Sentence fluency Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Sentence fluency - Essay Example Contextually, it is these aspects that represent the important ideas of sentence fluency (Timothy, â€Å"Guided Fluency Instruction: Moving Students to Independence†). GOAL STATEMENT The fundamental goal of the curriculum will concentrate on critically evaluating knowledge gained by the learners with respect to planning, evaluation and editing of the writings by learners. In this regard, applying brainstorming sessions, group discussion and peer review will be taken into account strategically. The application of this curriculum is likely to enhance the understanding capability of the learners with respect to their ideas related to the usage of detailed information along with application of apt words. It is expected that with the assistance of this curriculum, learners will be able to easily identify and rectify their syntax mistakes, which they used to be ignorant towards in prior instances. This curriculum will also act with the aim to fortify the quality of the sentences fra med by the learners (Timothy, â€Å"Guided Fluency Instruction: Moving Students to Independence†). This curriculum has been specially designed to initiate the need for sentence fluency among the domestic and the international students. This curriculum will assist the learners throughout their developmental course, generating a sense of need and importance for this particular subject, as it has a strong hold with respect to communicative competencies in the international plethora. DISCUSSION In precise, this curriculum will assist the learner to have a better insight about the importance of applying facts and figures within the informational article. It is worth mentioning in this context that there exist a generalized six kinds of writing traits viz., idea and concept, organization, voice, sentence fluency, usage of words and conventions. In consideration with the curriculum, it will enhance the ideas and the conception of the learner with regard to writing a sentence or sent ence fluency. Furthermore, this curriculum will be intended towards assisting the learners in organizing sentences in order to develop their abilities to convey the concerned ideas maintaining consistency in the flow of information. It is in this context that voice frames an important part in the formation of sentences accelerating sentence fluency in turn. The curriculum designed will therefore foster understanding of the learner concerning smooth and harmonized flow of ideas and objectives with respect to the sentences. Moreover, this curriculum will also intend to assist the learners concerning the importance of words choice in maintaining and grooming sentence fluency (Timothy, â€Å"Guided Fluency Instruction: Moving Students to Independence†). Instructional design will also be regarded to hold considerable importance in the success potentials of the curriculum. Instructional design comprises a series of procedures, which aim at assisting in the development of the qualit y aspects and evaluative efficiency of the curriculum being designed. Instructional procedure comprehensively builds up with the requirement of sentence fluency for individual development. Furthermore, the instructional content of this curriculum will entail an objective-oriented approach in its designing. Fluency within the sentences, in this context, imposes a greater impact on the listeners and the readers too. The

Grief Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Grief - Research Proposal Example The process of acquiring is made balanced by the fact that we must loose. All relationships, objects or positions we acquire in life must be taken away or experience a phase that eliminate the effectiveness of the relationship. The loss is painful to the human life and we involuntary develop a process that tends to react to the loss. The reaction may be displayed in numerous forms. Different people display varying reactions to loss based on their idea of mourning and recovery. In an example a person may cry while another may alter their eating habits. However, an explanation to loss and recovery may be explained in a theological perspective to understand the existence this part of human life and spirit. Grief can be defined as a way in which a person may react to loss. Grief is a person’s way to recovery after experiencing loss of something they had a relationship with1. However, the explanation of grief does cannot be exhausted by the understanding of the person relationship with what they lost. This is after the consideration that the magnitude of the loss determines the magnitude of grief one experiences2. Does grief exist in a theological scope or is grief extensively explained just by the reaction of human nature? Does one’s grief relieve them of the pain they experience when they undergo loss? It is involuntary to grief. Human nature is incorporated with characteristics that require them to adjust to their environment in an instance of change3. The adjustment requires any mechanism that would minimize the feeling of pain4. This explains the difference in the way in which different people grieve. A person may heal from crying while another person may not heal from the same mechanism. The process of grieving is also determined by the magnitude of the loss5. Grief is influenced by the level of one’s exposure to pain6. The magnitude of grief one may undergo when they lose their family member is different from one they experience when they

The Nervous System :: Biology, Neurons, Axon

The peripheral nervous system consists of two separately functioning components: the sensory division and the motor division. The sensory division provides appropriate responses from sensory receptors to the central nervous system. Sensory neurons transmit reactive responses from the periphery to the central nervous system while the motor division conducts action potentials from effector organs such as muscles and glands. In contrast, motor neurons transmit action potentials from the central nervous system toward the periphery (Seeley et al., 2005). Neurons and their Electrical Activity The nervous system is composed of millions of nerve cells called neurons. Neurons are the parenchyma of the nervous system which performs every function of the nervous system from simple sensory functions to complex thinking and analysis. Neurons, upon receipt of stimuli, transmit responsive signals to other neurons or to effector organs. Clark (2005) observes that the anatomy of a neuron is composed of four main parts; the cell body, the dendrites, the axon, and the nerve fibers. Given the importance of each of the neuron components, it is important to discuss how each work separately and in tandem to achieve efficient and appropriate responses in the human body. Varying in diameter and containing a single nucleus, the cell body is the primary component of the neuron. The nucleus of the neuron provides information for protein synthesis and contains most of the organelles of the neuron. Seeley et al., (2005) write that the cell body contains large numbers of mitochondria because of its high metabolic function and also abundant rough endoplasmic reticulum’s which referred to as Nissl bodies. The dendrites of a neuron are cytoplasmic extensions that reach out from the cell body like arms and contain a full array of cellular organelles, such as mitochondria, chromatophilic substance, and ribosomes. The most important feature of a dendrite is its electrical activity. Dendrites receive information from other neurons and transmit them toward the cell body, then produce electrical impulses referred to as graded potentials. Graded potentials can have varying degrees of depolarization or hyperpolarization. These graded potentials arise in the dendrites or in the cell body as a result of various stimuli and are important in initiating action potentials in neurons. As the graded potential passes through a cell body, it may initiate an action potential at the base of another cytoplasmic projection which is the axon (Clark, 2005). An axon is a long cell process extending from the neuron cell body.

Does Culture Determine Your Theory of Mind Essay

What has distinguished Homo sapiens from non-human organisms is their ability to develop a theory of mind (Scholl & Leslie, 2001). Premack & Woodruff (1978) originally defined theory of mind as being the tendency to make attributions about behaviour based on acquired knowledge of mental states, such as belief, desire and intention. An equally important aspect of theory of mind concerned the individual’s ability to understand the subjectivity of mental states, comprehending that other individuals have desires and beliefs that differ significantly from one’s own, an understanding that is highly important to human functioning (Baren-Cohen, 1995). This essay questions the influence that culture has on the development of a theory of mind. What was of primary interest in this essay was to investigate the extent to which theory of mind was characterized by universal processes of development and whether underlying cultural factors were responsible for the timing and development of theory of mind. Certain marked cultural differences were suggested as influential variables which could determine the development of a theory of mind, these being parenting styles, number of siblings and executive function which were thought to play a pivotal role in the development of a cultural identity (Lillard, 1998). In the context of cross-cultural comparison, a critical assessment of the false-belief task was conducted. The validity and reliability of the false-belief task was analyzed in relation to the development of theory of mind, and alternative explanations and measurement tools were provided which would allow for a more sensitive and reliable cross-cultural comparison to be made. Described as onto-genetically universal, theory of mind is a construct of human psychology and biology that is universally applicable to every culture (Liu, Wellman, Tardif & Sabbagh, 2008) . A unanimous result from twenty five years of research has reported that a theory of mind is developed in early childhood and exhibited from the age of five or six years old as result of progressive stages of development (Lillard, 1998). Many researchers (e. g Liu et al. , 2008; Wellman, Cross & Watson, 2001) have observed parallel developmental trajectories between western and non-western cultures in relation to the age at which a child acquires a theory of mind. Callghan, Rochat, Lillard, Claux, Odden & Itakura (2005) observed the cross-cultural development of theory of mind in samples of 12-31 children and declared there to be a ‘critical period’ of development between the ages of three and five years old when children begun to conceptualize and understand the difference between belief and reality. From a remote bush community in western Africa, to a mountain village in Peru, researchers (e. g. Avis & Harris, 1991) have observed the universal development of a theory of mind. The communicative purposes of theory of mind are invaluable to the survival and higher functioning of human kind. Cross-culturally, theory of mind is relevant in order to teach, deceive, inform and share planned actions (Baren-Cohen,1999). However, although this cognitive development is fundamental and pivotal to human functioning, research in this field of investigation has challenged the universality and applicability of theory of mind postulating that cross-cultural variations were responsible for determining and influencing the timing and stages at which theory of mind developed. Many prominent research studies have been published in the literature, arguing for the influence of culture on the development of a theory of mind (Wellman et al. , 2001). Astington (2001) has argued that although cross-cultural variation does not reflect a child’s ability to acquire a theory of mind, there may perhaps be sociocultural variances in early childhood experience that could potentially influence how and when a child achieves theory of mind. Similarly, studies have observed a discrepancy in the timing of development across certain industrialized cultures, an example being Canada and the United Kingdom (Wellman et al. 2001), and Japan and North Korea (Oh & Lewis, 2008). A meta-analysis of cross-cultural performance on false-belief tasks was conducted by Liu et al. , (2008) which investigated whether culture contributed to the development of theory of mind. A meta-analysis was conducted on 200 conditions (16-24 children per condition) of children from mainland china and Hong-Kong in order to assess whether the difference in cultural beliefs and values between these two culturally diverse samples had a significant impact on the timing of development. Increasingly more westernized and individualistic, Hong-Kong was predicted to mirror the North American trajectory of development in that children would be more likely to perform above chance on the false-belief task. Liu et al. , (2008) observed that Chinese children were more likely to under-perform on false-belief tasks in relation to their Japanese counterparts and that this resulted in a difference of up to 2 years in timing of false-belief acquisition. However, like many comparison studies, the results of this study were potentially confounded due to relatively small sample size. A condition of 16-24 participants did not allow for methodological error or research bias. Contradictory evidence and potential methodological errors in relation to cross-cultural comparisons has resulted in a thorough examination of the measurement tools used to study theory of mind. A seemingly reliable and valid measurement tool, the false-belief task has to some extent dominated the theory of mind model over the course of twenty five years (Dennet, 1978 as cited by Wellman et al. 2001). Astington (2001) reported that there exists â€Å"a danger in letting a single task become a marker for complex development†, as reliance on a single measurement construct can record potentially confounding results, leading to improbable and invalid conclusions. The ‘chocolate and cupboard’ false-belief task was developed by Wimmer & Perner, (1983) in order to assess whether a child had the ability to understand that their mental representations of the world differed from reali ty. Many researchers have found methodological flaws in the false-belief task claiming that it is unnecessarily difficult (Sullivan & Winner, 1993). A cross-cultural study conducted by Wellman et al. , (2001) confirmed that many children failed the false-belief task due to confusion and lack of understanding. A secondary criticism of the false-belief task has been made in relation to the limitations it places on performance in that it does not take into account fundamental components of theory of mind (De Rosnay, Pons, Harris & Morrell, 2004). Therefore, in order for a valid cross-cultural comparison to be made it was necessary to examine other important mental states such as emotion, desire and intention (De Rosnay et al. , 2004). A five step Theory of Mind scale was developed by Wellman & Liu (2004) in order to conduct a cross-cultural comparison of theory of mind. Preschoolers in North America (Wellman & Liu, 2004) , Australia (Peterson & Wellman, 2009) and Germany (Kristen, Thoermar et al. 2006) were found to follow the same ordered sequencing of conceptual developments, these being diverse desires, diverse beliefs, knowledge access, false beliefs, hidden emotions (Shahaeian, Peterson, Slaughter & Wellman, 2011). Although an identical trajectory of development was reported in many western cultures, a study conducted by Wellman et al. , (2004) discovered an interesting cross-cultural difference in relation to Chinese preschoolers who, although following the same steps of development, completed them in a different order with knowledge access being learned before diverse beliefs. Although there does not appear to be a cross-cultural difference in the mastery of theory of mind, the emphasis placed on knowledge access in Chinese preschoolers over diverse beliefs in western preschoolers is consistent with the importance that collectivist societies associate with social harmony over self-expression and individual beliefs. Reliance on one particular measurement tool has resulted in many extravagant and inconclusive claims being made, one such example being that researchers have associated a below chance performance on a false-belief task with an underdeveloped theory of mind (Astington, 2001). However, many researchers have argued that a three year old’s failure on the false-belief task could be indicative of linguistic underdevelopment or confusion rather than an absence of theory of mind. Leslie (2000) conducted qualitative reviews of cross-cultural performance on false-belief tasks in order to assess whether certain aspects of the methodology were inconsistent across cross-cultural testing. Methodology was found to differ in relation to the type of question asked, nature of the protagonist and type of task. Similarly, there was an inconsistency in the phrasing of the questions across many of the studies, with certain children being asked a question in terms of belief (Where does John think his chocolate is? ) or in terms of speech (where does John say his chocolate is? ). Efforts to reduce methodological error and improve performance have been made by many researchers (e. g. Chandler, Fritz & Hala (1989) in order to demonstrate the plasticity and flexibility of theory of mind. Chandler et al. (1989) found that if the experimental design of the false-belief task was manipulated by implying deception and trickery, performance was more likely to increase. A cross cultural comparison reported similar results when young children actively participated in deception. However, although these results may have provisionally provided an explanation for improved performance, it must be noted that above chance performance on this task did not confirm a child’s ability to conceptualize but mere ly emphasized their ability to ‘play along’ . Due to flaws in methodology and reliance on the false-belief task, researchers have failed to provide consistent and valid results in relation to a cross-cultural comparison of theory of mind. In light of these contradictory results and inconclusive explanations, alternative variables have been analyzed in order to expand on the literature pertaining to cross-cultural differences in theory of mind. Vinden (2001) was of the opinion that the development of a theory of mind aptly reflected parental influence in relation to cultural and moral expectations. Children emulated and modified their behaviour according to their parents’ example, therefore for a child to be capable of predicting and understanding another individuals’ mental state positively reflected parent-child intervention in the early years of their childhood. A cross-cultural comparison of theory of mind assessed whether parental attitudes of Korean-American and Anglo-American mothers influenced how their children developed mental states such as desires, beliefs and intentions (Vinden, 2001). Two previous studies conducted by Kim, Kim & Rue (1997) and Farver, Kim & Lee (1995) reported certain cultural differences between Korean-American and Anglo-American individuals. Korean-Americans were reported as valuing interdependency, social harmony and self-control in favour of individual orientation, symbolic play and independence, traits which were synonymous with the individualistic Anglo-american society. Importantly Korean-American parents were seen as obeying an authoritarian structure of parenting in contrast with Anglo-American parents who favoured an authoritative model . In light of the results obtained by the Kim et al. , (1997) study, it was hypothesized by Vinden (2001) that children of authoritative mothers would be more likely to outperform children of authoritarian mothers on the theory of mind tasks. The results reported were surprising, in that five year old children of authoritarian Korean-American mothers outperformed their Anglo-American age mates on theory of mind tasks, however children of authoritarian Anglo-American mothers were found to under-perform on theory of mind tasks. What could be concluded from this study was that performance on theory of mind tasks could in fact be influenced by parenting styles, but what constituted acceptable parenting was subjective to cultural introspection. In other words, a similar endpoint of development was reached across cultures, due to parenting styles that obeyed a cultural value system (Vinden, 2001). Similarly, a cross-cultural comparison of theory of mind has been made in relation to the number of siblings a child may have. A study conducted by Ruffman, Perner, Naito, Parkin & Clements, (1998) reported a remarkable finding that suggested how a child’s theory of mind could be predicted based on the number of older siblings they possessed. According to Brown, Donelan-McCall & Dunn (1996), children with older siblings developed mental representations about the world around them through symbolic play. Many researchers have argued for the importance of symbolic play in establishing a theory of mind (Leslie, 1987) due to the fact that through discussion and pretend play younger children were exposed to false-belief situations enabling them to emulate the behaviour exhibited by older siblings. However, it is important to remain critical when discussing the importance of symbolic play due to the fact that although above-chance performance on theory of mind tasks may be recorded, the extent to which conceptualization and false-belief is properly understood demands further explanation. Reiterating what has been previously stated by Vinden (2001), it was important to acknowledge that, although the same end point of development was reached across cultures, the stages of development differed based on cultural intervention. In recent years, the skills associated with executive function have been proposed to contribute to the development of theory of mind (Moses, 2001). Many researchers interested in cross-cultural comparison have conducted studies in order to ascertain whether the development of executive skills is directly influenced by cultural beliefs and values. Interest in this area of research has come about due to the importance of understanding theory of mind in conjunction with the development of cognitive processes (Moses, 2001). Executive function is an umbrella term used to describe a plethora of cognitive processes such as inhibition, verbal reasoning, problem solving and working memory which contribute to the development of theory of mind. Executive function has been assessed across a diverse range of cultures in order to determine whether development of executive function skills differ across cultures, and whether this difference in development affects the acquisition of a theory of mind.

Can We Think Without Language.. - 1188 Words

CAN WE THINK WITHOUT LANGUAGE Many anthropologists, linguists, psychologists, biologists and other academics have attempted to tackle this question in recent decades. It is sort of chicken or egg conundrum: Did human beings first develop the physical capabilities for language (larger brains, vocal tract, etc) with the actual development of language following it, or had the capabilities for speech already arisen and only with the development of physical production of language itself follow? Obviously, it is difficult for us to think about things without using language in our minds while we reason. Yet if you ve ever had a smart pet and watched them perform a task, you know that they operate on a largely trial-and-error basis.†¦show more content†¦The Hopi language has a single word for all flying objects other than birds. The hypothesis states that hopi speakers think differently about flying objects than do speakers of languages that do not categorize the world in the way. The Hanunoo people of the Phillipine Islands are said to have names for 92 species of rice but all 92 varieties of rice are, for the English speaker, simply rice. A more recent study, however, comparing English children and Himba children from Africa suggests that colour categorises in a given language have a greater influence on colour perception. The English language contains 11 basic colour terms whereas the Himba language has only 5. Himba children made fewer distinctions among coloured titles than did English children. For example, Himba children categorised under the colour term â€Å"zoozu† a variety of dark colours such as dark shades of blue, green, purple red, and the colour black. English children distinguished among these colours and remembered the different hues better when retested on which ones they had seen earlier. Language not only influences how we think but also may influence how well we think in certain domains. 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I will be dealing each concept separately so that we can come to know the relationshipRead MoreIs It Very Much An Open If Not A Controversial Question?1456 Words   |  6 PagesLinguistic determinism states that all human thoughts and actions are bound by the restraints of language( Ask a Linguist FAQ, 2015). In other words Sapir and Whorf argue that language determines how we think, and how we view our world. This version received more criticism than the much lighter version of the same theory known as linguistic relativism. This version explains that our language affects our thought to some degree. Lara Borodit sky , a proponent of the linguistic determinism versionRead MoreThe Linguistic Revolution:The Relation Between Class, Language, and Ideology In 1984968 Words   |  4 Pagesgovernment with the threat of physical harm and, more importantly, through powerful mental conditioning, particularly through the reduction of nuances and shades of meaning within language. 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Imagine a world without language, everyone will be mute and doesn’t have any connection with each other. Being able to communicate through language with each other forms bonds and that’s what make human different from any animal species. And language gives us a unique and diverse characters to each of us. In the article of Undocumented Immigrants, the writer (Forest) talks about how the uses of language is so importantRead MoreInterpersonal Communication Skills And Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency1608 Words   |  7 PagesDescribe basic interpersonal communication skills and cognitive academic language proficiency from your own understanding (1’). †¢ Interpersonal communication skills, for me is the ability to speak to one another in a form that will allow us to exchange ideas, thoughts, information and emotions. 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Effects of Corruption on E-Commerce - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2407 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Economics Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? EFFECTS OF CORRUPTION ON E-COMMERCE (VERSION 1) CORRUPTION: Corruption has crippled Nigeria to fully maximize her potentials, Nigeria has seen drop in educational standard, healthcare, basic and social amenities. This is because most of the funds budgeted for the greater good of the economy have been misused for individual greed by our leaders and people elected in public offices. Corruption is the dishonest and illegal behaviour exhibited especially by people in authority for the personal gain (transparency.org). The growing corruption in Nigeria can be traced to people holding power at the federal, state and local government levels. Ruzindana, (1999) emphasises that corruption in Africa is a problem of routine deviation from established standards and norms by public officials and parties with whom they interact. He further more identified bribery, private gain and non-existent workers (also known as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"ghost workersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢) as the di fferent types of corruption facing Africa. Corruption generally in Nigeria is a social problem that has attracted the interest of many scholars. However, corruption and its effect on e-commerce have experienced little attention in the country. E-COMMERCE Until 1998, Nigeria had only few dial-up e-mail providers and a few internet service providers (ISPs) operating on slow links in the country. Present ISPs provide online advertising opportunities, internet banking securities and Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) services. E-commerce growth in Nigeria is slow but steady, the vast improvement in telecommunication services in the country as illustrated by explosion of subscribers and users of Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), it is further underscored by a surge in private telecom operators (PTOs) offering à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Fixed wireless serviceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ which offer data and voice transfer. The introduction of e-commerce service is held back by lack of public awareness on how to use the technologies. However, there has been a rapid growth in electronic cash transfer services such as western union, MoneyGram and Travelex in recent years. Electronic banking is one area of e-commerce that has proven successful in Nigeria. Virtually all banks in Nigeria offer online, real-time banking services. Moreover, banks that cannot offer these services are increasingly losing their customers are offered the flexibility of operating an account in any branch of their bankà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s network. Even though the Nigeria government has taken progressive steps in recent years to aid online buying and selling (E-commerce) surmountable challenges still remain that is killing e-commerce in Nigeria. Most of the points to be discussed if critically explored have a link to corruption, in the sense that corruption has eaten so deep in the country ranging from individuals to government officials. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Yahoo Yahooà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ syndr ome: Many young Nigerians attribute this to lack of employment and tangible jobs to keep them busy, therefore, they involve themselves in the what is known as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"yahoo yahooà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Yahoo Yahooà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ is an online type of fraud where mostly young men look for a way of getting hold of peopleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s master/credit card details to use in purchasing goods online without the ownerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s consent. The perpetrators of this crime spend long hours at the cyber cafÃÆ' © surfing the net with the aid of a software to crack into peoples accounts. Some even go to the extent of using charm to avoid been caught by the necessary authorities. The most recent one around now is employment fraud. I almost fell for one recently when I saw a job advert online for the Nigerian Navy. After clicking the web link that says à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"click here to applyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ I was taken to another page where I was supposed to pay fo r a voucher/pin to complete the application. However, over the years, the practice of the Military related jobs has always being for job seekers to walk into a bank and pay for the voucher/pin, but for this particular one the instruction was to pay online. I tried it, followed through the whole process, input my card details and pin, fortunately for me the bank I use had network issue so the transaction couldnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t go through, it was later that I found out it was a scam and the Nigerian Navy did not officially advertised the job on its website. We can all imagine how many poor job applicants would have fallen prey of that fraud act. Lack of dependable online payment gateways: while things are getting better as regards e-commerce in Nigeria in the sense that in the last decade a lot of online businesses have been launched (konga, jumia, slot, etc) however, dependable gateways are hard to come by. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Interswitchà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"etransa ctà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ are the two major companies used as online payment platform in Nigeria. However, I think some banks are gradually joining the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"partyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. Lack of trust: People find it difficult to trust each other; also so many people do not trust new technologies. For example, my mother has never used an Automated Teller Machine (ATM), simply because she believes she cannot hold the poor machine responsible for any error/crime committed. Similarly, I was also having a chat with a friend of recent who narrated her uncleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s ordeal. While the uncle was in the UK on vacation from Nigeria, he got an alert on his phone from his bank in Nigeria that a transaction was just made (huge amount of money) on is account, immediately he flew back home went straight to the bank for an explanation on how and why such transaction took place on his account without him authorizing it, lo and behold, the bank could not give any reasonable explanation about the transaction, did not of course refund his money back saying it was due to the customerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s carelessness. What I am trying to say in essence is that lack of trust in people and machines that facilitate e-commerce is a contributing factor to how corruption affects e-commerce in Nigeria. Reliable Power supply: Lack of reliable power supply in the country has contributed greatly to those factors that have crippled so many businesses and e-commerce activities in Nigeria, this is because the people in charge of the power sector are greedy and due to political reason have just decided to neglect the power sector. You can imagine the president of Nigeria making some allocations to fuel and service the generator servicing the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"presidential villaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ in the last budget. This is just to show how serious the power issue is. We can all try to imagine the state of a countryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s e-commerce or businesses in general where power s upply is not stable. The recent presidential pardon granted to Diepreye Alamieyseigha the former governor of the oil-rich state of Bayelsa by President Goodluck Jonathan who was convicted for money laundering and other serious corruption offense in 2007 has questioned the transparency of the President Goodluck Jonathanà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s administration. The decision undermines anti-corruption efforts in Nigeria and encourages impunity. This decision also proves to future companies or individuals looking at investing in Nigeria that the country is still not very safe thereby affecting the growth of e-commerce in country. The problem of e-commerce in Nigeriaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s is not just corruption, but failure to put in place mechanism or infrastructure that will make life easy for the citizens to work and live well in the society. Nigeria need good energy distribution, good roads, overhaul postal system, good communication networks and other social amenities, Nigeria would ha ve been a good market place for e-commerce activities in Africa but reverse is the case. *************************************************************************** Effects of Corruption on E-commerce (VERSION 2) Introduction: In almost all developing countries of the world, commerce dominates their economic activities. Even the industrial activities are based mostly on commerce. In Nigeria, the productive/manufacturing sector is still highly dependent on import and export. The manufacturing companies rely heavily on raw materials from abroad while the primary productive sector merely produce raw and semi processed materials meant for the overseas market and consumers. Nigeria produces crude oil in abundance and almost about 90% of it is exported with very little meant for the local refineries. In very sharp contrast, more than 80% of the refined petroleum products consumed in Nigeria are imported. From the foregoing, the importance of commerce cannot be over emphasis ed. Commerce is the most vibrant of all the economic activities in Nigeria. In the world today, Information Technology has made trade transactions very easy. At the comfort of oneà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s home or/and office, commercial transaction can take place within the twinkle of an eye. The magnitude of commercial activities taking place in Nigeria and rapid development that has taken place in the field of information technology makes it imperative to probe into the possible effects that corruption can have on e-commerce. Whatever the situation, corruption scandals and allegations of dishonesty have great impact on commercial activities in Nigeria, high level of corruption could also impact upon economic performance in Nigeria, e-commerce inclusive. Corruption has serious effects on e-commerce in many ways. The price and marketability of any product or service is determined significantly by the local cost of production. On the other hand, the cost of production is influenced gr eatly by the level and magnitude of corruption in the system. The level and magnitude of corruption affects the cost of all the factors of production which in turn affects the demand and supply of products and services covered by e-commerce. If the cost of raw materials is increased because of the incidence of over invoicing, the eventual cost of production and selling price of the finished product or service will be high. In the final analysis, the high price will affect the volume of trade involving the product or the service. That being the case, if such product or service is under e-commerce, there will be a major impact. Money laundering is a form of corruption and it affects e-commerce in all manner of ways. Monies that are laundered are not monies worked for or genuinely earned. Such monies are spent in a way that the level of liquidity in the economy will increase and artificially the prices of products and services on which the money is spent will increase. In fact, lose money in the segment of the market dealing in those products or services will give a wrong signal of a high demand which in turn will increase prices. Definitely e-commerce will be affected, since money laundering will have effect on the forces of demand and supply. In most developing countries, goods and services produced, marketed and consumed there are approved or certified. The process of certification or approval is often laden with corrupt practices, such that at the end products or services will affect e-commerce. In most cases because the cost of bribing the officials to grant certification is taken as part of the cost of production and also because the quality of the products and services in the long run will be discovered to be poor, there would be low demand for it. This will lead to a lot of distortions in the e-commerce market. There is also a wide spread of misappropriation of public funds in Nigeria, just like some other countries in Africa. This massive misapp ropriation of public funds affects e-commerce. The demand and supply tilt towards the goods and services consumed by those that have been involved in the misappropriation of public funds. The increased demand will act as an incentive for producer to increase the quantity of such goods and services consumed by the few super rich people while those consumed by people who have no access to this misappropriated public fund as neglected. The poor perception and attitudes of the people generally towards corruption and how poorly the government and all relevant agencies and institutions are handling cases of corruption has eroded peopleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s confidence and this has serious negative impact on e-commerce. E-commerce is still at very low pace in Nigeria majorly due to the effect of corruption. If one party places an order and expect the other party to mail or supply the goods before payment is effected, the supplying party would be weary that he may just supply goods to an in dividual he may not be able to trace eventually. On the other hand, if the order is backed with payment, the person who places the order will not be sure the supplier would supply to specification and to his/her satisfaction. I was having a chat with my dad recently, and he took me way back into the 60à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s when Nigeria did not have a colour lab for printing pictures. All pictures printed then were all in à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"black and whiteà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, however, if you want it printed in colour one needed to send the film to the United Kingdom (UK), it will printed in colour and sent back to Nigeria after which you now send the payment over to the UK. Over time, the transaction was stopped/cancelled by the UK government which I reckon was due to fraudulent activity of Nigerians not paying after receiving their pictures back. Also the corruption in the country which does not spare the judiciary makes seeking redress in law court a tortuous exercise. In some cases, j ustice is to the highest bidder and when it is not, the road to justice is long and winding. A simple civil case on a contractual agreement may take years and by the time judgement is delivered, the compensation is not restorative enough. The generality of the people that are involved in e-commerce do not see any reason or have any urge to keep accurate record of all transactions. At times, it can be due to ignorance and at times it is deliberate and intentional. Whatever be the case, the overall effect is to evade paying the required tax revenue to the appropriate government. The government that is in position to develop or encourage e-commerce through enactment of favourable policies and law may then not be interested. On the other hand, if people would pay taxes as appropriate, the government can encourage e-commerce which is still in its infancy in Nigeria. REFERENCE Akintola, K.G., Akinyede, R.O. and Agbonifo, C.O (2011), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"appraising Nigeria redness for E commerce towards achieving vision 2020à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, IJRRAS, 9(2) Sherah Kurnia and Fei Peng (2010). Electronic Commerce Readiness in Developing Countries: The Case of the Chinese Grocery Industry, E-commerce, Kyeong Kang (Ed.), ISBN: 978-953-7619-98-5, InTech, Available from: https://www.intechopen.com/books/e-commerce/electronic-commerce-readiness-in-developing-countriesthe-case-of-the-chinese-grocery-industry https://www.transparency.org/news/pressrelease/20130314_transparency_international_calls_on_nigerian_president_to_rescind https://www.transparency.org/whatwedo?gclid=CLDnjKChmbgCFVMbtAod7S0AfA Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Effects of Corruption on E-Commerce" essay for you Create order

The Death Of Janie Crawford Tragedy And The American Dream

The American Psychological Institute states that the current divorce rate is around forty to fifty percent for first marriages and even higher for second and third marriages. The upward trend of divorce rates in America has many Americans concerned about the decreasing emphasis on commitment and family values that often results from divorce. In Zora Neale Hurstons’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, the protagonist, Janie, experiences three marriages, one of which ends in divorce and the other two in death. Many readers may question the values of Janie and her seemingly ‘gold- digger’ Nanny as they both seem to be chasing the unattainable, a perfect marriage with a rich husband. As the novel plays out, the reader goes deeper into Nanny and Janie’s values and how they affect Janie’s three marriages. 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