide a translation strategy. Fawcett (1997: 107) makes this same point: There is simply no necessary link between text function and translation strategy. Just because we have identified a text functiondoes not mean that we are led inexorably to any logical or translation-scientific imperative to take this function as an overriding parameter to which we subordinate our translation decisions. (Fawcett 1997, p.107) This further suggests that other translation theories are valid and useful to the extent to which they proffer a solution to a translation problem.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

A Case Study of the English Language Center :: Research Papers

A Case Study of the English Language Center Three blocks away from the hustle of Market Street, the main thoroughfare of Drexel University's campus, an unassuming building nestles in a quiet neighborhood. The street, lined with narrow sidewalks and trees, gives one a feeling of coziness and safety. Other than the faint sounds of city traffic, tranquility presides over this neighborhood scene. At 229 North 33rd Street stands a long, rectangular, light-colored brick building two stories high. The low green shrubs at the edge of the building and the grassy areas spotted with trees to either side of the entrance give one the sense that this building belongs to the "neighborhood." Looking up at its facade, one would not think that inside this modest structure lies a microscopic view of the world as it could be in the next millennium-a world where countries from all corners of the globe come together in harmony, a non-politicized world where borders, political divisions separating ethnic groups, dissolve and give rise toboundar ies, permeable areas that encourage the acknowledgement of and mutual respect for linguistic and cultural diversity. What is this place? Who are the inhabitants? Walking up the entranceway steps lined with black iron railings, one immediately encounters an outer glass door inscribed with the outline of an umbrella-shaped image encasing the letters AAIEP. Above the umbrella stand the words "American Association for International English Programs (AAIEP)" and underneath, "English Language Center, Foreign Language Center, and ESL Writing Center." These words only begin to frame what goes on inside this building. On the other side of the entranceway lies a safe haven--a place where people from around the globe to come together to learn English, a place where words are transformed into language. But more goes on at 229 North 33rd Street than just the learning of English in the traditional sense of learning a language or the teaching of specific skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. At Drexel's English Language Center (ELC), students learn about American culture as well. While knowledge of vocabulary, syntax, and grammar serve to enhance one's linguistic ability, they do not necessarily promote communicative competence or the appropriate use of language in situations of everyday life. Because the rules and norms of language cannot be separated from culture, developing communicative competence "enables a student to use a language for a wide range of social and expressive purposes" (Schiffrin 323).