English as an International Language

There are lots of languages in the world and some of them fall into the category of international languages or languages of wider communication, such as French, English, German, Spanish, Russian, Italian and Arabic. All these languages are the official languages of the United Nations. Among all these languages English is rightly considered to be the international language of the world, though English has assumed the function of the ‘world language’ quite recently. It was only in the 1930 that the British Foreign Office stopped using French for all its official memoranda.Nowadays it is estimated that besides 300 millions native speakers, there are 300 millions who use English as the second language and 100 millions use it as a foreign language. It is listed as the official or co-official language of over 45 countries and is spoken extensively in other countries where it has no official status. A very marked rise is evident in the use of English for occupation purposes: En glish is the international language of the air, and failure to use it efficiently can endanger passenger safety.English is the language of banking and industry: many international firms, based in non-English countries conduct their entire operations throughout the world in English. Two thirds of all scientific papers are written in English. Over 70% of all mail is written and addressed in English. Most international tourism is conducted in English. There aren’t any linguistic reasons why English might be the world language, because to anyone learning English it’s neither more simple nor more complex than any other language. English is easy to master to some extent, because it has a simple system of declension.Some linguists divide the use of English into three circles. The inner circle is the traditional base of English and includes countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, the USA and former colonies: Australia, New Zealand and some others. English is the native language or mother tongue of most people in these countries. In the outer circle are those countries where English has official or historical importance. This means most of the Commonwealth (the former British Empire), including high-populated countries such as India and Nigeria and others under the American sphere of influence, such as the Philippines.Here English may serve as a language for mutual understanding between ethnic language groups. Higher education, the legislature and judiciary, national commerce and so on may all be carried out predominantly in English. And the expanding circle refers to those countries where English has no official role, but nevertheless is important for certain functions, notably international business. This use of English includes most of the rest of the world. In conclusion I would like to say that the knowledge of the English language nowadays is important for career. It increases your salary by 30%.

Strategic Management and Lego

1st CASE STUDYWinter term 2012/2013Student: Aitor Martin SantanaProfessor: Ravinder Kaur-LahrmannSubject: Management Tools| THE LEGO GROUP 1. In this case I have identified some key characteristics that are in relation with the strategy that LEGO has been following. In the 1970-1980 decades, environment was hostile. There was a huge oil crisis, and there were too much difficulties. However, LEGO maintained its philosophy, and their image of unique and iconic brand. Competence was also hard, with Mattel and Hasbro in the market, but LEGO sustained its powerful position.If we focus, for example, in the strategy that they carried out between 1995 and 1998, an interesting fact is that their objectives (become the best known global brand, increase the sales, etc. ) are set in a long term direction. Another important point is that they wanted to expand the scope of their activities. They entered in new areas such as films, games†¦ and they also built new LEGOLAND parks. However, the t urnaround attempts that happened between 1999 and 2003 forced this company to check their strategy. Different factors such as the changing environment, lead times†¦ affected negatively LEGO`s strategy.This shows that the uncertainty of strategic decisions is also decisive. If we look at the exploring strategy model, we can see that the strategic decisions have affected the three main elements (position, choices and action). Regarding to the strategic choices for example, we can mention the corporate-level and the business level strategies. I think that LEGO took some correct decisions, such as changing their relationship with retailers, renewing their supply chain†¦ 2. There are many external features that have more or less influenced LEGO`s strategy development.One of this factors has been the competitor`s influence. Due to the high competitiveness in the toy market, LEGO has to make a big effort in strategy in order to be one of the leaders of this industry. Other import ant issue is the supply and the distribution. The main reason of changing their strategy is that sales were seasonal and they had to adapt their supply system to this. Concerning the distributors we can state that retailers were putting too much pressure on the company, so the solution consisted on bringing their positions in order to achieve better results.Maybe one of the reasons of starting a digital strategy was the obsolescence of their products. There are other influences worth mentioning, such as the economic (crisis and bad cost management) and social (criticism of the public). 3. Improvements of the capital structure were important resources that have enabled LEGO to achieve their successful results. If we focus on intangible resources, we can say that the reputation of this firm is key element, especially because they created an image of a family-run company, which give consumers, shareholders, suppliers†¦ a feeling of trust.Kjeld played an important role. On the othe r hand one of the most important competences of LEGO is their brand. This is one of the oldest and better known toy companies in the world, so we can say that their brand is iconic. In my opinion, this is the main core competence of LEGO. 4. I think that the various internal and external factors responsible for problems were the key element in the development of those alternative strategies. They forced Kejld to take those decisions.The previous years were adverse, and there were internal problems such as financial and logistic difficulties, longer lead times, etc. Also external factors such as competitor`s rising power and problems with suppliers were determinant in taking the strategic decisions. In my view, two were the most important strategies: focusing on cost and the supply chain and innovating. Managing the costs efficiently is very important, especially for companies that produce seasonal products. This gives security. Innovation provides a company an extra value.Inviting t he consumers to participate in product development was an excellent idea, because in the toy market is necessary to have lots of ideas. LEGO needed new, better and more ideas. 5. In order to approach future strategy development, they could focus on one of the four strategic lenses (strategy as a design, strategy as experience, strategy as ideas and strategy as discourse). If they chose the design lens, their managers would have to take rational decisions with a high grade of legitimacy such as those related to costs, their product`s marketing, etc.They also should take a look on economic performance, which is very important in LEGO Group. Also, they could focus in the experience lens. Focusing on this lens would be a possible decision, because LEGO has a lot of individual and collective experience. Although LEGO could focus on this lens, I personally think this would not be the best option because LEGO needs innovation and new ideas for the future, and this lens states that the futu re has to be made based in the past. The next would be the ideas lens. This would be, with the design, the ens which better would fit with LEGO Group`s strategy, and the one that they should develop most. I say this because in the market where this company competes new ideas are very important, in order to maintain competitiveness. Finally there would be the discourse lens, which I think could also be a good strategy for LEGO, but not the best, because we have to remember that LEGO doesn`t want its managers to have too much power and legitimacy. Their work should be more focused on teamwork and cooperation between higher and lower power levels in the company.

Ict Procurement Trends in the Uk Essay

This report presents the findings from a survey of 136 UK enterprises regarding their approach to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) procurement. The survey investigates the way that UK enterprises like to purchase technology, as well as the major IT and business objectives influencing their IT investment strategies. Introduction and Landscape Why was the report written? To highlight the criteria on which UK enterprises select their IT providers as well as the roles which have influence while making IT purchasing decisions. What is the current market landscape and what is changing? UK enterprises are set to increase their IT spending in 2013. Kable’s survey shows that ICT spending in the UK is being driven by investments in core technology areas such as security, enterprise applications, IT systems management, and content management. What are the key drivers behind recent market changes? With enterprises being continuously exposed to malicious attacks on their business critical information, the demand for security solutions is growing. What makes this report unique and essential to read? Kable Global ICT Intelligence has invested significant resources in order to interview CIOs and IT managers about their IT Procurement. Very few IT analyst houses will have interviewed 130+ ICT decision makers in the UK market in H2 2012. Key Features and Benefits Provides insights into UK enterprises’ preferred buying approaches. Comprehend the business objectives that UK enterprises are looking to achieve through their IT investment strategy. Appreciate the IT objectives that UK enterprises are looking to achieve through their IT investment strategy. Understand the factors that are influencing UK enterprises’ decision to select an ICT provider. Understand which organisational roles influence IT purchasing decisions and signing off budgets. Key Market Issues Despite the uncertain economic conditions across Europe and the UK government’s large scale austerity measures which have impacted public sector ICT spend, the vast majority of respondents from Kable’s survey indicate that their IT budgets will remain at the same level or will increase in 2013. With regards to the authority over signing off budgets, UK enterprises surprisingly give an equal rating to CEOs, CFOs, and CIOs. UK enterprises rate ‘Improve supplier relationships’ with an average rating of X, indicating that enterprises’ focus is weighted more to their own operations, followed by their customers, amidst the difficult global economic outlook. Investments in cloud computing are expected to grow with the penetration of this technology increasing from the current level of X% to Y% in the next twenty-four months, driven by factors such as lowering cost and complexity, and ease of use. According to Kable’s survey, X% of enterprises have a somewhat complex ICT infrastructure with several hardware manufacturers, operating systems, databases, applications, and other elements. Key Highlights Although on-premise deployment is favoured, the demand for hosted applications is also gaining traction, as enterprises are continuously focused on reducing costs in the current economic climate. Raising efficiency is a primary business objective influencing IT investment strategy amongst UK enterprises with the highest rating of X on a scale of 1 to 4. The recent survey reveals X% of enterprises have rated the objective of meeting internal service level agreements as a highest priority. With an average rating of X on a scale of 1 to 4, UK enterprises consider ‘Financial stability’ and ‘Price’ to be the most important criteria in choosing an IT solutions provider. UK enterprises rate the CIO/IT department as the most influential authority when making IT purchasing decisions, with the highest average rating of X on a scale of 1 to 4.

Vark Questionnaire Paper

VARK is a questionnaireâ€Å"VARK† is a questionnaire of about 16 questions that provides people with their preference of learning style. The learning styles that VARK offers can help people develop additional and effective strategies for learning and for making your communication skills better. The styles that this questionnaire determines are Visual, Aural, Read/Write, Kinesthetic, or you can be multimodal which means you have a multiple learning preference. In this paper I will summarize the results received after taking the questionnaire and the other learning styles.After taking the questionnaire it was learned that some individuals, such as this author are multimodal learners. What multimodal means is you have multiple preferences. Majority of the population fits into this category. The results after this author took the questionnaire showed a preference of a visual and kinesthetic learner. As visual learner VARK says that the learners want the whole picture therefore th ey are most likely holistic rather than reductionist in their approach. Visual learners prefer something because of the way it looks, the layout of it and the presentation catches their eye.When explaining something the learner/teacher is most likely to draw it out so they can visualize it. As a Kinesthetic learner VARK suggest that the learner uses all their senses; sight, touch, hearing, etc. Kinesthetic learners like hands on, trial and error. Relating things to real life experiences can help absorb the information. Using pictures can also help to remember the information. When taking notes kinesthetic learners should take notes that are relevant and concrete, reducing notes for every three pages to one page, and use color such as highlighting important information.Other learning styles that VARK include are Aural; meaning you would rather have things explained to. Information is better obtained when aural learners discuss is with others and hear it repeated instead of reading it from their notes. When aural learners teach or discuss something with others, they are practically teaching themselves because discussing it helps to better learn and retain it. The last learning style that VARK offers is read/write learning style. You prefer to write things down and receive handouts on new material.The library is a preferred area of study, and choice when gathering information on a topic. After completing the VARK questionnaire this author feels that the results were pretty accurate. She feels that she learns best when applying areas of study to real life experience and to personal experiences. She also finds herself writing many things down, high lighting, and drawing out things when trying to remember something. This author took another survey on another website to see what the preferred learning style showed.After completion it showed this author is a visual and tactile/kinesthetic learner, which matched the VARK results. In the future there are a few things th is author needs to work on to improve her study habits. Although this writer has in the past used the learning styles previously mentioned, she may have not been using them correctly. Why highlighting can help to pinpoint the main idea or important information, there is a thing as highlighting too much. This author needs to be able to determine what is pertinent and when something is not as important.In the past she has highlighted too much information, and perhaps has highlighted the same information twice. Also note taking so be minimized, and not writing everything down, which she has done in the past. In conclusion after taking the two different questionnaires they showed the same results. Both results revealed that this author is a visual learner as well as a tactile/kinesthetic learner. This author feels these results show how she has studied in the past. This author likes to try things out when learning new material and enjoys having people demonstrate what is being taught.Du ring nursing school this author learned best by the demonstrations in skills and clinical and then being able to perform the hands on task. These questionnaires are good guidelines to get a student headed in the right direction and to help them improve their study habits.ReferencesFleming, N. (n. d. ). a guide to learning styles. In VARK . Retrieved October 21, 2012, from http://www. vark-learn. com/english/page. asp? p=questionnaire Conner, M. (n. d. ). What is Your Learning Style?. In Marcia Conner Business Culture, Collaboration, and Learning.Retrieved October 21, 2012, from http://marciaconner. com/assess/learningstyle/ The VARK Questionnaire ResultsYour scores were:†¢Visual: 13†¢Aural: 1†¢Read/Write: 4†¢Kinesthetic: 13You can find more information about your learning preferences in our downloadable book: How Do I Learn Best? a student's guide to improved learning More Information†¦ You have a multimodal (VK) learning preference. Use the following helpsh eets for study strategies that apply to your learning preferences: multimodal visual kinesthetic.Personal Learning Profile Report The VARK questionnaire provides four scores and the various combinations of those scores are huge in number. You can order a report based on your specialized profile. Every attempt is made to personalize the report so that it addresses the meanings from your learning preferences in a unique way. You will receive a report personalised to your VARK scores, as a PDF file, immediately after purchasing. More Information Example Report Purchase

Rhetoical analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Rhetoical analysis - Essay Example The author uses rhetorical techniques of logos, facts, and analogy, to effectively convince the readers, and make them aware of the limitations of the embryonic stem cells in human use. The author uses analogy as a strategy of making the readers relate to the issue she is addressing. In this case, Swenson has referred to The Emperor’s New Clothes, a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, which she knows is quite popular among the audience. This is about an emperor, who considered that his clothes were the best, compared to those of other people. He therefore, goes in public to display his new clothing, yet this was an imaginary instance in his mind. In reality, he had nothing on, and a child notices this and acknowledges it. Swenson uses this scenario to link with the case of the scientists working on the embryonic stem cell. He wants to make his audience to understand that, the whole embryonic stem cell project by scientists is in vain, imaginary, and likened to a fairy tale, just like the emperor’s imaginary valuable clothes. By using analogy, he compares the scientific project and the emperor’s incidence, as having similar outcomes, which is false hope. This ensures that this comparison remains memorable among the audience, thus making it easy for them to relate with (Swenson WEB). Secondly, the author uses evidence or support, to back her argument in the issue. This helps to make the audience consider the argument as having a solid ground. Swenson uses different forms of evidence to support her argument. For instance, she directs the audience to a website that will provide them with more information about the success of adult stem cells and cord blood treatments in treatment of many types of conditions. This supports her argument that only adult stem cell and cord blood treatment are successful in curing various conditions, and not the embryonic stem cell. She also revisits other incidences where embryonic stem cells failed to

Why having a large vocabulary is good Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Why having a large vocabulary is good - Essay Example A bewildering vocabulary entraps aghast and paranoid occupants of the society and provides them with a most comfortable place to live. The elegant and charismatic words, help in evading disputes. Proper use of vocabulary helps people in integrating their dispersed thoughts in an efficient way. Moreover, to properly utilize the liberty of thoughts and expression a person needs to have a large vocabulary. Having a large vocabulary stops people from lament over the lack of words to explain their thoughts. An efficient use of vocabulary ensembles the ideas and produces a long-lasting effect on people. Hence, the beauty of words is the most powerful weapon against the prejudices, disputes, arguments and literary wars that exist today. Having a large vocabulary for the cause of sharing ideas, sympathizing people, literary expressionism and a tool to fight against the vices of society is a great success of an individual. Hence, large vocabulary not only helps in good academic outcomes but a lso affect the social order and perceptions of people if used

The development of human civilization Term Paper

The development of human civilization - Term Paper Example The development of human civilization is one of the important topics in the study of history. The paper is aimed to discuss and to analyze the early periods in the development of human civilization specifically the Mesopotamian, Near Eastern, Hebrew, Greek and Roman civilizations. This will be accomplished through the presentation of the contributions and features as well as the comparative analysis of each period in history included in the study. Historical View Mesopotamia was included in first civilizations with the people of the Western Asia and North Africa. The said period was referred to as the emergence of civilization. Mesopotamia was the present Southern Iraq known to be the place where the human civilization started specifically based on the fertile source of livelihood that the large rivers Tigris and Euphrates offered. It included the modern-day northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran and also known as the most influential land that ruled the Bronze Age through the leadership of Sumer, Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian empires. The people of Mesopotamia were known to have established social structure and organized states. They also have their own political, military and religious cultures. In terms, of language and writing, the identity of Mesopotamia was well established and known in the said period (Duiker and Spielvogel, 2006, p.4). Through the course of history, other surrounding nations and empires grew and became known. The term Near East had been applied to the region that included the Asia Minor (areas of Turkey, Armenia and Georgia), Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Cyprus, Israel, Palestinian territories and other parts of Mesopotamia. Egypt was also included in certain references as well as other parts of Africa and Saudi Arabia. The said question on the exact territory referred to as the Near East can be attributed to the geographical basis of description, e.g. the bodies of water which served as the main source of nourish ment. The Ancient Near East was located in the Fertile Crescent which with water sources such as the Persian Gulf, the Mediterranean Sea and the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (p.10). The Hebrew was another influential culture during the onset of human civilization. Hebrews are known to be the children of Israel. Due to the rise of organized society and the establishment of the different institutions in the society, contributions of different nations had been based on different areas and disciplines. The most important contribution of the Hebrews was monotheism, which is the religious belief in only one God. The main religion of the Hebrews which was Judaism was a monotheistic religion. This became a significant influence to both Christianity and Islam (p.21). Greece was another established nation with great influence and contributions to the human civilization. The uniqueness of the culture of the Greeks can be attributed to the extraordinary geography and territorial land of their co untry which was basically separated by mountainous areas. Above the conflicts of each community on their fight to maintain independence, the established culture of each community can be considered as one of the most important contributions of the Greek nation. Due to the early development of the different institutions within the society, Greece had been considered as the nation where the advancement of the modern era began (p.75). Rome can be considered as the most advanced in terms of power and influence during the early history of the human civilization. The Roman Empire had ruled for seven hundred years. Such capability can be attributed to the exceptional organization in the social structure of the nation. But it is important to consider that the most important characteristic in the Roman culture was influence of the Greeks. This is in terms of the culture, arts, politics, and other institutions in the society (p.105). Analysis In the study of the history of human