Formal vs. Informal English (Why and When Grammar Matters)

Formal vs. Informal English (Why and When Grammar Matters) Formal vs. Informal English (Why and When Grammar Matters) Lately, there’s been a lot of debate about whether correcting people’s grammar makes you a snob (or, in the words of one commentator, â€Å"patronizing, pretentious and just plain wrong†). As proofreaders, this puts us in a difficult position: On the one hand, we don’t want to be â€Å"patronizing, pretentious and just plain wrong.† On the other hand, we’re basically professional pedants, using our knowledge of English to help people communicate. Please dont call us grammar Nazis, by the way. Were very much against fascism, even the grammatical kind. Perhaps the real question is when it’s appropriate to insist on particular grammatical standards. First, though, we should consider the difference between formal and informal English. Formal English Formal English sticks to the prescribed rules of spelling and grammar. This is far more common in writing than speech, especially academic writing and in professional settings. In this kind of English, it’s typical to: Use conventional grammar and spelling Avoid contractions (e.g., â€Å"don’t† or â€Å"should’ve†) and slang Use academic or technical language Always use complete sentences, as well as longer or more complex sentences Require consistent use of terminology/punctuation This kind of writing can seem â€Å"snobby,† especially if the author uses very obscure words or complicated sentences. But a good writer will use formal English to ensure clarity and precision. The advantage of formal English is that it helps people in a particular field or subject area to communicate by providing a standard style of writing. This is why colleges use academic English, but being able to use formal language is valuable elsewhere, too. The important thing is knowing when to use formal English: e.g. at work, in college papers, when communicating with authority figures, etc. Its also useful for talking with the Queen of England. Admittedly, this isnt a daily issue for most people. Informal English Informal English essentially refers to forms of written or spoken English that don’t stick closely to conventional spelling and grammar or that use a lot of slang and informal words. This is the kind of everyday language we use when talking with friends or emailing someone we know well. There is, obviously enough, no standard form of informal English, since it simply refers to non-standard English, which can even encompass â€Å"txtspk†! Theres no such thing as formal txtspk. So far. Does Grammar Really Matter? When using formal English, yes, grammar and spelling are important. It’s not that formal English is inherently â€Å"better† regardless of the circumstances; it’s simply that using formal English in professional or academic settings aids communication and clarity. By comparison, mistakes like mixing up â€Å"their† and â€Å"they’re† in a college paper could imply a lack of care or attention, even if the reader can tell what you intended. However, if you’re just hanging out with friends and you feel an urge to tell someone off for splitting an infinitive, it could seem insulting or annoying to the person you’re correcting. Thus, if grammar matters more to you than your friends, feel free to be as pedantic as you like. Otherwise, it might be best to save formal English for when it really counts. If you already carry a red pen for correcting mistakes wherever you go, you might want to try a career in proofreading.

Wetware

Wetware Wetware Wetware By Maeve Maddox Computer-age coinages don’t usually strike me as â€Å"creepy,† but this one does. Formed on the model of software and hardware, wetware begins to soar into prominence on the Ngram Viewer in 1979. Both the OED and Merriam-Webster provide definitions of this new term. OED wetware noun: Chemical materials organized so as to perform arithmetic or logical operations; brain substance, as having this ability. M-W wetware noun: The human brain or a human being considered especially with respect to human logical and computational capabilities. Apparently the invention and continuing development of artificial intelligence (AI) has created the need for a retronym for human. In I, Robot, written between 1940 and 1950, Asimov referred to the brain of a robot as a â€Å"positronic brain.† In the dystopia of Terminator (1984), an intelligent computer is called â€Å"Neural Net CPU.† In the 2015 film Ex Machina, a substance made of a gel that causes artificial neural connections to form is called wetware. Here are examples of the usage of wetware I found on the Web: [Marleen Stikker] was director of multimedia art festival Zomerfestijn Amsterdam in 1990 and 1991 and organiser of the Wetware Conference (on hardware, software and physical interaction). Integrated IT Wetware/Software Solutions [headline on site of company offering digital services] Many, many teams just abandon this impossible wetware task and use each solution in isolation. [This is a consultant’s website. In the context, wetware seems to mean the aspect of online selling that involves human beings called â€Å"web customers† and â€Å"mobile customers† who are part of the â€Å"wetware task.†] The term wetware in its turn is spawning new meanings for the adjective wet. Dean Koontz uses (and defines) the expression wet intelligence in the following exchange between characters who are examining an alien creature: Linked up, maybe these hundreds of millions of nanocomputers functioned as this creatures brain or at least as the largest part of its brain, assuming there was also some wet intelligence in it. Wet intelligence? Biological brain matter. At first I thought that the term wet signature had a similar meaning, but several readers have informed me that the wetness of this term refers to ink and not to gray matter. For example: DocuSign is capable of keeping the entire transaction in the cloud. There are, however, rare occasions when a wet signature is necessary. Related post: What’s a Retronym? Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:5 Uses of InfinitivesWhat is the Difference Between Metaphor and Simile?50 Tips on How to Write Good

Medical seizures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Medical seizures - Essay Example Seizures are temporary phenomena; some individuals have got repeated episodes of seizures. These repeated episodes have been given a medical name of epilepsy. Individuals with seizures may present in different ways depending upon the level of and number of neurons involved. In a number of individuals, it is just a jerky movement involving one or more limbs or other areas with conscious level maintained while in others the movements may involve whole body and individual may loose her/his consciousness. So, seizures have been classified according to the level of complexity and consciousness. When some parts of the body are involved, seizures are called as partial otherwise they are generalized. If consciousness is lost which usually occurs with generalized seizures then these are called complex, if consciousness is present, these are simple seizures. Generalized seizures may affect body in a variety of ways and they have been further divided based on the types of movements they are pro ducing: absence, myoclonic, clonic and atonic seizures. In contrast, there are some situations in which these seizures may be single, for example: trauma or head injury, high grade fever especially in children, a symptom of other diseases including tumor and reactions to some drugs. At times, a partial seizure may spread in the brain when it is called secondary generalization. A persistent state of seizures for more than 5 minutes or by other doctors for 30 minutes is called status epilepticus. It is a real emergency state, which needs urgent measures to bring the patient out of the condition (Wikipedia, Carpenter ch:125). Current Treatment Treatment is required when seizures become recurrent. If the cause of the seizure is removed then there is no need of use of epileptic drugs; this occurs in situations like febrile conditions in children or seizures due to electrolytes imbalance. Main purpose of these drugs is to stop seizures because in addition to the direct effects of seizures there are chances of more severe complications, for example accidents resulting from seizures while driving, to arise if these seizures are not treated effectively. The criteria for starting anti-epileptic drugs are: evidence of focal neurological lesion based on clinical examination, radiological findings or EEG interpretations. If seizures occur once and there are no other findings especially in adults then there is no need of epileptic drugs. These drugs have been classified and prioritised for various types of seizures: Partial - simple and complex: carbamazepin,phenytoin, valproate, gabapentin, lamotrigine, topiramate Secondary generalized: carbamazepin, phenytoin, valproate, gabapentin, lamotrigine, topiramate Primary Generalized - absence: ethosuximide, valproate, lamotrigine Primary Generalized - tonic-clonic: valproate, carbamazepin, phenytoin, lamotrigine Primary Generalized - myoclonic and tonic: valproate, clonazepam Some of the patients do not get benefits from the medical treatment. The only option left for them is surgical resection of the hyperactive area in the brain. This is a very sophisticated procedure, which requires exact location of the area of brain with abnormal hyper excitability (Carpenter ch:125). Treatment of choice for status epilepticus has been diazepam even in the presence

Report on the legal framework for chosen restaurant (after takover) Essay

Report on the legal framework for chosen restaurant (after takover) - Essay Example The report will also summarize the implications of the identified legislations to the college restaurant. In this regard, the report will highlight how each of the legislations affecting the restaurant industry and in particular, the college restaurant affects it, the customers, and the staffs who are students at the college. Secondly, it will highlight on the rights and responsibilities of the stakeholders as required by the legislation or how their roles are affected by the legislations. Thirdly, the report will also state the penalties that the college restaurant or members of staff may face if they fail to abide by the legislations. Among the laws that will be reviewed by the report which affect the restaurant industry include laws pertaining to licensing, food hygiene, health and safety laws for workplaces, and fire safety laws. 1.0 Introduction With reference to the writings by Pannett (1992), he wrote that in general the constitution is a tool that stipulates what is legally a nd morally correct in most issues such as politics and even business issues. The constitution further spells out legislations pertaining to specific industries, and these legislations are mainly used as guidelines to ensure that industry players engage in fair practices without compromising the quality of their product and/ or service, and that they engage in health competition which will not undermine the spirit of fair business participation. Pannett (1992) further added that some industries are less regulated while others are heavily regulated but this is mainly determined by the nature of the business involved in the industry, the sensitivity of the products and/ or services, the category of consumers served by the industry players, and overall government and public interest on the industry. For example, the entertainment industry is less regulated or has few related legislations because the products and services that it offers to revelers are not highly sensitive, more over for entertainment to be real and enjoyable it is not supposed to be heavily regulated. However, the restaurant industry is highly regulated because of the sensitivity of the products and services that it offers to its customers. In this regard, Barth et al. (2007) noted that food largely determines that health of a person and therefore, the health of a nation can be influenced by the restaurant industry, which specializes in food and beverage. For this reason, it has to be heavily regulated to ensure that the health of customers as well as the staffs is not endangered. Barth et al. (2007) stated that the most common and universal legislation in the restaurant industry is the legislations that addresses hygiene of the restaurants and in particular, where and how food is prepared. This legislation is commonly applied to ensure that restaurants prepare their dishes in a health and clean manner that cannot in anyway endanger the health or life of the customers. The report will focus on the restaurant industry and it will further highlight on the other legislations that

Jane Elliott Essay Example for Free

Jane Elliott Essay This was one of the most inspirational and educational documentaries that I have ever personally watched. A third grade teacher, Jane Elliott divides her class by blue and brown eyes to teach about discrimination and how it affects people in our society. People in society are taught many things in their lifetime, but when it is experienced first handedly they have a different perspective about it. When speaking with the class about Brotherhood week and what it meant I was shocked when Jane Elliott asked the class â€Å"If there was anyone that we did not treat like a brother† the classes first instant response was black people. There was no hesitation in answering this question. They even used the word â€Å"Nigger†. This is a prime example of how prominent discrimination was at that time, and it is just as prominent in our society today. African Americans currently score lower than European Americans on vocabulary, reading, and mathematics tests, as well as on tests that claim to measure scholastic aptitude and intelligence. This gap appears before children enter kindergarten, and it persists into adulthood. It has narrowed since 1970, but the typical American black still scores below 75 percent of American whites on most standardized tests. On some tests the typical American black scores below more than 85 percent of whites (Jencks, 1998). African Americans scoring lower on test could possibly be the results of discrimination. Jane Elliott proved this point in her documentary. On both days, children who were designated as inferior took on the look and behavior of genuinely inferior students, performing poorly on tests and other work. I feel that this experiment would be beneficial and should be performed in our school systems to help children experience discrimination, and the feelings of demoralization on a first Page 2 hand basis by using the same method Jane Elliott used by segregating children by eye color. I believe if this experiment was performed in schools today that there would be positive effects, such as improvements in student attitudes, elevated general testing scores, higher standardized test scores and less racial fighting between students. A Class Divided is a documentary that I feel everyone should view no matter what race or ethnicity a person might  be. Whether we realize it or not, everyone is prone to some form of discrimination and prejudice. The United States is such a diverse country, so most Americans are not part of the dominant group; therefore due to being a minority, we undergo a feeling of inferiority. This documentary presents us with a different view on the color of someones skin. After viewing this, a person will hopefully be less likely to focus on the differences they have with other people and see people all as equals. This topic was of great interest to me due to the fact that I witness discrimination many times a day. Even I, as a white American woman, who is married to someone of a different nationality, faces discrimination. This documentary will help those who do not face discrimination and prejudice in their everyday life, realize what it is like to be on the other end. I believe that racism, discrimination and prejudice are more explained through sociological theories. This does not make it acceptable, but it gives better understanding. Scapegoat theory, holds that prejudice springs from frustration among people who are themselves disadvantage (Dollard et al., 1939). The culture theory, some prejudice is found in everyone (Macionis, pg 281) This was proven by Bogardus (1925, 1967; Elsner, McFaul, 1977) with the social distance studies that found that people felt much more social distance from some categories than from others (Macionis, pg 279). The conflict theory, this theory relates Page 3 to today’s society. Shelby Steele (1990) explained that minorities themselves encourage race consciousness in order to win power and privileges. She also stated that this strategy may bring short-term gains, that such thinking often sparks backlash from whites or others who oppose special treatment on the basis of race or ethnicity. I believe that there is a lot of hostility and discrimination in society today between white and blacks due to the conflict theory.

Letter to Obama in Praise :: Barack Obama President

Obama for America P.O. Box 8102 Chicago, Il 60680 Senator Obama, or to whom it may concern, I am filled with confidence at the progress that has been made in so short a time in our country. When I began learning about politics, you could say that I was extremely naÃÆ'Â ¯ve. I had thought that there was no such thing as ?war? anymore- only something that happened in the past. I was devastated to learn that there still is and still will be wars and any other such excuses for fighting. Likewise, I was surprised at the close-mindedness of Americans concerning race and religion. To learn that every president we?ve had for the past 200 years have been white men- and no other- quite dispirited me, but now something momentous has occurred, not only is there a man of a different racial background running, but a woman as well! I would never have expected us to break our prejudices so quickly, but here it is! We?ve gone through a revolution of thought and can only hope that everything in the future goes as well as possible to show that a woman or a black man can run the country as well as, if not more, efficiently that any of our previous presidents. In order to secure a prosperous presidency, you must consider the good of the people, which brings me to my main issue: the healthcare system. While is may be adequate, there are so numerous an amount of deficiencies and problems with it that it can hardly be described as ?good?. For instance, elderly, middle-class Americans who are retired or still have jobs often take ill due to age. With the impossible healthcare prices and various loopholes and excuses not to cover cases by the insurance companies, it?s ridiculous to assume that the elderly will be able to take care of themselves without going bankrupt or having to leave retirement to pick up another job. The same can be said for anyone who finds themselves unable to procure enough money for their sky-high medical bills. The result is that millions of American are wallowing in debt without light of ever seeing their way out. Perhaps, a way of solving this issue is to put a flat rate on all prescription as well as require all employers to provide full health coverage and retired senior citizens to have free healthcare. More to the point- All the Americans should be able to have free healthcare.

Coors Case

Using the Consumer Questionnaire Results, 62. 1% of consumers surveyed has consumed Coors in the past; also 48. 8% liked or strongly liked Coors. We also learned in this questionnaire that 65. 2% bought their beer from supermarkets. From this consumer analysis, Larry could invest in Coors and make his main availability of product at supermarkets. According to the Retailer Questionnaire Results, Coors has the same taste as Miller and Miller Lite, but it is more expensive than the other brands of beer sold. B. Market Share: Using the Table C: The Market Share estimates for a five year span all stay at a constant 8. 7-8. 9%, with consideration there are only a select few brands that Coors is competing with this should not be a problem with growth in the future. C. Investment: Total investment would include the inventory, equipment, warehouse, and land is estimated at $800,000. Larry could also use his trust fund if needed, $500,000 to start an Owner’s Equity Account. D. Cost: (Fixed, Variable, Prices): Fixed Cost for Larry’s new adventure would be $240,000 that includes salaries, equipment depreciation, warehouse depreciation, utilities / telephone, insurance, maintenance / janitorial and miscellaneous expenses. Variable cost would depend on the production level. As for Prices, it is perceived that Coors is high priced but if they were to lower the price to the price of Michelob, there could be an increase of sales. E. Go or No Go: I would have to say Larry should go for Coors Distributorship.

Word Narrative

Collaborative practice I've been in hospital a few days now. I've settled in. Well as much as you can be expected to when you're in a strange environment. The first day was awful for me though, I had no idea what was going on. I'd just started my 3 weeks annual leave (l work abroad so I was looking forward to spending time with my family etc. ) and I started having severe chest pains at home. They were crushing pains I can't explain the pain in any other way than it felt like a vice. My wife called 999 and the ambulance asked a lot of questions, before I knew t I was on my way to hospital.I remember everyone just running around, it felt like no one was actually talking to me. Like I was invisible! The doctors were saying something about a possible stroke, but not to me, they were talking amongst themselves. They attached a load of wires to me and the monitor they attached me to constantly beeping. Still drives me crazy that noise all around the ward. Some of the nurses are nice, not all of them seem to like me though. Maybe I'm an inconvenience? Hope they don't think that. I know they are all really busy, that's obvious.I finally found out that have suffered a stroke and I need to stay in the hospital until I'm well enough to go home. Although most of what they said to me was not in a language I could understand! I can remember asking where my wife was a lot and no one answering me, which was really frustrating as I knew she would be equally as worried. Didn't get told when would be able to see her for at least an hour after arriving at the hospital. The ward I'm on has really strict visiting hours so my wife can only visit me for two hours a day and she isn't allowed to bring he children which is a shame.But have been told I will probably only spend 5 days on this ward and that if I'm not ready to go home I will be moved on to a ward with more flexible visiting hours. I'm looking forward to that. The thing that hate the most about being on a ward is having to use a commode behind a curtain. I am a 41 year old man and to be honest I find it very embarrassing and undignified. I'm not saying my experience her has been completely unpleasant but the sooner I get out of here the better and I will be in no hurry to come back.

Discourse Organization on Asian Fashion Blogs Essay Example

Discourse Organization on Asian Fashion Blogs Essay Example Discourse Organization on Asian Fashion Blogs Essay Discourse Organization on Asian Fashion Blogs Essay Essay Topic: Blog Background of the study Blogging has emerged as one of the most popular forms of online discourse. The ease and lack of expense in setting blogs has raised intriguing possibilities for language learning in social media. The unique nature of its architecture and its low cost have not only affected how different bloggers can publish and distribute their work to a wider audience but also how they see themselves as writers.According to Blood (2002), blogs have been used in various ways: as online journals, a means of designing hypertexts, and more radically, to create what calls the first native form of discourse on the internet. She argues that blogging best reflects the dream of Tim Berners-Lee (2000), who was one of the principal designers of the World Wide Web, to make the Web into something truly interactive both in terms of how texts are read and how they can be easily posted and accessed.The growing interest in blogging has aroused the interest of English as a Second Language and English as a Foreign Language fashion bloggers who see blogging as a simple and low cost way of giving readers an access to publishing, advertising and distributing their writings on the internet as a method of providing them with the experience of writing in a digital format, and as a means of discussing issues related to their social and personal lives. According to Fleishman (2002), blogging is the art of turning ones own filter on news and the world into something others might want to read, link to, and write about.The openness can give the bloggers a greater sense of the variety of possible audiences they can reach, both for understanding these audiences and learning strategies to respond to them. These types of on-line discussions have been referred to as gated communities (Lowe amp; Williams, 2004). With regards to world Englishes, Kachru (1992) conceived the idea of three concentric circles of the language. The inner circle represents the traditional bases and is composed of native speakers of English (e. g.United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Anglophone Canada and South Africa, and some of the Caribbean territories). The outer circle includes countries where English is not the native tongue but they use it as a second language (e. g. India, Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong) while those that belong to the expanding circle are the rest of the world where English is used as the primary foreign language (e. g. Russia, China, Japan, Korea, Egypt, Indonesia etc. ). This idea has helped to classify the eight Asian countries that will serve as the subject in this study on how they use English as a language.Kaplan (1966) claims that English writing is characterized by directness and deductive reasoning, while other languages (e. g. Oriental languages and Arabic) favor indirectness and inductive reasoning. At the same time, he attempts to link the differences in discourse organization between English and other languages to their respective cultures and thought patterns. He marked the birth of the notion now known as Contrastive Rhetoric. It assumes that different languages had their own specific and culturally bound conventions and patterns of writing.This may also tell if there are such characteristics in Asian fashion blogs. Moreover, with regards to each Asian blogger’s writing style, contrastive rhetoric should also be considered. Contrastive rhetoric is an area of research in second language acquisition that identifies problems in composition encountered by second language writers and, by referring to the rhetorical strategies of the first language, attempts to explain them. As summarized by Connor (1997), some internal and external forces give rise to this change in perspective.The internal force comes from criticism of contrastive rhetoric, which has required it to go beyond traditional linguistic parameters of analysis to consider discursive features, processes and contexts of writing. The external forces come from new developments in discourse analysis and changing focuses in first language composition research. To enrich further the structure of each blog, genre analysis will also be considered. This may identify if fashion blogging belongs in a specific genre by studying how the ESL and EFL bloggers use the language when writing.The focus of this study is on the discourse organization of Asian fashion blogs. Considering their writing style, comparing the blogs of these particular Asian countries that are categorized into two groups will be done throughout the study. Statement of the problem This study aims to a nswer the following questions: 1. What are the structures of a fashion blog? 2. What are the similarities and the differences between the fashion blogs of ESL and EFL writers? Significance of the study College students of English Language Related ProgramsKnowing that blog can also be studied as it is a part of our social world, this study can still be given more attention by giving further enrichment by the future researchers. They can provide new findings supported by different related literatures. As the traditional way of analysing language data from academic institutions, this paper will thoroughly investigate the language used in fashion blogs. This will further explore the online discourse by plunging into the grounds of computer-mediated-communication (CMC).Researchers in the Field of Linguistics This research paper will be able to support future research papers that are related to discourse analysis, world Englishes, contrastive rhetoric and genre analysis. As most of us tod ay enjoy the web 2. 0 which includes blogging ( slideshare. net/mcbuzz/blogging), it challenges the researchers to become more analytical in their field. As language researchers move forward by conducting thorough investigations, there will probably be new ideas that will be contributed to the field of Linguistics.Teachers and Professors of Language The study on contrastive rhetoric among students has always been limited to the doctorate material for pedagogical purposes which is believed to limit learners’ ability to express themselves. The paper will further explicate the online discourse specifically fashion web logging which has been considered as one of the tools to express oneself in social network. This would provide enough knowledge to expand the language teachers’ repertoire in different writing styles. BloggersWhether these people are in different forms of blogging, this study may inform them how important language is. In fashion blogging, it is inspired with different marketing strategies boxed with pictures that are inviting, description of every detail of it and stories experienced by the blogger. Also, they may be informed that this style of marketing includes certain rhetoric in it. Furthermore, this style of writing can be one of the factors of the increasing subscribers and viewers. A. Scope and LimitationWith the number of studies about the circularity and linearity among the ESL and EFL argumentative essays, court proceedings, business letters and newspapers, this paper focuses on the discourse organization of Asian fashion blogs. The study will only look into the structure of a fashion blog and to identify the differences and similarities of ESL and EFL writers. The EFL countries are Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand and the ESL countries are India, Singapore, Philippines and Hong Kong. These countries are only limited for each group. B.Definition of terms Blog is another term for web log, a social networking site ( s lideshare. net/mcbuzz/blogging) of discussion or information site published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete entries (posts) typically displayed in reverse chronological order so the most recent post appears first. Usually, it is being used as an online journal (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Blog). EFL stands for English as a foreign language and pertains to how speakers use English for limited utilities, for example, for research references and sign boards.The countries that belong to this group are Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand while, ESL stands for English as a second language and refers to English speakers who could speak it intensely and intimately. In Kachru’s concentric circles, this group encompasses the countries that were colonized by the Western countries such as India, Singapore, Hong Kong and Philippines ( Kachru and Nelson, 2006). Web 2. 0 is a concept that takes the network as a platform for information sharing, interoperability, user- centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web (http://dictionary. reference. om/browse/weblog). CMC stands for computer-mediated communication, such as online chatting, online forum, discussion group and others. Contrastive Rhetoric assumes that a person’s L1 and culture influence his or her writing in L2 (Kaplan, 1966). References: Internet We’ve got blog: How weblogs are changing our culture. Retrieve on 07/18/2012 from amazon. com/Weve-Got-Blog-Weblogs Changing/dp/0738207411. The web: The original design and ultimate destiny of the World Wide Web. Retrieve on 07/18/2012 from amazon. com/Weaving-Web-Original-Ultimate-Destiny/dp/006251587X.Web Discourse Hits Higher Level. In We’ve got blog. Retrieved on 07/18/2012 from http://blog. lib. umn. edu/blogosphere/. Cultural thought patterns in inter-cultural education. Language Learning, 16, 1–20. Retrieve on 07/20/2012 from zhupinfan. com/5310/Kaplan. pdf. Blogging 101: An Introduction to Blogs and Web 2. 0. Retrieved on 08/20/12 from slideshare. net/mcbuzz/blogging-101-introduction-to-blogs-and-web-20-presentation. The American Heritage ® Science Dictionary. Published by Houghton Mifflin. Retrieved on August 28, 2012 from http://dictionary. reference. com/browse/weblog.Book Kachru and Nelson. 2006. Asian Englishes Today:World Englishes in Asian Context. Aberdeen: Hong Kong University Press Kachru. 1992. Teaching world Englishes: The Other Tongue English across Cultures. Illinois:University Illinois Press. Connor . 1996. Contrastive rhetoric: Cross-cultural aspects of second-language writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Theoretical Framework This study is supported with the three approaches namely Discourse analysis, Genre analysis and Contrastive Rhetoric. Limited to these three approaches, the study may be given emphasis and explained further.Discourse analysis originated from Greece. The term was formally from paper of Zelling Harris in 1952. It is the ter m of approaching to analyze communication of written, spoken discourse or speech acts in any kind of route of people use in discourse system. It refers to discussion or lecture of text but it is not only defined on texts. Also, discourse analysis is not only a sentence of discourse but also defined words, prepositions and speech acts of conversation and communicative events. According to Guy Cook (1992), it is not concerned with language alone. It also examines the context of communication.Since conversation is not possible to speak or listen alone, it needs to be interacted. To need discourse analysis is that the discourse organization is the way to shape and understand to know our speaking habits, thoughts. When people have conversation, even if there is same meaning of sentence, there is different affect through how speaker speaks. Discourse is based on the person’s cultural affects. According to Lilie Chouliaraki (2008), culture is constituted by the resources of meaning- making, language and image. For example, South Korea and North Korea have separated since 1945.There were already different cultures. Even in language. The sentence, il upda. ’ When person suggest to do something, North Korea say that it means, It’s fine. ’ But, for South Korea say that it means, It’s none of your business. ’ So, cultural affects of language is also important part of discourse analysis. As Swales (1990) defined genre analysis, it studies the language used in a particular setting: in rhetorical styles, discourse types and others. Also, it relates a particular research in discourse analysis for instance, to a specialist area of language.In academics and in research, this theory explains further its importance especially in studying the spoken and written discourse. Furthermore, the development of a student’s communicative competence and the shaping of language research can be attained through a genre based approach. Remarkable analysis of moves or functional sections in academic researches was also brought out. Genre analysis, according to Miller (1984), is the study of a discourse type of text where it is recognized through its characteristics, style or form.Swales (1990) added that genre analysis also focuses on the purpose of why such discourse type was written. Genre analysis embraces a range of tools and attitudes to text, forms detailed qualitative analysis of a single text to more quantitative counts of language features. Sometimes researchers work with a single text, either because it is inherently interesting or because it seems representative of a larger set of texts or particular genre (Patridge,2010). According to Kaplan (1966), English writing is characterized by directness and deductive reasoning, while other languages (e. . Oriental languages and Arabic) favor indirectness and inductive reasoning. At the same time, he attempts to link the differences in discourse organization between Engli sh and other languages to their respective cultures and thought patterns. He introduces the birth of what we called today as Contrastive Rhetoric. He explains that contrastive rhetoric is an area of research in second language acquisition that identifies problems in composition encountered by second language writers and, by referring to the rhetorical strategies of the first language, attempts to explain them.In other words, it is the study of how a persons first language and culture influence his or her writing in a second language. However, Houghton and Hoey (1983) have argued It [contrastive rhetoric] needs to be inserted within a broader scheme, to include the theoretical as well. It has been too long confined to being a notion rather than a theory. The area of concern needs to be broadened to the degree that rhetorical elements in non-Western cultures from philosophical to cognitive issues which influence the formation of culturally embedded rhetorical styles may be explored and then introduced to English nor ESL writing teachers.The concept of contrastive rhetoric is too multifaceted and important to be treated from only the linguistic perspective. The one area of study which offers at least a partial solution to the problem posed by Houghton and Hoey is that of rhetoric and composition. In order to establish contrastive rhetoric as a field where various rhetorically related issues from other cultures are discussed, contrastive rhetoric scholars must endeavor to discover specific rhetorical and cultural assets which will explain why writing styles differ from culture to culture.References: a. Internet Vijay Bhatia. Continuum International Publishing Group. Copyright. Retrieved on 08/17/12 from http://books. google. com. ph/books . The Linguistics Encyclopedia. Retrieved on 08/17/12 from http://books. google. com. ph/books. Discourse Analysis as Organizational Analysis. Retrieved on 08/02/12 from lsadc. org/info/ling-fields- discourse. cfm. Contrastiv e Rhetoric: Cross-Cultural Aspects of Second-language Writing. Retrieved on 08/05/12 from http://catdir. loc. gov/catdir/samples/cam031/95009965. pdf.A Study of Contrastive Rhetoric between East Asian and North American Cultures as Demonstrated through Student Expository Essays from Korea and the United States. Retrieved on 08/05/12 from http://faculty. fullerton. edu/jcho/chapter1. htm. Toward Critical Contrastive Rhetoric. Retrieved on 08/05/12 from http://writingcenters. org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Kubota_Ryuko_Critical-Intercultural-rhetoric. pd. b. Book Cook, G.. 1992. The Discourse of Advertising. London: Routledge Swales, J. M.. 1990.. Genre analysis : English in academic and research settings.Cambridge : Cambridge University Press Patridge B.. 2010. Continuum Companion to Research Methods in Applied Linguistics. London:Continuum International Publishing Group Conceptual Paradigm Asian Fashion Blogs Discourse Analysis Genre Analysis Contrastive Rhetoric ESL India Hong Kong Singapore Philippines EFL Malaysia Indonesia Cambodia Thailand The diagram shows the flow of the study. The arrows connect the subject which is the fashion blog to the EFL and ESL speaking countries. There are four chosen countries each to represent EFL and ESL writers. The four countries hat represent EFL writers are Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand and the other four countries that represent ESL writers are India, Singapore, Philippines and Hong Kong. Each blog will be analyzed through discourse analysis, genre analysis and contrastive rhetoric. In order to answer the statements of the problem, the diagram above will have to be considered. Fashion blogs will serve as the subject in this study. The group chose web logs for they serve as a social community for those who want to share their ideas and styles with regard to fashion.Furthermore, it also serves as an interactive marketing site where the bloggers apply their own marketing strategies (Richardson, 2001). This stu dy will find out if fashion blog has a definite structure among the chosen EFL and ESL Asian blogs. Due to the spread, functions and dynamic status of English in the changing Asian contexts (Kachru et al, 2006), there may have been differences and similarities between the fashion blogs of ESL and EFL writers. The three major methods namely, Discourse Analysis, Genre Analysis and Contrastive Rhetoric will help to describe the discourse organization of Asian fashion blogs.The focus of this research is on how Asian fashion bloggers write, on how these bloggers use English on a specific setting which is web log and on what particular genre does each fashion blog belongs. Chapter 2 Review of Related Literature The following related articles were gathered for the researcher to understand more what is being studied and to support the study that is being conducted. Kaplan (1966) compared the rhetoric and composition of students who were native speakers of English and ESL writers.According t o him, when he closely analyzed the composition of the ESL students, he realized that there were also differences when it comes to paragraph order and structures aside from grammatical or surface matters. According to Braine (2001) EFL writers have a higher quality of writing in traditional classes compared in a local area network. But other researchers (Biesenbach-Lucas, 2000; Gonzalez-Bueno amp; Perez, 2000; Gousseva-Goodwin, 2000; Kehagia amp; Cox, 1997; Perez, 2003) found out that there was no significant difference in writing neither in the quality nor the attitudes.The criticisms of traditional contrastive rhetoric on cross-cultural writing offer an alternative conceptualization for contrastive rhetoric. Contrastive rhetoric has an intellectual association with applied linguistics. As delineated by Pennycook (2001), critical applied linguistics aims to problematize as well as politicize the common understanding of second language learning/acquisition constructed by research an d instructional practices in such domains as language, text, pedagogy, and cultural difference. ReferencesWiley Online Library. Language Learning: A Journal on Research in Language Studies. Retrieved on 08/02/12 from http://onlinelibrary. wiley. com/doi/10. 1111/j. 1467-1770. 1966. tb00804. x/abstract. Eric Education Resources Information Center. A Study of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Writers on a Local-Area Network (LAN) and in Traditional Classes. Retrieved on 07/17/12 from eric. ed. gov/. Theoretical Foundations of Critical Contrastive Rhetoric. Retrieved on 08/02/12 from eric. ed. ov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini. jsp? _nfpb=trueamp;_amp;ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ730660amp;ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=noamp;accno=EJ730660 Chapter 3 Methodology This chapter presents how the data will be gathered, the sources where data will be gathered, a descriptive and a comparative analysis. 3. 1 Procedure This study aims to analyze the discourse organization of Asian fashion blo gs. The data will be gathered from the internet. The data from the top ten blogs for each Asian country will be gathered through the domains.These include the extensions on each blog site such as ph for Philippines, in for India, sg for Singapore, hk for Hong Kong. Considering the web traffic of each blog, the researchers will be able to know if the blogs belong to the top ten most visited blogs. Each Asian fashion blog post will be classified according to its writer. The top ten fashion blogs from the Asian countries that use English as a second language which are India, Singapore, Philippines and Hong Kong will be separated with the other top ten fashion

How to Parlay Your Consumer Magazine Experience into Trade Magazine Success

How to Parlay Your Consumer Magazine Experience into Trade Magazine Success I often find, at parties and at networking events, that even fellow journalists are rarely intrigued The truth, however, is that some of the best work I’ve done is for trade publications. Some of the coolest reporting stories I have to share have been made possible because these publications had the funds to send me to strange places to cover even stranger topics. The topics and the trade publications may not seem sexy, but the fatter paycheck, the friendly editors, and the challenge of discovering new and exciting fields certainly make them worth the effort of querying. If you haven’t had much luck with trade magazines so far, here are five quick ways you can parlay your consumer magazine or newspaper experience for the trades: 1. Take a consumer magazine or newspaper article you’ve written and identify the major trades in that story. For instance, I once wrote a piece for a national women’s magazine about women-only trains in India. I didn’t ever think it could be a trade story, so I was really surprised when an editor at â€Å"Trains† magazine paid me to reprint the story. If you look closely, you’ll find at least one major identifiable trade in every story that you write. Find a magazine that caters to that trade. Pitch it. 2. Most trade magazines are not dull, dry, and dreary, like the writing gurus would have you believe. Many of them feature articles that are written with just as much craft and care as those in consumer publications. I have won an award for a story I wrote for a trade that resonated with the judges because of its human aspect. Look through national and regional magazines and find ideas that could potentially work for trade magazines.   I often find new and breaking stories in the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal that other freelancers haven’t thought to pitch to trade magazine editors. 3. Tie your ideas to current events. When the Commonwealth Games came to Delhi in 2010, most freelancers I knew were (unsuccessfully) pitching to major newspapers and magazines. I, instead offered stories to a construction magazine and an engineering news magazine and earned several thousand dollars and a cover story. 4. When you travel, don’t forget to target these magazines. The trades have several US-based writers they can hire regularly but their networks are limited abroad. If you’re traveling out of the country, e-mail some of the trade magazine editors (even if you don’t know them) and offer to bring back something. The best-case scenario is that editors might just hand you assignments of their own even before you’ve left and the worst case is that you may come back with some fascinating ideas and an already established relationship with an editor. 5. Everything is a trade. Think about the truth of that statement for a minute. No matter what you’re writing about, you can find a trade magazine angle to it. And once you start noticing that potential, you’ll never run out of markets for your work.

Physical Science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Physical Science - Essay Example Finally, the photo thermal effect is where the photons absorbed transform to heat energy (phonons) through vibration of molecules. Energy can also transform when nuclear reactions occur. Through fission or fusion, subatomic particles are rearranged hence creating a transformation of energy. The final factor that facilitates transmission of energy from one form to another is the action of forces. These forces include gravitational force, frictional force and electromagnetic force fields (Rathore, 2011). A common transformation is that of kinetic energy to heat energy. The atoms of a substance are in constant, random motion. As the atoms slide against each other molecules come into contact and, therefore, interact via electromagnetic fields causing vibration. The random vibration of molecules and atoms in a substance result in the increase of pressure within the substance. These vibrations may also increase with an increase in external or internal temperature of the substance. An incre ase in the vibration of the substance’s molecules and the subsequent increase in pressure transform potential energy into kinetic energy thereby leading to an increase in the kinetic energy. High kinetic energy is an indication of high temperature, therefore, heat energy (Rathore, 2011). Energy is necessary for running peoples everyday lives. A common source of energy in the world today is fossil fuel. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbon compounds formed through the biochemical decomposition of organic compounds over millions of years. Examples of fossil fuels include oil, coal and natural gases such as butane. These fuels are attractive sources of energy because of various reasons. The first reason is that these sources of energy can be utilized differently to produce energy. One can burn them directly or derive other compounds such as petroleum, used to run vehicle engines, in the case of oil. Above the efficiency, other products such as plastic are derivatives of fuels such as oi l. A single location with fossil fuel can produce large amounts of energy beating the prospecting and mining costs by ten folds. Through pipelines, it is particularly convenient and cost effective to transport oil and natural gas from one station to the other. Finally, gas run power plants are extremely efficient, and they can be located anywhere there are abundant gas sources (Pimentel, 2008). Fossil fuels are non renewable and a potent source of pollution through carbon emissions. With the pressing need to curb global warming and its adverse effects, new environmental friendly energy sources need to replace fossil fuels. Wind energy is a clean, renewable source of energy. Tapping wind energy requires the construction of turbines. Wind posses kinetic energy that turns these turbines, through this process, kinetic energy turns into mechanical energy. This energy runs the generator connected to the turbines hence producing electric energy. Locating a wind power station is more taskin g than locating a fossil fuel station. However, the energy produced by wind is clean compared to fossil fuel energy. Also, the cost of constructing a wind farm can be offset through the subsequent efficient production of energy (Pimentel, 2008). Another source of energy scientists seem to approve in place of fossil fuel energy is solar energy. This form of energy requires the utilization of the photo thermal effect. Solar cells absorb the photons within the sun rays. The photons transform the solar cell electrons into conduction