Business Policy and Strategic Management Research Paper - 2

Business Policy and Strategic Management - Research Paper Example The company makes sure that only the best quality beans are used. Starbucks maintains its standard and perform experiment in order to get appropriate balance of taste, and shape. Starbucks manages various roasting and distribution services. The coffee is baked in a strong gas-fired drum roaster for approximately 12–15 minutes. The computer notifies when beans are completely baked (Kotha & Glassman, â€Å"Starbucks Corporation: Competing in a Global Market†). Starbucks put much emphasis on the undertaking of various innovative and entrepreneurial actions with respect to its marketing aspects for making the firm more competitive in the market. Starbuck has set up cafes in hospitals, offices, banks, supermarkets and shopping centers, hotels, and airlines. Starbucks works directly with many countries which produce best quality green coffee beans. It always controls the distribution channel around the globe. It develops personalized customer service to make the customer†™s experience special. Starbucks launched packaged tea because of growing demand of tea in the year 1995. Starbucks coffee’s joint ventures with Pepsi launched a unique version of Frappuccino in 1996 (Kotha & Glassman, â€Å"Starbucks Corporation: Competing in a Global Market†).

What caused Microsoft to stumble and lose billions in market Essay

What caused Microsoft to stumble and lose billions in market capitalization - Essay Example This is evident in a new world of information in social media and entertainment. The company failed to adjust to the post-PC world, and this saw companies such as Google, Samsung, and Apple gain more ground in the digital world. Another cause of the stumble of Microsoft has been a lack of diversity in the digital service and technology line that they boosted of controlling. For a company to adequately control the market it operates and increase the market share; diversity in service and product provision is necessary. This goes a long way in spreading risks being digital service industry is dynamic. Microsoft as a company avoided this and concentrated on creating software that make PC run. Microsoft didn’t take advantage of their market strength and assuming the role of full-line digital device and Service Company. For instance, the company relied heavily on other companies such Dell, Nokia, HP to develop PCs, phones and Tablets that run their Software due to company’s inability to develop their hardware. Eventually, Microsoft lost a lot of billions in market capitalization

Impact of Food Industrialization

Impact of Food Industrialization Nikoleta Koleva The Industrialization of Our Food System: Are We Sacrificing Quality to Quantity? The industrialization of our food supply is something that is becoming more popular amongst farmers and food producers. One of the biggest reasons in the overcrowded conditions in farms and how easy it is for one animal to spread diseases to all, thus ending in our plates. This becomes even more problematic with the rise of globalization – with an infected animal in a farm in Alabama that no one detects, people in China can receive the disease and spread it from there. However, with the rise of industrialized agriculture, other significant problems have arisen. Obesity has skyrocketed as prices for naturally-grown food increase quickly; diseases, both behavioral and physical, have increased in children and many more drawbacks that would be too long to list. As for its history, industrial agriculture arose alongside the Industrial Revolution, something we are also feeling the side-effects of today. It is a fact that by the end of the early nineteenth century, agricultural techn iques had improved so much that the output was many times greater than that seen in the Middle Ages. This was suiting and satisfactory, as the human population was growing at an exponential rate. Later on, as nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus were found and properly studied, they had a new purpose as synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. With the increased usage of these elements and vitamin supplements, many farm animals face less and less exposure to nature and all that is natural, as they are fully grown indoors. Furthermore, the discovery of antibiotics and vaccines ensured that animal-spread diseases do not occur in crowded facilities. However, as industrial agriculture becomes a more popular method, concerns have arisen over the sustainability of intensive agriculture, which has been related to the decreasing soil quality in key places, such as the US, Australia, India and Asia. One strong proponent of the deindustrialization of the American food system is Al Jazeera. Since its establishment in 2006 as an international news source, it has gained a lot of momentum, due to their wide range of topics and top-notch reporting or world events. The channel itself currently broadcasts to 250 million households across 130 countries. In their article supporting agriculture and the preservation of natural-growth farms, Vandana Shiva, the author of the article, states how many industrialization supporters keep falsifying information about the scale and contribution of organic farming. Many of these advocates claim that organic farming requires too much land grab and uses too many pesticides, when the facts are that industrial agriculture is causing the deforestation of the rainforests in the Amazon and Indonesia, fuelling a land grab in Africa and Europe. In fact, according to the FAO International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources in Leipzig, industrial f arming is the reason for seventy-five per cent biodiversity erosion, seventy-five per cent water destruction, seventy-five per cent land degradation, as well as forty per cent greenhouse gases. These high numbers wound the planet in ways unfixable and long lasting. Not only this, millions of farmers are losing their farms and hard work. Even the food, which is consumed by the population is suffering – animals are put into factory farms and fed grain, as opposed to grass in a natural setting; this is equal to an animal prison. This lack of nutrients affects both the animal and the human consumer, as people are also devoid of these important dietary ingredients. The simple fact is that as industrialized agriculture has gained popularity, the number of hungry people on the planet has also risen. This is an indicator that something is not right; the food system has taken a wrong step. The facts and evidence presented by Vandana Shiva are well informed and presented. I was swayed by her argument and found myself disliking industrialized agriculture much more than previously. It is clear that she did her research and knew what she was talking about all the way through. The article was very well-structured and delivered, with no stray points or unnecessary rants. While I was previously aware of the treatment of animals in industrialized farms, I was ignorant on the impact it had on the planet environmentally. Deforestation one of the most serious problems we face today – whether regarding global warming or the extinction of millions of species, however, the fact that humans are still doing it when we have other, currently available, option is maddening. The facts are, countries that do not consume industrialized-grown food suffer from much lower rates of obesity and other food-related diseases. The problem the United States has is the fact that its organic foo d is much more expensive and harder to get than its industrialized-grown counterpart. It is an unfair race – why should consumers not have an equal access to either type? This disadvantage creates an unescapable cycle: people with less money do not purchase the organic food, thus consuming lower quality food with not enough nutrients. Since it lacks the richness of naturally grown food, people with lesser incomes consume more food, usually one that is unhealthy, cheap and lacking any types of significant nutrients. Thus, obesity begins sprouting up and rapidly spreading around the country. The problem is escaping this poisonous cycle and learning a healthier style of living. Why should we industrialize food, when naturally grown food is tastier, uses less space, does not injure the Earth and its resources and does not aid in the wide-scale release of greenhouse gases? An opponent of the deindustrialization of the food system in the United States is Blake Hurst, published in the American Enterprise Institute. The AEI is an American establishment, focused on research and education on issues of government, politics, economics and social welfare. Started in Washington in 1943, it still runs there and supplies its large readership with thoughtful articles. In his article on why industrialized agriculture is not the enemy, Blake Hurst describes how he got the idea of discussing this topic. Whilst on a plane, he heard an organic farm activist broadcasting about the inhumanity of industrialized farming. Hurst was angered at the ignorance of the reporter and is now on a mission to educate people why industrialized farming is not harmful but beneficial. His first and strongest arguing point is that people who sit in offices all day and stare at computer screens do not know what being a farmer is, yet they demand things they are not well-informed on. Telling someone how to do their work when you have no sensible information on the subject is selfish and may oftentimes be completely wrong. Hurst states that critics of industrial farming spend most of their time complaining about the way the food is raised, in regards to conditions and treatment. As his argument, he describe turkeys and how when they are naturally raised, they are not smart enough to survive long enough to be used as food. Furthermore, as President Obama and his government listen more and more to the public and demand fairer treatment of animals, the farmers cannot do anything to disprove and obey. Indeed, industrial farming conditions for animals are improving drastically. Hurts argues that nature is sometimes even more cruel than farmers, with mother pigs eating their offspring and that life is unfair all-around. Hurst’s article on why industrial farming is not evil was written well but lacked a strong punch that sways the reader to his side. Starting off with a personal story was a nice touch and humanized the writer, making him both relatable and approachable. His point on the fact that people who do not produce food do not really understand what is going on was the strongest out of all the ones later listed. It is true: with no first-hand experience, it is easy to rally for something when one is not aware of the amount of labor that goes into it. Organically-grown food is advertised as healthier and cruelty-less grown, but what do people who live in cities without animals know about how food is truly grown? However, that is where Hurst’s argument begins weakening and losing its initial punch. One big mistake in his article is the lack of focus on the environmental impact the industrial agriculture creates. In fact, most farmers that do not grow organic food fail to mention ho w their crops affect the environment and pollute various sources permanently. It was also scarcely mentioned how the health of the American citizens has significantly gone down after industrial agriculture became more and more popular with farmers and food producers. Hurst does mention that the â€Å"old-fashioned† way of farming is much more demanding and dirty but should food consumers and farmers both eat lower quality food because someone does not want to work? As Shiva mentioned in her article, food is what we are. What we eat is absolutely essential to our overall well-being and happiness. As obesity rates, not only in America but all over the world, continue to exponentially increase, it is important for us to find the source and come up with a solution. When exploring this topic, I realized how ignorant I was on many of these facts and side effects of industrially-grown food. However, when thinking about it, the proponent’s arguments make a lot more sense. As someone from a country that grows all of its food naturally, when moving to the United States, I definitely noticed a decrease in both quality and taste. Everything is larger, unnaturally so, lacking of taste and not as satisfactory. In my country, for less than a dollar, I could get a plentitude of naturally grown fruits and vegetables, while in America, I can get a smaller, industrially-grown, quantity. It is both disappointing and saddening. Humans need these nutrients, why should I pay so much to consume them? I believe the saddest fact is that many countries follow America’s steps and search for easier ways to complete food growing. This can be noted, as obesity begins rising all around the globe, with the spread of fast food American chains, which do not off er any type of nutritionally significant food. Chains, such as McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, Wendy’s, etc., sell food for cheap. When families with lower incomes go out to purchase food, it is much easier to get more of one type of food, instead of a few of another, even if the latter is healthier. Food has always been a privilege to our species but at this point in history, when there is an opportunity for most people to easily consume it, why are we settling for the worst of the available choices? Why should organic food, which our bodies need be more expensive and harder to obtain than junk food, something that should not be consumed at a constant rate? Because it is the easy opt-out and costs less for giant corporations to produce.

It’s Time to Limit Restrict Hate Speech -- Argumentative Persuasive Ar

It’s Time to Limit Restrict Hate Speech Free speech is the backbone that holds democracy together.   Without a free speech, ideas would not be challenged, governments would not be kept in check, and citizens would not be free.   John Stuart Mill said once that, â€Å"If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person then he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.†( Roleff, 21). The right to free speech is essential to â€Å"egalitarian democracy,†(Tsesis) however, this right is not absolute and must be limited in certain situations.    Hate speech is one form of expression that should be limited in some situations.   The key question to ask with regards to hate speech, is, does hate speech cross over into hate crime? (Hellwege)   Hate crimes are often some of the most brutal forms of crime committed because they stem out of a deep-rooted enmity for the individuals involved (Tsesis).  Ã‚   These types of crime have led the brutal dragging death of an African American man in Texas and the pistol-whipping of a boy in Montana (Hellwege).   Is this type of crime incited by hate speech though?   Hate speech in its essence is pugnacious, that is, the basic message of hate speech is to â€Å"elicit persecution,† and bring upon â€Å"dehumanizing effects†(Leets, 38).   Yes, this sort of speech does incite violence.   Hate speech breeds a culture of hate groups against Jews, blacks, gays, women, Hispanics, and practically any other nationality, sex or race.    How does hate speech then incite violence?   Many inferences can be drawn form history, none more vivid and prevalent then the atrocities that occurred during World War Two.   T... ...iance.†Ã‚   Law & Society Review:   Amherst; 2001; Vol. 35, Iss. 2: pg.345-394. Hellwege, Jean.   â€Å"Hate In the Crosshairs: Lawyers, Legislators Battle Hate Crime.† Trial: Washington; Jan 2001 Vol. 37, Iss. 1; pg. 14-18 Leets, Laura.   â€Å"Should All Speech be Free?.†Ã‚   The Quill, v. 89 no4 May (2001) pgs 38-39.    Leo, John.   â€Å"Watch What You Say: The Left Can No Longer Be Counted On To Defend Free Speech† U.S. News & World Report; Washington; Mar 20, 2000 Roleff, Tamara L.   Civil Liberties: Opposing Viewpoints.   Greenhaven Press, San Diego CA, 1999 Saccuzzo, Jason Paul.   â€Å"Bankrupting the First Amendment: Using tort litigation to silence hate groups.†Ã‚   California Western Law Review v.37 no.2 spring (2001). Tsesis, Alexander.   â€Å"Hate In Cyberspace: Regulating Hate Speech On the Internet† The San Diego Law Review; San Diego Summer 2001; Vol. 38, Iss.3; pg. 817

Technology as a Replacement of Human Resources

Group-4 Technology as a replacement of human resources Muhammad bilal khan Uob # 11029363 Year ‘’0’’ 2 Contents: 1. 2. 3. Complete essay on â€Å"technology as a replacement of human recourses† (from page 3 to page5) Reference list on (page 6) Bibliography list on (page 6) 3 Technology as a replacement of human recourses Yes. Technology replaces human resources in every field of life. Before going into the details let’s understand ourselves that what is technology? And what are human recourses? According to the Wikipedia, Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures (1). That explains the term technology comprehensively. If we look at the human resources then Wikipedia again define these as, Human resources is a term used to describe the individuals who make up the workforce of an organization, although it is also applied in labor economics to, for example, business sectors or even whole nations. Human resources is also the name of the function within an organization charged with the overall responsibility for implementing strategies and policies relating to the management of individuals (2). so this is the all story as for as terms are concerned. Now it’s better to go into the details. That how the technology is going to replace human resources. There are many fields under the huge influence of technology including mining, astronomy, military, robotics, shipping, agriculture, medical diagnosis, computer industry, education, transportation and many other fields. We will go into the details one by one extracting their background into the envelope of future prospective by considering the ground situation of the day as well. Mining is a field where now technology replacing human recourses pretty well. In past mining was carried out by human recourses only and the process contain much danger and require huge amount of money with a lot of time. But now with invention of different machines the scenario is completely changed. Mining is now a game of least danger. More profitable and time saving process. That indicates how technologies replace human recourses in mining. Astronomy is another field where technology dominates over human resources. By definition Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects (such as stars, planets, comets, nebulae, star clusters and galaxies) and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth (such as the cosmic background radiation). It is concerned with the evolution, physics, chemistry, meteorology, and motion of celestial objects, as well as the universe. Astronomy is one of the oldest sciences (3). In past people have no idea that what’s coming on next. Now by the invention of latest telescopes predictions are possible that benefits people a lot. e. g weather forecast prediction etc. In military prospective technology replace human recourses wonderfully. Now winning of a war is a second’s game with least damage. Modern weapons are introduced with 4 greater orientation of results. Invention of atomic bomb even changes the whole psychic of the war. Now the side with latest technology dominates over a side with numberless human recourses. The area where saying â€Å"technology as a replacement of human recourses† is fit perfectly is robotics. Robotics leading almost every branch of our life. Now you don’t care of anything if you have your own personal robot. It can do anything for you. Shipping and transportation are very commonly known fields. People use different ways of Transportation to move from one place to another. And shipping is also use to transfer things or masses across the globe. In old times people had no more options in this respect but now they have. Actually all this is due to technology that replace human recourses on continuous basis. Agriculture is an area that holds greatest human resources. But right now with the invention of modern technologies and in fact machineries like tractors, harvester, Beet harvester, harvester Carrot bin, Combine Conveyor and Corn Cotton pin (4-a) this field completely revolutionized. Now farmers getting benefitted by using modern machineries saving their time, investment and getting more profit. That put positive impact on their lifestyle as well. Another sub area of our lives is health. In past people suffering from different diseases had least options of their survival because of poor arrangements. But now with the arrival of modern techniques and instruments, technology not only replaces but in fact revolutionized the field of health sciences. By using latest techniques and instruments doctors understand the situation of the patients accurately. Here technology enhanced the expertise of human recourses. As everyone knows computers are all about the technology. From a microchip to a macro level hardware all is technology. With the arrival of computers, things changed in a fantastic way. Calculations, which were take hours and hours, now contracted in an interval of nano second. Computer software industry, also contributed in this respect. Software creates much ease for human beings. And their online availability makes them more attractive. People use e–mails for formal and informal contact. Instead of using letter with boring wait Finally the Education. Technology has a wide scope in education. Now a days almost every student aware of technology as a replacement of human recourses. We have a smart example in this respect where human recourses replaced by technology. According to an educational informational sit news. com. au, â€Å"Almost 30 robots have started teaching English to youngsters in a South Korean city† (5). This is a great development towards replacing human recourses by technology. Finally I have to say that technology in spite of its minor side effects yet it never disappoints us as a replacement of human resources. Let’s hope for the best. So many things are being invented in all the fields of our daily life and the jour ney is still going on†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 6 References and bibliography list list These are some of the web links which are used as reference in the essay (in the form of material) (1)_ http://en. ikipedia. org/wiki/Technology#Definition_and_usage (2)_ http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Human_resources (3)_ http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Astronomy (4)_http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/List_of_agricultural_machinery (4-a)_lesson# 109 â€Å"simple and complex machines used in agriculture† Authors: Tonja Cargill Pamela Emery (5)_ http://www. news. com. au/technology/english-teachers-replaced-by-robots-in-koreainstitute-of-science-of-technology-project/story-e6frfrnr-1225977348809 ?—————————————————————— Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€-? Technology as a Replacement of Human Resources Group-4 Technology as a replacement of human resources Muhammad bilal khan Uob # 11029363 Year ‘’0’’ 2 Contents: 1. 2. 3. Complete essay on â€Å"technology as a replacement of human recourses† (from page 3 to page5) Reference list on (page 6) Bibliography list on (page 6) 3 Technology as a replacement of human recourses Yes. Technology replaces human resources in every field of life. Before going into the details let’s understand ourselves that what is technology? And what are human recourses? According to the Wikipedia, Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures (1). That explains the term technology comprehensively. If we look at the human resources then Wikipedia again define these as, Human resources is a term used to describe the individuals who make up the workforce of an organization, although it is also applied in labor economics to, for example, business sectors or even whole nations. Human resources is also the name of the function within an organization charged with the overall responsibility for implementing strategies and policies relating to the management of individuals (2). so this is the all story as for as terms are concerned. Now it’s better to go into the details. That how the technology is going to replace human resources. There are many fields under the huge influence of technology including mining, astronomy, military, robotics, shipping, agriculture, medical diagnosis, computer industry, education, transportation and many other fields. We will go into the details one by one extracting their background into the envelope of future prospective by considering the ground situation of the day as well. Mining is a field where now technology replacing human recourses pretty well. In past mining was carried out by human recourses only and the process contain much danger and require huge amount of money with a lot of time. But now with invention of different machines the scenario is completely changed. Mining is now a game of least danger. More profitable and time saving process. That indicates how technologies replace human recourses in mining. Astronomy is another field where technology dominates over human resources. By definition Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects (such as stars, planets, comets, nebulae, star clusters and galaxies) and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth (such as the cosmic background radiation). It is concerned with the evolution, physics, chemistry, meteorology, and motion of celestial objects, as well as the universe. Astronomy is one of the oldest sciences (3). In past people have no idea that what’s coming on next. Now by the invention of latest telescopes predictions are possible that benefits people a lot. e. g weather forecast prediction etc. In military prospective technology replace human recourses wonderfully. Now winning of a war is a second’s game with least damage. Modern weapons are introduced with 4 greater orientation of results. Invention of atomic bomb even changes the whole psychic of the war. Now the side with latest technology dominates over a side with numberless human recourses. The area where saying â€Å"technology as a replacement of human recourses† is fit perfectly is robotics. Robotics leading almost every branch of our life. Now you don’t care of anything if you have your own personal robot. It can do anything for you. Shipping and transportation are very commonly known fields. People use different ways of Transportation to move from one place to another. And shipping is also use to transfer things or masses across the globe. In old times people had no more options in this respect but now they have. Actually all this is due to technology that replace human recourses on continuous basis. Agriculture is an area that holds greatest human resources. But right now with the invention of modern technologies and in fact machineries like tractors, harvester, Beet harvester, harvester Carrot bin, Combine Conveyor and Corn Cotton pin (4-a) this field completely revolutionized. Now farmers getting benefitted by using modern machineries saving their time, investment and getting more profit. That put positive impact on their lifestyle as well. Another sub area of our lives is health. In past people suffering from different diseases had least options of their survival because of poor arrangements. But now with the arrival of modern techniques and instruments, technology not only replaces but in fact revolutionized the field of health sciences. By using latest techniques and instruments doctors understand the situation of the patients accurately. Here technology enhanced the expertise of human recourses. As everyone knows computers are all about the technology. From a microchip to a macro level hardware all is technology. With the arrival of computers, things changed in a fantastic way. Calculations, which were take hours and hours, now contracted in an interval of nano second. Computer software industry, also contributed in this respect. Software creates much ease for human beings. And their online availability makes them more attractive. People use e–mails for formal and informal contact. Instead of using letter with boring wait Finally the Education. Technology has a wide scope in education. Now a days almost every student aware of technology as a replacement of human recourses. We have a smart example in this respect where human recourses replaced by technology. According to an educational informational sit news. com. au, â€Å"Almost 30 robots have started teaching English to youngsters in a South Korean city† (5). This is a great development towards replacing human recourses by technology. Finally I have to say that technology in spite of its minor side effects yet it never disappoints us as a replacement of human resources. Let’s hope for the best. So many things are being invented in all the fields of our daily life and the jour ney is still going on†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 6 References and bibliography list list These are some of the web links which are used as reference in the essay (in the form of material) (1)_ http://en. ikipedia. org/wiki/Technology#Definition_and_usage (2)_ http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Human_resources (3)_ http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Astronomy (4)_http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/List_of_agricultural_machinery (4-a)_lesson# 109 â€Å"simple and complex machines used in agriculture† Authors: Tonja Cargill Pamela Emery (5)_ http://www. news. com. au/technology/english-teachers-replaced-by-robots-in-koreainstitute-of-science-of-technology-project/story-e6frfrnr-1225977348809 ?—————————————————————— Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€-?

English Language development – “Danny and his mum”

The extracts in which I have analysed are conversations between a young child, Danny and his mother. The three stages are approximately 3 months apart from each other. Stage A at 21 months, Stage B at 24 months, and Stage C at 27 months. All children are unique in their language development and they're difficult to study. Their concentration span usually affects how they can be studied, often the child will wander off or just simply be uncooperative in any way possible. Children are usually very inconsistent and sometimes it is difficult to determine whether the child is actually learning language or whether imitative behaviour is playing a role. E.g. â€Å"Hello† â€Å"Hello.† Everybody has a limited vocabulary, this is especially obvious in young children often the evidence of a child putting a sentence together is ambiguous. E.g. â€Å"I doing like this all day† depending on the context and the tone of voice this sentence could mean He likes doing something all day (with incorrect word order) Or he's behaving like this all the time (where the problem may be a limited vocabulary) Finally, there is a time lag between understanding language and production of language, especially where children are concerned they can always take in more than they can produce in their own language. Concerning language theories it is difficult to determine at what age a child should be able to a specific skill, however below is a guideline of which acquisition skills are usually achieved and at what age. 6-8 weeks: cooing (repeating vowel sounds) 6-7 months: babbling (consonants and intonation) Reduplicated babbling (babababa) 10 months: gestures, pointing 11-12 months: variegated babbling (bigodabu) 12 months: one-word utterances â€Å"ball,† â€Å"water,† â€Å"up† 18 months: Telegraphic speech Two-word utterances in their simplest form (â€Å"baby cry,† â€Å"push truck†) 2 – 3 years Morphology Use of function words, prefixes, suffixes (ing endings prepositions, plural) Over-regularisation's, Syntax Sentences gradually become longer, more complex â€Å"Daddy ball† â€Å"Daddy throw ball† â€Å"Will you throw the ball, Daddy?† Below are some theories of Language Development Nativistic-There is an inborn language acquisition devise (LAD) that transforms the surface structure of language into an internal deep structure that the child readily understands. Cognitive-Developmental- Cognitive and language development progress together. Children are analysing content prior to extracting grammatical structures. Environmental Learning – The environment provides children with requisite learning experiences to acquire language. Parents facilitate language acquisition by providing a language acquisition support system (LASS). The preverbal period – Speech Perception – Babies are born with categorical perception of many speech contrasts, including many that do not occur in their own language. Exposure to specific contrasts of their own language facilitates discrimination ability, such that older children and adults can no longer hear many speech contrasts that young infants can discriminate. Babies prefer speech sounds to other sounds, particularly the rising and falling intonations many adults use when speaking to young children (i.e. â€Å"motherese†). The preverbal period – Early Sounds and Gestures. The first sounds are cries and guttural physiological noises. – Cooing appears at about 2 months, while reduplicated babbling begins at 6 months. Near the end of the first year, babbling becomes more speech-like in sound and intonation. Gestures serve many pragmatic functions for infants, initially taking the form of requests (e.g., gesture to be picked up) and referential communication (pointing), and later functioning as symbols to label objects, events, and attributes. At approximately 12-months children utter what is recognised by most parents to be their first words. While the first word utterance may appear sudden and discontinuous, it is in fact part of a gradual and continuous process. At approximately 18-months, children's vocabularies increase rapidly, with nouns comprising the majority of children's first words. This has been called the naming explosion. There are large individual differences in the proportion of nouns children use. Some children use a high proportion of nouns in what is termed a â€Å"referential style.† Others use more of a mix of phrases, including frozen phrases such as â€Å"What's that?† and â€Å"Lemmee see,† that characterise what has been termed an â€Å"expressive style.† This latter style emphasises pragmatic functions of language rather than labelling. Some research suggests that girls are more likely to use a referential style and some researchers believe that this may be related to differences in rearing environments for boys and girls. Doll play may involve more labelling than truck play. The nature of children's early words à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Overextensions- calling the cat a â€Å"doggie† à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Underextensions – less common than overextensions, calling a pigeon robin a bird but not calling a robin a bird. Coining – children create new words that are not part of adult language à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ First Word Combinations occur as children begin to approach 24-months of age. There is tremendous cross-language commonality in the occurrence of two-word combinations and other aspects of language unfolding. In the case of Danny at 2 years (24 months) he shows inconsistency in coherence and grammar. Danny is at the two-word stage â€Å"more statue† however he does not fully understand the use of plurals and verbs and therefore cannot produce a correct sentence. He finds it difficult to produce a long sentence due to lack of conjunctions â€Å"and† therefore he uses fillers and stutters to keep his turns going. His pronunciation is not good he is not fluent and stutters in some parts of the conversation â€Å"the big long lo long long train† which may be down to his limited lexis. However towards the end of the conversation his pronunciation develops â€Å"fast car vintage† as a direct cause of new lexis being learnt. His word order is incorrect in most sentences however, this does improve towards the end of the conversation which could be due to imitative behaviour â€Å"splash piggy† or that Danny has actually understood the language â€Å"Becca draw on there† his word order improves but areas of speech such as tenses prove difficult for Danny. At this stage Danny's mum's input is sometimes quite confusing and seems to leave Danny more confused than anything â€Å"What's he lifting up? What's the crane lifting up?† this could be because she is trying to find the correct level to come into the conversation at, however Danny is left simply confused. On many occasions her sentences are far too complex for Danny or even a more advanced 2-year-old â€Å"What do you think it's doing if it's got brushes on the car?† â€Å"What do you think he's putting the water on the road for?† His mother uses prompt â€Å"isn't it?† she attempts to involve Danny in the conversation whenever possible she also repetition and imitation to back up what he says whether it be correct or nearly â€Å"fast car vintage.† this is a successful technique because instead of trying to rush his development by correcting every small error she looks for sentences where a part of speech is correct. E.g. word order may be correc t but he fails to use tenses, instead of confusing Danny completely she picks up on the good parts of his speech. For the first time Danny uses endings â€Å"ing† and â€Å"s† and produces his first perfect sentence â€Å"look there's one† although it is basic statement it shows Danny is improving every day. He uses a double negative â€Å"no not sitting† because he is yet to develop the skill of disagreement. Danny even corrects his mother â€Å"Daddy sit there† this shows a growing confidence in the youngster and growing ability. Towards the end of the conversation he becomes more coherent, his grammar improves, his vocabulary becomes wider and he begins to develop the skill of turntaking. At 27 months Danny produces longer turns â€Å"I don't want to go to Watchett† he is more coherent and his understanding develops immensely. As regards imitation, Danny leads the conversation, which shows how he has developed in a mere three months. In parts he uses telegraphic language â€Å"I got a library book† However, he uses self correction to again show how his understanding has developed â€Å"I†¦we don't want go and see them.† Another development from 24 months is the use of conjunctions â€Å"no I don't want I want to go when I get bigger want to go on my own a a Watchett.† This example is a long turn for Danny with fairly complex features, he incorporates a new learnt ending â€Å"er† which he uses correctly and doesn't mix it up. Adults tend to use â€Å"we† instead of â€Å"I† It is evident with Danny that children do pick up on this. â€Å"We're going to be good today aren't we?† The child doesn't understand why the â€Å"we† is used and simply imitates it because it is believed to be correct. Danny uses three verbs in one sentence â€Å"I don't want to go to Watchett† which is an incredible achievement from three months previous. Danny begins to incorporate his own vocabulary into the conversation â€Å"television† he sets the agenda in the conversation, his mother however, still takes the lead but not as directly. Danny uses past and future â€Å"when get bigger† tenses towards the end of the conversation however cannot quite master perfect tense although they are not completely grammatically correct it is evident that Danny really is learning competently and steadily. His mother uses tag questions to prompt Danny â€Å"called Harry isn't he?† this is effective to a certain degree as Danny replies â€Å"Harry† whether this is due to knowledge or simply imitation is not evident. She tries to help Danny to develop his labelling skills â€Å"that dog† however, this technique isn't as successful as others are possibly because Danny is too young or maybe he simply doesn't understand what his mother is trying to do. She seems to make more sense to Danny in this particular conversation, and is no longer needed to over power Danny as leader of the conversation they are more equal, which brings out the best in Danny it is almost as though they are socialising and taking part in a proper conversation instead of Danny's mum trying to get the best out of Danny by constantly prompting and correcting her son. To conclude, the major developments made have been the endings learnt, the expansion on vocabulary without imitation, the use of tenses, longer more correct turns and understanding. Danny's progress is evident in most aspects of speech. Compared to the guidelines of how a child's speech should have improved with age Danny is slightly behind, this isn't because he is less intelligent or has a problem it is simply because no child is average, no one has the same learning speed because this is part of being an individual. Danny's mum became less in charge as Danny got older, she was no longer needed to lead the conversation and therefore both Danny and his mum were on more of an equal status, she no longer needed to correct Danny because towards the end he began to understand her. The turns of both Danny and his mum became longer as he aged this shows the major development in Danny's language acquisition that he is no longer dependent on his mother and has his own be it small vocabulary. Danny is still to learn a more vast vocabulary but this will come with age and experience, he is yet to perfect his use of tenses and sometimes telegraphic language plays a part in his turns. The majority of his language is good but not perfect, but even teenagers have difficulty in this area nobody's language is ever perfect. He has to improve fluency but this will come once he has a wider vocabulary. Overall Danny has progressed competently in all areas of speech, he is not ahead for his age but as explained we are all individuals and do not follow a trend by any means.