Business Personal Development and Career Plan free essay sample

They will need to be realistic and know how to focus on priorities. This will allow them to develop | |strategies based on realistic and measurable targets to meet their developmental needs. Learners will need to look ahead to create medium term | |(five years) projections for their career plan. | | | |The unit introduces learners to the concept of continuing professional development. This will give them an understanding of the process of | |lifelong learning and enable them to look beyond the boundaries of a short-term plan. On completion of the unit, learners will have developed a| |realistic picture of their career possibilities. | | |Professional Context/Summary of Assignment | | | |You are a completing your own Career Development portfolio as part of your ‘Next Steps’ at Abingdon and Witney College. Completion of this | |portfolio will help you to plan for your next course or employment and will address issues such as how do I get there? What other | |qualifications or skills do I need to be able to do this job? | | | |The assignment will also run alongside Unit 13 Recruitment and Selection which students are covering during Terms 1 and 2 and benefits will be | |gained from these running concurrently. We will write a custom essay sample on Business: Personal Development and Career Plan or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page | | |Assignment – Career Development Planning in Business | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |TASK 1 (P1/2/3/4/5/6 as well as M1/2/3) | | | |This task requires you to undertake individual research and make informed decisions regarding short term and medium term career planning | |objectives. | | | |To achieve a pass for this unit you must submit an individual Career Development Portfolio (CDP). You must also create a blog which you will | |update each Friday during your workshop – the blog will include research undertaken and how your planning is changing based on the research | |which you are carrying out. | | |Your CDP must contain all the following elements:- | | | | | |Front cover, contents page and page numbers | | | | | |Introduction | | | | | |Current skills audit | |Mind map illustrating what skills you have and how you are going to develop them to the appropriate level | |2 x observation sheets with examples of you achieving them | | | | | | A description and comparison of all sources of careers related information used to inform your career decision | | | | | |A personal SWOT analysis related to your chosen career | | | | | |Personal career objectives for both the short term (2yrs) and medium term (5yrs) i. e. SMART | | | | | |Details of the continuous professional development needed for your chosen career | | | | | |A reflection on how useful a skills audit is in informing your career decisions | | | | | | | |Conclusion | | | | | |Appendix 1 A week by week reflective learning blog charting your initial careers thoughts, research and decision making (Mahara journal) | | | | | |Appendix 2 – Examples of careers related information relevant to your chosen short and long term targets | | | | | |Appendix 3 – Up to date curriculum vitae | | | | | | | |To achieve a merit for this unit you must include analysis of the information which you are including – its relevance to your career planning,| |how it will help you achieve your targets and goals, assessment of importance and relevance to your short and medium term career development | |plans (more help with this in the tips table below). | | |To be handed in by: Friday 14th December 2012 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |TASK 2 | | | | | | | |D1 | |You are to write a report which evaluates the process which you have undertaken and how far you believe you have come in achieving your | |planned objectives of your career plan. You need to reflect on your research and the progress that you have made with your career plan. You | |should be able to identify any changes in the plan, any progress you have made in achieving your targets and any difficulties that you have | |encountered and how these have been overcome. You also need to evaluate the impact that these developments are having on your short-term plan| |and identify any impact on your medium-term career plan. You also need to reflect on your own skills audit and your research into continuing | |professional development you are likely to undertake in the early years of your career. | | | |Tip | |Assess your experiences and the processes that you have been involved with in developing your plan. For example, setting and meeting targets,| |making adjustments, conducting research, compiling and sifting information in order to inform your career choice. You should be able to | |assess the link between short term and medium term career planning, highlighting any issues that may impact on these two stages of your plan. | | |D1 to be handed in by: Friday 21st December 2012 | | | |TASK 3 | | | | | | | | | |D2 | |You are to write a report which evaluates your own development of transferable business skills. To achieve D2, you will need to reflect on | |your plans for developing your transferable business skills. You will need to provide evidence of achievement or work in progress and this | |should be developed to the appropriate level, as identified in the career plan. You will also need to provide an evaluation of your progress | |against the targets in your career plan, linking achievements to success criteria. Where appropriate, this will include an evaluation of the | |impact that lack of progress will have on your short- and medium-term plans. | | | |Tip | |Refer back to the reflective learning blog you completed for Task 1 and reflect on your research and the progress that you have made with your| |personal career objectives. Identify any changes in the plan, any progress you have made in achieving targets and any difficulties that you | |have encountered and how these have been overcome. Evaluate the impact that these developments are having on your plan in the short and | |medium term. | | | |D2 to be handed in by: Friday 21st December 2012 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |USEFUL INFORMATION | | | |Please refer to Moodle for links to useful web sites and information to help you complete the tasks. | | | |The following table is also useful for you to check that you have included all required elements of your portfolio to satisfy the assessment | |criteria for the unit. | | |Grading Criteria | |Tip | | | | | |Front cover, contents page and page numbers | | | |Present your portfolio in a bound folder or file with a proper title page and table of contents. | | | |Introduction Your introduction needs to establish what the portfolio is about and provide a summary as to wha t will follow. | | | | |P3/P5/M3 | |Current skills audit | | | |You will need to examine your current skills profile by the production of a skills audit table. Ensure you include the three Functional | |Skills of IT, numeracy and literacy and link your qualifications in this area to the levels of the National Qualifications Framework. What | |other skills have you gained from your college work (e. g. team working, time-management) AND from employment or voluntary activities? Your | |skills audit MUST include your current level according to Skills For Life | | | |Your audit must also provide evidence that you have achieved or are working towards skills that are at an appropriate level for your future. | | | |For P5 you need to map out how you intend to develop your transferable business skills at the appropriate level. The development of some | |skills may be measurable through qualification levels, for example functional skills. Other skills may only be measurable through observation | |and may require you to gather a range of evidence. For example, tutor observation sheets or work experience feedback on the development of | |time management skills. | | | |For M3, you will need to demonstrate that you are aware of how you can progress in developing your transferable business skills. For example, | |if you needed to upgrade your IT skills, you should be able to assess the available options to determine which best fit your personal | |circumstances. These could be through ICT functional skills, IT modules or online courses. You will need to assess the suitability of options | |in line with your career plan and then pursue the chosen options. Evidence of progress / research must be recorded in your portfolio. | | | | | |P1/M1 | |A description and comparison of all sources of careers related information used to inform your career decision | | | |You must access a wide range of information and not just via the internet. To make an informed career decision you may need to access books | |in the careers library, have an appointment with the Connexions advisor, talk to friends relatives, obtain job packs and company | |information. The information you describe should be in detail and not just a list. | | | |To achieve M1 you must link your research to the skills gaps identified in your skills audit (P3). You must demonstrate that you have | |researched and assessed the viability of achieving your development needs. Your projections must be realistic and You must show that these | |options are achievable within the medium-term (5 yrs) framework of your career plan. | | | | | | | | |P2 | |A personal SWOT analysis related to your chosen career which feeds into your initial career plan | | | |Describe what a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities threats) analysis is and then produce your own personal SWOT analysis in table | |form. | | | |The career plan will be a working document, and may be subjec t to change as you carry out research into your original career choices. |(remember that short term is two years and the medium term is five years) | | | | | |P4/M2 | |Personal career objectives for both the short term (2yrs) and medium term (5yrs) i. e. SMART | | | |What are your short term and medium career objectives? All targets must have success criteria linked to them and also feed from your initial | |career plan which you have created in P2. | | |What are SMART targets and how can they help you achieve your short term and medium term career objectives? Produce a table of SMART targets | |(specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound) for the short and medium term. | | | |To achieve M2 you need to be aware of the importance of setting realistic SMART targets, which are measurable, by setting appropriate success | |criteria. You will need to demonstrate that you are managing progress towards meeting your targets effectively. This will involve time | |management s kills. Targets may be self-generated or come from you 1:1 reviews. You must maintain an on-going record which reflects your | |progress – update your blog with this information. | | | | | |P6 | |Details of the continuous professional development needed for your chosen career | | | |What is meant by the term ‘continuous professional development’ and why is it important in career planning? | | |Write or produce a table identifying the continuous professional development that is required for your chosen career (short and medium term). | | | | | |P1/M1 | |Conclusion | | | |Draw a thoughtful conclusion from all the research and work you have undertaken to complete this portfolio. Has completing the portfolio | |confirmed a career direction for you or has it made you consider something totally different? How useful has the process of compiling this | |portfolio been? | | | | |ALL Criteria | |Appendix 1 A week by week reflective learning blog charting your initial careers thou ghts, research and decision making | | | |Your blog should commence at week 1 with your current career plans and thoughts. Update your blog each week and reflect on the activities you| |have undertaken. Has a particular activity e. g. the skills audit, made you think of a different career direction? Are you going to have to | |make changes to your college or personal life in order to achieve your SMART targets? How are you going to manage your targets from a time | |management perspective? | | | | |P2/P4/P6 | |Appendix 2 – Examples of careers related information relevant to your chosen short and long term targets | | | |Include a range of information, not just information from the internet. If you have a meeting with a careers advisor, or you talk to a family | |member about possible careers submit this as a short typed ‘meeting summary’. You may wish to include information from professional | |associations e. g. The Institute of Marketing or from company job pac ks. | | | | |P4 | |Appendix 3 – Up to date curriculum vitae | | | |The CV should be up to date and include any new employment or transferable skills gained since you submitted the CV for the Unit 13 | |Recruitment Selection module. | | | | | | | | |Evidence Required for : Unit 15 – Career Development Planning in Business | |Portfolio of evidence/ Reports / Web pages (screenshots) / Presentations / Blog | | | | |Student: On submission of this assignment, please sign to confirm that| | |this is all your own work and any references have been suitably | | |credited. | | | |Date | |Signature of Assessor | | | | | | | | | | |Internal Verifier Name | | | | |Date | |Signature of Internal Verifier | | | | | | | | | |Assessment and grading criteria Unit 15 – Career Development Planning in Business | P1 – identify sources of information related to the career path P2 – complete a career plan identifying their development needs P3 – carry out a skills audit to identify skills gap P4 – create SMART targets for the career plan P5 – demonstrate transferable business skills P6 discuss methods of continuing professional development and training relevant to the career plan. M1 assess methods of achieving development needs within the timeframe of the career plan M2 monitor and audit progress towards targets using appropriate success criteria M3 assess ways of achieving the level and types of transferable business skills needed for the career plan. D1 – evaluate the distance travelled in achieving the planned objectives of the career plan D2 – evaluate own development of transferable business skills

Auditing and Assurance Shareholders of Business

Question: Discuss about the Auditing and Assurance for Shareholders of Business. Answer: 1. Main requirements of ASA 700 on audit opinion and auditor report There are different parties which make use of the financial statements of a company like its shareholders, creditors and potential investors. These three entities do not take part in the management of the company directly but they have an interest in the financial performance of the company. They rely on the information given in the audited financial statements to make many business decisions (Turner et al., 2010). There are regulatory bodies in Australia which have made it mandatory for companies to prepare their financial statements in accordance with the Australian Accounting Standards. The companies are required by law to get their financial statements audited by outside auditors and the released financial statements of companies also contain auditors report in which the auditor expresses its audit opinion regarding the financial statements (Caanz, 2016). The auditor forms an audit opinion on the basis of the conclusions drawn by the person after examining the audit evidence. In this case the audit evidence consists of a sample of accounting entries made in the accounting records of the company and also any other document of the company collected by the auditor. An auditor would express in the audit opinion whether the financial statements of the company contain any material misstatements or not. In this case material misstatements are those which are significant enough to influence the economic decisions of the users of the financial statements. The auditor would express in auditors report whether the financial statements of the company have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the financial reporting framework which is applicable in the country. The companies have to keep a record of their business transactions according to certain accounting standards (Loftus et al., 2016). Moreover the auditor would mention in its report whether all the disclosures of information as required by law has been made in the financial statements. Further the auditor would give whether all the relevant information is contained in the financial statements and they have been prepared by following consistent accounting policies which have been mentioned by the company. The auditor would mention in its report if the accounting estimates made by the company are reasonable and the structure of the financial statements conforms to the requirements of the regulating bodies. The auditor would also give an assessment of the company as a go ing concern (Xu et al., 2011). If there are any significant risks that endanger the existence of the company in near future, the auditor would mention them. Further the auditor would mention in its report whether there are sufficient internal controls in the company to safeguard its assets and prevent frauds. A mention of audit risks would also be made in the report. There are two major types of audit opinions, namely modified and unmodified opinion. An unmodified audit opinion by an auditor indicates that the financial statements of the company do not contain any material misstatements and they comply with all the requirements given in the financial framework as required by the regulating body of the government. A modified opinion can be of three types (Smallbusiness.chron.com, 2016). In the first case a modified opinion is given when auditor finds that financial statements contain material misstatements but they are not pervasive. In other words there is something wrong with a particular accounting item but rest of the accounting records are correct. In the second case the auditor would give a disclaimer of an opinion when the scope of the audit has imposed certain limitations on the auditors capacity or there are certain uncertainties relating to the business of the company. In the third case the auditor gives an adverse opinion when the compa ny has not followed the accounting standards in accounting for business transactions or committed irregularities which could be the result of a fraud. This kind of audit opinion is given when there are material misstatements in the financial statements and they are also pervasive or widespread. Audit opinion in case of Connor Company As given in the case, Connor Company was having problem in paying debts during the year. The company was paying its creditors by using bank overdraft. Now the bank wants repayment of bank draft within a month. The company is not able to procure additional funds as its cash flows do not cover its debts. In this case if the company is not able to pay its bank overdraft, the bank can initiate process for demanding winding up of the company in court of law (Accaglobal.com, 2016). Thus there exist adequate conditions that put in danger the continuance of the company as a going concern. In this case the directors and management of the company are required by law to make an assessment whether or not there are material uncertainties that put in doubt the ability of the company to continue as a going concern in a report in the financial statement. As becomes clear from the given details there are material uncertainties that threaten the continuation of the company as a going concern. If the financial statements of the company have been prepared on a going concern basis and the auditor feels that adoption of going concern assumption, that is, the claim that firm would continue in future with no problems or risks threatening its existence, by the management, is inappropriate, the auditor would express an adverse opinion. Audit opinion in case of local Australian company The Australian accounting standards lay down that cost of inventories should be determined by the Australian companies using FIFO method (Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand, 2016). In the given case the local Australian company which has an American parent company has used the LIFO method for ascertaining cost of inventories. In other words the given local company has not followed the accounting standard it needs to follow under the Australian law. Moreover, the cost of goods sold and ending inventory would differ in cases where FIFO and LIFO are used and the prices of materials or inventories are rising or falling continuously (Accounting Tools, 2016). Thus profit shown in the financial statements would also differ under the two methods. In FIFO it is assumed that inventories are sold or used in the order they arrive. The inventories that come first are used first. Under LIFO the inventories which have arrived in the company recently are used first. As the given company has used LIFO instead of FIFO there would be material impact on the financial statements which would not show the true picture of the financial positions and performance of the company as required by the financial reporting framework in Australia. Therefore the auditor would give an adverse audit opinion in its audit report. Audit opinion in case of Victorian Manufacturing Company The financial statements of Victorian Manufacturing Company contain misstatements which are material in nature. The auditor would give an adverse audit opinion in its audit report. According to the accounting standards laid down by the Australian Accounting Standards Board which Australian companies have to follow, the asset like plant and machinery are to be shown or carried in the balance sheet at their original cost at which they were acquired less accumulated depreciation (Aasb.gov.au, 2016). Another method is revaluation model where the fair value of the asset is determined through an appraisal done by a professionally qualified person. This fair value is determined after collecting information about the prevailing market price of the asset. The asset is shown at this fair value in the balance sheet and any subsequent depreciation is deducted. If this method is followed revaluation of the asst takes place at reasonable intervals of time. But as becomes apparent Victorian Manufac turing Company has not followed either of the above two methods for arriving at the value of factories that should have been shown in its balance sheet. Thus the auditor would give an adverse opinion in its audit report. 2. Internal control weaknesses in Adel Manufacturing Company The following are the internal control weaknesses in the procedures of Adel manufacturing company. Firstly, it is given that when a worker is hired by the foreman of Adel manufacturing company, the worker gives an income tax installment declaration form to the foreman. The foreman of the company writes in the corner of the income tax declaration forms given by the hired workers about their hourly rates of pay and then sends these forms to the pay roll clerk (Indigenous Business Australia, 2016). This is inadequate procedure. The foreman in this case is not left with any record of the workers that the individual has hired. There might be a case when all the income declaration forms of workers do not reach the pay roll clerk or the individual loses some of these forms. In this case the company would have no records of those workers left. Secondly, the foreman writes the hourly rate of pay of a worker hired in the corner of the income declaration form given by the worker and sends it to the pay roll clerk. The foreman should also write on the each form that the particular worker has been hired with the specific hourly rate of pay to be paid to the worker. The foreman should put the individuals signature to authorize the recruitment. The foreman should give these details in separate documents signed by the individual and send these documents to the payroll clerk and the senior officer of the payroll department (Romney et al., 2013). At present the foreman is not doing so which is a shortcoming. Thirdly, it is given that workers are free to fill their timesheets and deposit them without any supervision by any official of the company. This is complete lack of control. The workers should fill the time sheets in the presence of a company official and they should not be allowed to carry time sheets with them. The official should check if each worker is filling the times of arrival and departure correctly. Moreover the box in which time sheets are deposited by workers should be looked after by an official of the company so that time sheets do not get lost leading to inadequate records (University Of Washington, 2016). Fourthly, computation of salaries of workers is being done by a junior payroll clerk, which is wrong. The knowledgeable officers of accounts department should compute the salaries on the basis of information received from the personnel department (Hart, Fergus and Wilson, 2012). Fifthly, the chief accountant of the company should fill the cheques that are to be forwarded to workers as compensation after considering the statement showing the computed salaries of the workers as prepared by the accounts officer of the company. At present the payroll clerk is filling details in the checks. This person is very junior official and should not be given the custody of even the blank cheques. Sixthly, cheques are sent by the chief accountant to the foreman for distribution among workers. This is a faulty system. The cheques should be sent to a senior official in the personnel or accounting department other than the foreman and workers should collect their cheques from the individual. Finally, payroll bank account is reconciled by the Chief Accountant who also prepares various tax reports. This work should be done by other officers under the Chief Accountant. As more officials are made responsible for different types of work, for a fraud to happen, collusion of more people would be required. By giving too much work to an individual without any checks by others, a company increases the chances of a fraud or mistake happening (Romney et al., 2013). There can be different tests that can be applied to bring to light the deficiencies in the current procedures being followed by Adel manufacturing company. Firstly, information can be obtained from the payroll clerk and number of information declaration forms of workers that the individual has can be ascertained. Then the foreman would be asked how many workers the individual has hired so far. The foreman might not be having any record or the individual might not even remember the exact number hired by the person. Secondly, the number of time sheets with the payroll clerk can be compared with the actual number of workers in the company as shown by the worker income declaration forms or according to the information given by the foreman. This would indicate if time sheet of any worker is missing. Thirdly the computations of salaries of different workers by the payroll clerk can be checked by an accounts officer to find if the calculations have been done properly (Hart, Fergus, and Wilson, 2012). Fourthly, the amounts filled in the cheques by payroll clerk can be checked by an accounts officer. Fifthly, if a worker does not get a salary and complains to the company this would be an indication that internal controls are inadequate. References Aasb.gov.au (2016) Property, Plant and Equipment AASB 116. Available at: https://www.aasb.gov.au/admin/file/content105/c9/AASB116_07-04_COMPjun09_07-09.pdf (Accessed: 16 September 2016). Accaglobal.com (2016) Audit And Insolvency. Available at: https://www.accaglobal.com/in/en/student/exam-support-resources/professional-exams-study-resources/p7/technical-articles/audit-insolvency.html (Accessed: 16 September 2016). Accounting Tools (2016) FIFO Vs LIFO Accounting. Available at: https://www.accountingtools.com/fifo-vs-lifo-accounting (Accessed: 16 September 2016). Auasb.gov.au (2016) Auditing Standard ASA 700: Forming An Opinion And Reporting On A Financial Report. Available at: https://www.auasb.gov.au/admin/file/content102/c3/ASA_700_2015.pdf (Accessed: 16 September 2016). Caanz, S. (2016). Auditing And Assurance Handbook 2016 Australia. Australia: John Wiley And Sons. Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand (2016) AASB 102 Inventories. Available at: https://www.charteredaccountants.com.au/Industry-Topics/Reporting/Australian-accounting-standards/Analysis-of-AASB-standards/AASB-102--Inventories?standard= (Accessed: 16 September 2016). Hart, J. , Fergus, C. and Wilson, C. (2012) Management Accounting: Principles And Applications. 5th (edn.) Australia: Pearson Australia. Indigenous Business Australia (2016) Payroll Procedures. Available at: https://www.iba.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/Template-Commercial-Capability-Toolkit-Payroll-Procedures.pdf (Accessed: 17 September 2016). Loftus, J. , Leo, K. , Clark, K. , Picker, R. and Wise, V. (2012). Understanding Australian Accounting Standards. Australia: John Wiley And Sons Australia Limited. Rodgers, R. and Lucas, P. (2012). Bookkeeping And Accounting Essentials. Australia: Cengage Learning Australia Pty Limited. Romney, M. , Steinbart, P. , Mula, J. , McNamara, R. and Tonkin, T. (2013) Accounting Information Systems. Pearson Australia: Australia. Smallbusiness.chron.com (2016) What Is A Modified Audit Opinion. Available at: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/modified-audit-opinion-26322.html (Accessed: 16 September 2016). Turner, J., Mock, T., Coram, P., and Gray, G. (2010) Improving Transparency and Relevance of Auditor Communications with Financial Statement Users, Current Issues in Auditing, 4(1), pp. A1-A8, [Online]. Available at: https://www.aaajournals.org/doi/abs/10.2308/ciia.2010.4.1.A1 (Accessed: 16 September 2016). University Of Washington (2016) Internal Controls. Available at: https://f2.washington.edu/fm/fr/internal-controls (Accessed: 16 September 2016). Xu, Y. , Jiang, A. , Fargher, N. and Carson, E. (2011) Audit Reports in Australia during the Global Financial Crisis, Australian Accounting Review, 21(1), pp. 22-31, [Online]. Available at : https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1835-2561.2010.00118.x/full (Accessed: 16 September 2016).

The Defeat Of Napoleon In Russia Essays - Russia, French Emperors

The Defeat of Napoleon in Russia The Campaign of 1812 should have been a another crusade for Napoleon, but he now faced 2 new policies that he had never faced before, the severe Russian winter and the notorious scorched-earth policy. On June 23, 1812 Napoleon's Grande Armee, over 500,000 men strong, poured over the Russian border. An equal amount of Russian forces awaited them. The result of the campaign was a surprise. Two authors, General carl von Clausewitz and Brett James, show similarities in reasons why Napoleon had lost this campaign to Russia. Napoleon believed that after a few quick victorious battles, he could convince Alexander to return to the Continental System. He also decided that if he occupied Moscow, the Russian government would crumple and ask for peace. " A single blow delivered at the heart of the Russian Empire, at Moscow the Great, at Moscow the Holy, will ineztly put this whole blind, apathetic mass at my mercy." pg 6, 1812 Napoleon's Defeat in Russia. This was his belief he expressed in March 1812. However, when Napoleon eventually took over Moscow, the Tsar still did not surrender. Napoleon, sent a message to the Tsar, demanding a immediate surrender. However, the Tsar could not surrender because if he did, he would be assassinated by the nobles. Clausewitz replies by saying, " Napoleon was unable to grasp the fact that Alexander would not, could not negotiate. The Tsar knew well that he would be disposed and assassinated if he tried so." pg 256, The Campaign of 1812 in Russia. General Clausewitz said, "Napoleon believed if he defeated the Russian Army and occupied Moscow, the Russian leadership will fall apart and the government would call for peace." pg 253, The Campaign of 1812 in Russia Brett James also agreed that Napoleon's occupation had no result. " The occupation of Napoleon in Moscow did not have a effect on the government." pg 13, 1812 Napoleon's Defeat in Russia With his battle plan set, Napoleon prepared his troops for the attack on Russia. But, Napoleon did not consider the fierce Russian winter which awaited him. According to Ludwig Wilhelm Gottlob Schlosser, a onlooker, he described the army by saying, "The French, down to the lowliest drummer were very fastidious. These poor French devils were not satisfied with less than soup, meat and vegetables, roast, and salad for their midday meal, and there was no sign of their famous frugality. They were completely devoid of the coming winter." pg 13, 1812 Napoleon's Defeat in Russia Napoleon was even warned by General Rapp about the extremities of the oncoming winter in Russia. "The natives say we shall have a severe winter," Napoleon retorted scornfully, " Bah! You and your natives! We shall see how fine it is." pg 147, 1812 Napoleon's Defeat in Russia Napoleon should have heeded Rapp's words. As the Grand Armee marched toward Moscow, many horses and men were lost in the freezing snow, and for those who remained, their morale and effectiveness was at the nadir. General Clausewitz states his point by saying, " With more precaution and better regulations as to subsistence, with more careful consideration of his marches, which would have prevented the unnecessary and enormous accumulation of masses on one and the same road, he would have preserved his army in a more effective condition." pg 255, The Campaign of 1812 in Russia Brett James also shared the same opinion, " Napoleon appeared to have made no effort to discover the facts in Russia, or prepare his troops for it." pg 140, 1812 Napoleon's Defeat in Russia. As Napoleon and his army was making their way to Moscow, they encountered typhus, colds, and dysentery. Even the mighty Napoleon had caught a mild case of the flu. However, his soldiers had received the brunt of the attack. Captain Thomas- Joesph Aubry relives this ordeal, " After this the typhus made appalling inroads in our ranks. We were fourty-three officers in our ward. All of them died, one after the other, and delirious from this dreadful disease, most of them singing, some in Latin, others in German, others again in Italian - and singing psalms, canticles, or the mass." pg 210,

Understanding Communicative Competence

Understanding Communicative Competence The term communicative competence refers to both the tacit knowledge of a language and the ability to use it effectively. Its also called  communication competence, and its the key to social acceptance. The concept of communicative competence (a term coined by linguist Dell Hymes in 1972) grew out of resistance to the concept of linguistic competence introduced by Noam Chomsky. Most scholars now consider linguistic competence to be a part of communicative competence. Examples and Observations Why have so many scholars, from so many fields, studied communicative competence within so many relational, institutional, and cultural contexts? Our hunch is that scholars, as well as the contemporary Western societies in which most live and work, widely accept the following tacit beliefs: (a) within any situation, not all things that can be said and done are equally competent; (b) success in personal and professional relationships depends, in no small part, on communicative competence; and (c) most people display incompetence in at least a few situations, and a smaller number are judged incompetent across many situations.(Wilson and Sabee) By far the most important development in TESOL has been the emphasis on a communicative approach in language teaching (Coste, 1976; Roulet, 1972; Widdowson, 1978). The one thing that everyone is certain about is the necessity to use language for communicative purposes in the classroom. Consequently, the concern for teaching linguistic competence has widened to include communicative competence, the socially appropriate use of language, and the methods reflect this shift from form to function.(Paulston) Hymes on Competence We have then to account for the fact that a normal child acquires knowledge of sentences not only as grammatical, but also as appropriate. He or she acquires competence as to when to speak, when not, and as to what to talk about with whom, when, where, in what manner. In short, a child becomes able to accomplish a repertoire of  speech acts, to take part in speech events, and to evaluate their accomplishment by others. This competence, moreover, is integral with attitudes, values, and motivations concerning language, its features and uses, and integral with competence for, and attitudes toward, the interrelation of language with the other code of communicative conduct.(Hymes) Canale and Swains Model of Communicative Competence In Theoretical Bases of Communicative Approaches to Second Language Teaching and Testing (Applied Linguistics, 1980), Michael Canale and Merrill Swain identified these four components of communicative competence: (i) Grammatical competence includes knowledge of phonology, orthography, vocabulary, word formation and sentence formation.(ii) Sociolinguistic competence includes knowledge of sociocultural rules of use. It is concerned with the learners ability to handle for example settings, topics and communicative functions in different sociolinguistic contexts. In addition, it deals with the use of appropriate grammatical forms for different communicative functions in different sociolinguistic contexts.(iii) Discourse competence is related to the learners mastery of understanding and producing texts in the modes of listening, speaking, reading and writing. It deals with cohesion and coherence in different types of texts.(iv) Strategic competence refers to compensatory strategies in case of grammatical or sociolinguistic or discourse difficulties, such as the use of reference sources, grammatical and lexical paraphrase, requests for repetition, clarification, slower speech, or problems in addres sing strangers when unsure of their social status or in finding the right cohesion devices. It is also concerned with such performance factors as coping with the nuisance of background noise or using gap fillers.(Peterwagner) Resources and Further Reading Canale, Michael, and Merrill Swain. â€Å"Theoretical Bases Of Communicative Approaches To Second Language Teaching And Testing.† Applied Linguistics, I, no. 1, 1 Mar. 1980, pp. 1-47, doi:10.1093/applin/i.1.1.Chomsky, Noam. Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. MIT, 1965.Hymes, Dell H. â€Å"Models of the Interaction of Language and Social Life.† Directions in Sociolinguistics: The Ethnography of Communication, edited by John J. Gumperz and Dell Hymes, Wiley-Blackwell, 1991, pp. 35-71.Hymes, Dell H. â€Å"On Communicative Competence.† Sociolinguistics: Selected Readings, edited by John Bernard Pride and Janet Holmes, Penguin, 1985, pp. 269-293.Paulston, Christina Bratt. Linguistics and Communicative Competence: Topics in ESL. Multilingual Matters, 1992.Peterwagner, Reinhold. What Is the Matter with Communicative Competence?: An Analysis to Encourage Teachers of English to Assess the Very Basis of Their Teaching. LIT Verlang, 2005.Rickheit, Gert, and Hans Strohner, edi tors. Handbook of Communication Competence: Handbooks of Applied Linguistics. De Gruyter, 2010. Wilson, Steven R., and Christina M. Sabee. â€Å"Explicating Communicative Competence as a Theoretical Term.† Handbook of Communication and Social Interaction Skills, edited by John O. Greene and Brant Raney Burleson, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2003, pp. 3-50.

Negative Shopping experience assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Negative Shopping experience - Assignment Example Ignorance from the staff when trying to enquire about something also makes it uncomfortable when shopping in a given store. The presence of these experiences tends to make shoppers shy off from visiting a given shopping store for their shopping. Lack of the customers preferred item on a particular shopping center makes the experience more frustrating. It always feels good for any shopper to find his or her preferred item with ease, when the process of obtaining the item becomes tedious, then the experience is always not good as the shopper has to move from one shop to the other wasting lots of his or her time. Shopping together with irritating shoppers who usually dont care what they do in the shops may be a bad experience too. Some shoppers are always not patient, and some tend to overrun the queue to do their payment acting as if the other shoppers are not in any hurry. Such shopping habits are so irritating and make the experiences too bad for some of the shoppers. Some of the malls usually insist on their customers to carry out their shopping online, and the retailers will in turn organize for the delivery of the goods. The problem with this type of shopping is that, there will always be late deliveries, the customer care number indicated may fail hence the customers may fail to ask some important questions before shopping from the store. A study carried out to know why some clients are not comfortable with this type of shopping has identified that the shopping method is very demanding as the potential customers are bound to take lots of time trying to browse through the net and the information given to describe the products is very minimal. The result of this is the delivery of low-quality goods that do not meet the expectations of the customers and affect the experiences of the customers negatively. Again, most of the online shoppers have complained of clicking through many pages that makes the whole process

Competencies Checklist Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Competencies Checklist - Personal Statement Example The reporter stresses that "I fully understand the need for good behavior amongst young people and the principles that are essential in the guidance of children’s behavior in order to provide the best educational and social results. I am familiar with the major hypotheses required in educating young children, which are dependent on the learning abilities of young children. In addition, I am knowledgeable on the importance of developing children, families, and communities that create valuable relationships amongst young people. The family-children relation program further enables the families of young children to empower them through their relationships. I also have adequate knowledge of the history of my profession, which is an added advantage since I fully understand the needs that arise on any occasion. I am technologically educated, and I use this ability to assist the children in my classroom to learn more efficiently. I am aware of the ethics that are involved in educating young children and I fully employ them in my teaching center in order to develop disciplined individuals. I am also able to deliver education and quality care by employing the Pearson education model. I fully comprehend the needs of assessing young children and documenting the reports for reference. I also engage in programs that involve studying and teaching, which are helpful in increasing my knowledge about my career and increasing my competency. I am currently taking a degree on CDA in order to further my teaching career. I have written my philosophy of teaching, which is consistent with my actions when carrying out my responsibilities. I am also keen on keeping my teaching up to date and understand the contemporary issues in the society."

DB #4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

DB #4 - Essay Example By talking about how he conducted his study by taking care of the sick and terminally ill patients, Christakis uses the rhetoric proof of Pathos to persuade and inform his audience (TED). His storytelling of how he begun to conduct his study evokes emotion among his audience. Christakis employs the rhetoric proof of logos in showing how people become embedded in dense social networks. He uses slides to present a logical appeal of how clusters develop to form dense social networks. He also employs mathematical reasoning to present data to his audience and thus making a further logical appeal to them. Christakis makes a valid argument on the hidden influence of social networks. He argues that social networks help to define individuals’ health, happiness, and overall life goals. He presents his argument on the basis of a scientific research, which he conducted and this makes his argument to tick. He shows how social networks develop and how they get to influence different individuals dependent on their location in the network. His exploration of large-scale and face-face social networks, is able to show the impacts of social networks on a wide variety of traits such as obesity and happiness on people’s lives (TED). Simply put, he affirms the thought ‘show me you friends, and I will tell you your