Changes in Volume and Distribution of FDI

Introduction The last day of 2012 will remain one of the most significant days in the memoirs of the recently re-elected American president Barack Obama. This is because the American economy may revert to recession if the country’s legislature fails to agree on some changes to the tax code and some spending.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Changes in Volume and Distribution of FDI specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More One of the potential effects of falling over the fiscal cliff is that America may fail to attract the levels of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) it needs to create jobs. FDI plays a vital role in all the economies of the world. Foreign capital supports job creation and leads to better economic conditions in a country. This paper takes a historical look at the DFI patterns based on certain countries and regions of the world. The paper will seek to explain the changes in the volumes and distribution of FDI since 1990. Theoretical Framework A number of scholars developed theories and models to describe the economic dynamics of international trade. The Heckscher-Ohlin model of international trade stresses that countries tend to export products made from resources that are cheap and abundant within their territories, and to import products that consume expensive and rare resources . This model stresses the comparative advantages of different nations as their source of competitive advantage in international trade. This model suggests that FDI is one of the means of exploiting local resources. For instance, an investor interested in software development will find competitive pricing in India, and competitive quality in America.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The second theory relevant to the impending analysis is the OLI paradigm that assigns the competitiveness of a firm t o three factors. The OLI paradigm opines that the competitiveness of an international firm depends on its Ownership (O), its Location (L), and on Internalization (I) of its competitive advantages. Ownership (O) refers to specific characteristics that the firm enjoys relating to the organizational culture and internal dynamics. The advantages dues to the Location (L) refer to geographical advantages associated with the locality of the company. It is impossible to transfer these advantages. The third source of competitiveness is Internalization (I) that refers to the process of harnessing internal resources and sources of competitive advantage to benefit from a larger market. The implication of the OLI paradigm to FDR is that companies that feel confident that they can harness their (O) and (I) components can profit from operating in foreign soils. Porter’s diamond seeks to move the discussion on competitive advantage of nations from the traditional factors of production by arg uing that a country can develop capacity to handle any shortfalls in its endowments. For instance, the model proposes that a country can make the availability of labor a factor in its competitiveness. Further, the model proposes that a country can develop capacity to produce certain products and services if there is demand for it. Local producers can find ways of producing an affordable product based on the local needs. These theories undergird the analysis of trends in FDI across various regions of the world. Factors Affecting the Attractiveness of Countries for FDI The lists of factors that influence the decision to invest in a country are long and varied. It is impossible to carry out a detailed analysis of these factors within this work. This section mentions the most significant factors.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Changes in Volume and Distribution of FDI specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The political factors that influence FDI decisions include stability of governments, and the political environment in the country. Most western investors prefer democratic states as investment destinations while eastern investors do not make this an important consideration, provided the country is stable. The presence of trade embargoes imposed by international bodies may affect the decision of international investors. Legal factors also play a very important part in DFI decisions. The presence of clear legal procedures for opening and operating a business, labor laws, tax laws, land and property laws, and the legal arbitration laws gives some countries competitive advantage. Banks in countries such as Switzerland and the Cayman Islands have a strong reputation for not disclosing client financial information. As a result, people who prefer complete privacy of their financial operations work with Swiss accounts. This is an example of a competitive factor in FDI created by legal systems. Some count ries develop special economic zones that offer reprieves and legal guarantees to make the country more attractive for FDI. Socioeconomic factors also influence FDI decisions. While country may not make the decision to invest in another country based on the market there, it is desirable to sell locally. Companies such as Coca-Cola produce their soft drinks within the markets that they sell their products. Asian countries on the other hand, are ideal candidates for FDI to produce products for consumption in other markets.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Other important factors that influence FDI include government policy on issues such as repatriation of profits. In addition, the infrastructure available in a country influences issues such as supply chain management, and marketing strategy. Security is also an important concern in DFI decisions Analysis of Changes in Volume and Distribution on FDI The last two decades presided over aggressive changes in the economic climate of the entire word. The period started with the collapse of the USSR, and communism as an influential political system. In addition, it saw the fall of the Berlin Wall, and reunification of Germany. The period also saw the initial steps towards the development of the open internet. These developments affected the economic organization of the entire world. This section analyses the events of the last twenty years in four blocks and their impact on FDI. The blocks correspond to the major changes in the direction of DFI as depicted in Figure 1. The figure shows tha t global FDI figure rose steadily from 1991 to 2000, and then dipped between 2000 and 2003. The flows rose again between 2003 and 2007, and then fell up to 2009. The DFI increased again in 2010 and 2011. The two peaks correspond to the dot-com bubble and the global financial crisis of 2008. Figure 1: Global FDI Inflows Since 1990 1990-2000 The year 1991 was very significant politically. This is the year when the USSR collapsed signaling an end to the cold war. In the same period, the Berlin wall collapsed further invigorating the march towards the emergence of the Euro zone as an economic unit. In the same decade, Bill Clinton was the President of America for most of the years. His term coincided with some of the best economic conditions America experienced in the second half of the twentieth century. Unemployment rates and inflation were very low in the country at the time. The sense of stability in America during the Clinton years was responsible for the growth in FDI in the coun try. During his tenure, America enjoyed the most consistent peacetime growth in its twentieth century history. The last years of that decade coincided with the rapid uptake of the internet. The dot-com period attracted FDI to America since America was the epicenter of the dot-com boom. In the same years, Europe saw strong growth in its DFI, especially in the latter half the decade. Germany and France were unstable at the time, with Germany dealing with the problems of reunification while France was dealing with a recession. The UK on the other hand was bullish during this decade. The stability in Europe attracted FDI from international investors seeking safe investment destinations. China started the decade on a subdued state after the events of Tiananmen Square. Most western countries shunned China because of the massacre that took place at the square. These events, coupled with the protectionist policies of the Chinese government, led to very poor economic performance by China. It was not an attractive investment destination at the time. However, China found its footing towards the end of the century and experienced very rapid economic growth. However, the country did not attract much growth in FDI because of local policies. 2000-2003 The main events that took place between 2000 and 2003 were the global scare that computers would fail at the turn of the century, and the September 11 bombing of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan. The dot-com bubble burst on March 10, 2000. On this day, the shares of a number of internet companies started a downward spiral to annihilation. The sector seemed so promising that many people failed to carry out due diligence when investing in dot-com stocks. The result was the over-valuation of the stocks to very high artificial levels. The busting of the dot-com bubble had a profound effect on FDI. American and European companies that derived their capital worth from the internet lost value in the stock markets. Internation al investors started shying away from these companies. The effects of the September 11 bombings on FDI arose from the fear and uncertainty. The terror strike at the heart of America made many investors feel insecure. FDR dropped and went to other countries. Europe also suffered immense loss of confidence in the period because difficulties associated with the dot-com bubble. In the same period, a resurgent China saw the rise in its FDR value. While America and Europe dealt with reducing inflows, China was in the early years of strong economic growth. China had other competitive advantages in relation to the other countries. The country was establishing itself as a manufacturing hub, while high spending in infrastructure made it an ideal investment destination for foreign investors. China did not have a history of terrorist activity and there were not threats against it. Investors felt safer investing in China. Chinese manufacturing sector grew in leaps and bounds in the same decade. In the period under review, overall FDI flows slumped in volumes. However, while the EU and America saw a reduction in the volume of FDI levels, China, and the rest of the world experienced growth in FDI levels. 2003-2007 The period between 2003 and 2007 saw a growth in the overall spending in FDI across the world. The EU did not recover from the previous slump until 2004. FDI to America grew steadily throughout the period. The EU also saw its FDI levels grow by more than 100 %. Partly, the growth came from countries previously not part of the EU such as Turkey. Their inclusion in the EU led to the increase in the overall amount of money reaching the expanded EU. The growth of the FDI levels in China remained steady throughout although it somewhat reduced in 2005. This shows that traditional investors in the EU and America explored investing in China in 2003. The levels of the DFI reaching the EU fluctuated very strongly in the last two decades. The EU is a collection of separate ec onomies that operate under different administrations. There is an effort to handle all EU economic issues a via powerful central bank that will have power to set budget limits for all EU states. Discussions are still at a very early stage and opposition to the idea will take time to fade. However, stability of the EU is very critical to attractiveness of the EU as an investment destination. 2007-2011 The global financial crisis took place in 2008. While most of the countries affected by the global financial crisis had economic exposure to this crisis, events in America triggered the collapse. The subprime mortgage market in America underwent similar overvaluing to the dot-com era companies. At some point, the value of the properties were higher that their real value. People took out mortgages to finance their purchases. However, rising interest rates made it impossible for people to keep up with their mortgage payments. This situation led to the foreclosure of mortgaged homes. In it s wake, financial institutions that had given out the mortgages found themselves holding a large amount of assets that they could not sell in the markets. This hit the financial sector leading to the collapse of several banks. The slump in the American economy coincided with the war in Iraq and the beginning of hostilities in Afghanistan. These two wars ate into the national resources of the country. The international image of America as a safe investment destination suffered in the mean time. Overall levels of FDI dropped across the world. However, FDI to other regions in the world did not reduce with the drop in American and European levels. The rates remained consistent for China. Europe tends to suffer along with America whenever there is an economic issue because of the close political and economic ties. The trend up to 2009 was a strong reduction in FDI levels. However, the rates of FDI went up globally from 2009 with the EU catching the trend in 2010. The rates as at 2011 wer e in favor of China and the rest of the world. Brazil, India, and Russia have grown from obscurity in the mid nineties in the DFI scales to become a significant player on the FDI marketplace. FDI Changes in Industries When analyzed by industry, the industries driving DFR are energy and technology. China and India have received FDR to establish industries to take advantage of the attractive labor conditions in these countries. The establishment of NAFTA saw the emergence of Canada and Mexico as strong player in the world Markets especially in the Americas. Mexico now houses many manufacturing plants that supply the American market. In the area of energy, China, India, and America lead the world in investing resources in other countries to secure oil and gas supplies. China also receives FDI targeting manufacturing. Companies such as Apple operate assembly facilities in China. Apple is simply one American company with interests in China. In the technological field, India is a net reci pient of FDR in the area of computer and software development. India is currently one of the top off shoring destinations in the area if IT, call center management and back office functions. This is the situation predicted by Porter’s diamond. India uses its vast human resource as a source of competitive advantage in the world economy. Companies invest in infrastructure such as software development facilities, call centers and other back office infrastructure in order to take advantage of Indians resources. Changes in International Business Environment The most exciting element of the international business environment is the emerging role of China as a world power. China is becoming a very important player in world trade both as an international investor and as an investment destination. The rising middle class in China will drive demand for goods and services. This means that China will receive more attention from international investors because of the business potential in the country. On the other hand, China is becoming a significant investor across the world in an effort to find trading opportunities and resources to feed its industries. China is cementing relations with many developing countries. The African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa stands as a testament of Chinese international interests. Secondly, America is on a recovery path after the difficult years immediately after the global financial crisis. America is the most powerful economy in the world. The prosperity of America leads to more FDI outflows from America. In addition, the stability of America is attractive to international investors from Europe and Canada. The EU is facing a difficult time with the need to reorganize the entire Euro zone. Countries such as Greece are recovering from the worse financial crisis in modern times. Spain, Portugal, and France are implementing a raft of measure to assure the countries of long-term stability. These countries are dealing with financial issues that threaten the Euro as a common currency. The emergence of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) as the influential emerging economies is also shaping the emerging world economy. These countries will join the ranks of the developed world in the next two decades if they retain their current growth trajectories. They are already very important players in their regions. They will have a significant influence in the direction of DFI flows in the interim. Conclusion International economies will undergo greater integration in the coming years because of the process of globalization. As such, the role of FDI will become more important with time. Countries that can leverage their competitive advantages will stand a better chance of attracting foreign capital. Reference List Bond, P 2008, ‘Global Uneven Development, Primitive Accumulation, and Political Economic Conflict in Africa: The Return of the Theory of Imperialism’, Journal of Peace Building an d Development, vol 4, no. 1, pp. 1-14. Dunning, JH 2001, ‘The Eclectic (OLI) Paradigm of International Production: Past, Present and Future’, International Journal of the Economicsof Business, vol 8, no. 2, pp. 173-190. Dunning, JH 2008, ‘Location and the Multinational Enterprise: John Dunning’s Thoughts on Receiving the Journal of International Business Studies 2008 Decade Award’, Journal of International Business Studies, vol 40, pp. 20-24. Faulkner, D Segan-Horn, S 2004, ‘The Economics of International Comparative Advantage in the Modern World’, European Business Journal, pp. 20-31. Jeyarathmm, M 2008, Strategic Management , Global Media, Mumbai, India. Kotrba, B 2011, ‘Yieldable Versus Priceable-What Does it Mean and Who Cares?’, Thought Leadership, pp. 1-16. Leeman, JJA 2010, Supply Chain Management: Fast, Flexible Supply Chains in Manufacturing and Retailing, Books on Demand, Dusseldorf. Meon, P-G Sekkat, K 2012, â⠂¬ËœFDI Waves, Waves of Neglect of Political Risk’, World Development, vol 40, no. 11, pp. 2194-2294. Meredeth, JR Mantel, SJ 2011, Project Management: A Managerial Approach, 8th edn, John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, NJ. Montgomery, CA Porter, ME 1991, Strategy: Seeking and Securing Competitive Advantage, Havard Business Press, Boston MA. OECD 2010, OECD Economic Surveys: Sloval Republic, OECD Publishing, Paris. Rodrick, D 2006, ‘Goodbye Washington Consensus, Hello Washington Confusion? A Review of the World Bank’s Economic Growth in the 1990s: Learning from a Decade of Reform’, Journal of Economic Literature, vol XLIV, pp. 973-987. The Economist 2011, The Chinese in Africa Trying to Pull Together: Africans are Asking Whether China is making their Lunch or Eating it, https://www.economist.com/briefing/2011/04/20/trying-to-pull-together. The Observer 2012, Sharks Circling Apple after Success Story Heads off the Map, https://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/ nov/11/sharks-circling-apple-after-maps-debacle. UNWTO 2011, ‘Tourism and Climate Change’, United Nations World Tourism Organization, Geneva. Wade, R 2009, ‘Is the Globalization Consensus Dead?’, Antipode, vol 41, no. 1, pp. 142-165. Walker, DM, Walker, TD Schmitz, JT 2003, Doing Business Internationally: The Guide to Cross-Cultural Success, McGraw-Hill Professional, New York, NY. WHO 2007, ‘Provider Payments and Cost-Containment Lessons from OECD Countries’, Technical Briefs for Policy Makers, vol 2, pp. 1-7. This essay on Changes in Volume and Distribution of FDI was written and submitted by user Giana Logan to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Street Gangstas essays

Street Gangstas essays Anotha sucka dead, L.A. Times front page. This is a quote from a well known rapper, Easy-E, of the grout NWA. He often claimed to be a gang member from the city of Compton. He had a history of being a drug dealer also. Easy-E and the rest of his group let the world know what a gang member does through lyrics similar to the example given. Proclaiming to be gang members, NWA painted a detailed picture of the street gang subculture lifestyle. Street gangs are a problem to many communities across the globe. Gang members, also known as street thugs, are infamous for the various crimes they commit; crimes that range from murder to petty theft. There are gangs that try to spread as far as possible and there are gangs that stay local in their local area. The gangs that try to extend their territorial control behave as a mafia would. Acts such as having international connections is one way they act like a mafia. The local gangs are a smaller group that is interested only in that area . Nevertheless, minute gangs and gangs with a vast amount of members share characteristics of their lifestyle. The attitudes of street gangs do not have much variance between each other. One feature that most members of a street gang try to impose is toughness. Many of them start off by getting jumped in the gang. This means that several members beat up the individual that wants to be in their gang. Members are usually in groups showing unity and strength. They try to show this to others, as a form of intimidation. Another characteristic that shows a street gangs mind-set is the recruiting of individuals within the same race. More times than not, gangs are racially motivated. They protect their territory from other gangs but may have a truce with a gang of the same race in order to only worry about gangsters of a different ethnicity. The outlook of not caring is the last trait seen in many gangs. They see nothing going well fo...

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The Benefits and Challenges of Obtaining a Masters at 50 - Essay Example According to an article published by the Quacquarelli Symonds (QC) Top Grad School entitled â€Å"Can you ever go back? Graduate study later in life†, there are eminent benefits of studying later in life, to wit: â€Å"older candidates tend to be more focused and less likely to succumb to the financial pressures of their younger counterparts. They can also draw on a range of professional and personal experiences often relevant to their graduate field of study† (QC, par. 3). The discourse likewise noted this group of students are more motivated, are highly confident and able to share relevant applications of the course to younger counterparts. On the other hand, the challenges are seen in terms of time management and prioritizing work, social and family life and the academic requirements of graduate studies. Whatever the reasons are for older students to pursue masters at 50, or even at later ages, the contemporary stance of most graduate schools globally encourage older applicants due to their maturity and professionalism that would enhance learning in the programs they delve into. As for me, I am definitely pursuing my master’s degree in Nursing at 50 due to the genuine desire to learn something new from this field of endeavor, and to eagerly share what I have experienced in return, from my career for the past 30 years.

Confrontation between the Germanic people and Romans Essay

Confrontation between the Germanic people and Romans - Essay Example To Germanic tribe, religion played an important role in the creation of alliances between tribes with other groups, and still it was the basis of the invasions. Following this, this paper seeks to evaluate how it would pay greater attention to the religious conflicts between the Germanic people and Romans. The confrontation between the Germanic people and Romans, and the religion clash led to the downfall of the Roman Empire and the commencement of German culture throughout Europe. In this case, it is hard to gain precise information about these tribes with their activities because they lacked written language thus; there was no account of events and people. With this in mind, Historians should regard the need of second-hand accounts of the Romans, who narrate stories through their own perceptive. Throughout history, Gordeeva (1) outline how Germans have retained the fundamental aspects of their religious culture and how they have absorbed essential elements of their race. Religion i s a crucial aspect of the German culture, which makes the country unique with its unique identity. With this in mind, religion is treated with reverence and openness. The German laws offer people freedom to choose their religion and faith. Christianity has been the prominent religion with over 55 million followers. However, half of the population are Protestants and Roman Catholic. For many years, religion has been paramount and amazingly, the liberal viewpoint of the nation has been commendable. Roman Catholicism is among the two important religions in German, and its origin can be traced in the 8th Century of Saint Boniface’s missionary work. After one century, Roman Catholicism made a difference in making more converts and spreading the gospel effectively. In 1517, Martin Luther transformed the world and European history when he formed the second faith in German â€Å"Protestantism†. This brought a lot of differences in beliefs and culture between the Protestants an d Romans, and these differences played a significant role in the World war. The legacy of the protestant reformation and conflict brought by religious differences brought â€Å"Confrontation between the Germanic people and Romans†. Still, the Germanic migration brought struggles and strife between Roman and Germanic. There were a lot of wars between the two tribes brought by differences in religion. Still, there was a concern in the year 496 of the baptizing of king of the Franks with his loyal followers. As a result, this conversion brought a great significance of Clovis, which expanded into southern and central parts of France. Mostly, the perception of migrations centres on confrontation between the Germanic people and Romans. Prior to the World War 11, a third of the German population was Roman Catholic and two-thirds the Protestants. In this case, Bavaria was among the Roman Catholic follower. Roman Catholics were populated in Saarland, Baden-Wurttemberg, and Rhineland. However, Protestants were the majority in the Northeast and North of Germany. During Hitler leadership, established churches could not air their challenges to the State. Hitler only respected the organization and power of the â€Å"Roman Catholic Church†. In late 1933, the opposition group under the ruling of Lutheran Martin and Dietrich Bonheoffer established a confessing church. Following this, Lutheran Church members were arrested and some executed such as Bonheoffer during the end of the World War 11. As a

Business Law and Social Responsibility Research Paper

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Effects of Diet and Exercise on the Human Body

Effects of Diet and Exercise on the Human Body How to Maintain a Healthy Body How do we maintain a healthy body? To look at this we need to first decide what health means. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has defined health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.1 If this is the case then having a healthy diet may not mean that we have a healthy body. We also need to take into account that how we look at health has changed dramatically over the years. For example in the 17th Century the major factor of health was things like the bubonic plague due to fleas on rats. Today we have to worry about things like obesity and swine flu. I am going to look at numerous factors which contribute to a healthy body. I am going to look at diet, exercise and social factors, all of which I believe can contribute to maintaining a healthy body. Firstly I am going to look at the effects diet has on our body. For humans to survive we need food, however, we need certain types of food and we need to eat a balanced diet to have a healthy body. The foods we should be consuming to have a healthy balanced diet are; proteins, fats and oils, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, fibre and water. We need each of these food groups for a certain reason. For example we need protein to help our body repair itself, we need carbohydrates as these are broken down into simple sugars like glucose which is the primary source of energy for the brain, and we need iron to form red blood cells which carry oxygen round the body. If we eat less or more of these than we require this may cause problems for our body making us unhealthy. It is typically known that a diet high in fruit and vegetables is good for our body, however it is not widely known that if we have a diet lacking in these that it can be very damaging to our body. The WHO estimates that 2. 7 million deaths are attributed to a diet low in fruit and vegetables every year2. If we have an unhealthy diet this can cause a number of chronic diseases including: high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and cancer2. Each of these diseases can affect a persons quality of life and also can reduce a persons life expectancy. If we have an unhealthy diet this can cause many problems both for now and in the future, for example, if we eat too much sugar this can give us tooth decay which means we have an unhealthy mouth, and if we have too much salt then over time this can build up and cause us to have high blood pressure which can be potentially fatal. The WHO classes anyone that is 30% or more overweight to be obese. If we are obese then this can greatly lower our life expectancy and also our quality of life. If someone is overweight they do not have a healthy body and our likely also to not have a healthy mind. I now want to look at how exercise can help us to maintain a healthy body. There are many benefits of exercise both for our bodies and our mental health. The benefits of exercise on our bodies include; preventing heart disease, can reduce high blood pressure and can prevent diabetes. The benefits of exercise for our mental health include; helping to relieve stress, helping to reduce the symptoms of depression and helping to relieve sleeping problems. If someone is stressed or has had a bad day which has affected their mood then going out for a walk can be very beneficial to them. It has been proven that any aerobic exercise releases a mood altering substance called endorphins. Endorphins have been proven to improve our mood and also reduce levels of stress3. Now I am going to look at how social factors can affect whether or not we have a healthy body. Social factors include; our social status, area we live, and outside influences. Social factors can play a large role in how we maintain our bodies. In todays society it can be quite expensive to live healthy, the price of fresh and healthy foods are often more expensive than cheap processed foods. If someone doesnt have a lot of money and doesnt earn a lot then they are more likely to go for the cheaper version which is what they can afford. This then affects their health as processed foods tend to have more of the things that are bad for us in them. Also if someone is classed as poor they are more likely to live in an area where there is more pollution and less focus on health. This may have a huge impact on whether they have a healthy body or not. In conclusion having a healthy body can not be accomplished by merely eating healthy. There are many factors to consider when we are trying to maintain a healthy body. If we want to be healthy then we must take into account what health means; a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.1 Therefore we must have a healthy diet, exercise and make sure that we take care of our mental health. In todays society it is harder than ever to maintain a healthy body with all the outside influences like drugs and alcohol. However if we want to be healthy then we must at least try to lead a healthy lifestyle and take care of our bodies and minds as we only have one. References Given, P. and Reiss, M. Human Biology and Health Studies, 2nd Edition, (2002), Nelson Thornes LTD, Cheltenham, UK, ISBN 0-17-490060-0 World Health Organisation (WHO), Diet and physical activity: a public health priority, http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/en/ Donnellan, C. (ed) How fit are we? Issues, (2000), Independence Publishers, Cambridge, UK, ISBN 1-86168-120-8 Encyclopedia, Endorphins facts and information, http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/endorphins.aspx Medical News Today, What is health? What does good health mean?, http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/150999.php

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Cinematic Techniques in Nabokov's Laughter in the Dark    Vladimir Nabokov's Laughter in the Dark takes the movies for its style as well as its subject matter. In recounting the farcical tragedy of director Albinus and starlet Margot, Nabokov imports a wide variety of techniques and imagery from the cinema into the novel. But Nabokov's "cinematic" style is not analagous to that of a screenplay: the polished prose is always tinged with the novelist's trademark irony. Gavriel Moses notes that    Nabokov's most consistent reaction to popular films in their public context is his awareness that the film image... is overwhelming in its insistent claim to presence and, as a consequence, to truth. But in formula films perceived uncritically or absorbed inertly, film tends to displace... what is really important in life and to impose its own schematic simplifications upon life's teaming and idiosyncratic details. (62)    Virtually all the characters in Laughter in the Dark take their understandings of life from the film industry. Their ideas and impressions, therefore, tend to be rather banal, predictable, and superficial. Nabokov's people never surprise the reader, never think unusual thoughts, never reveal unexpected depths. In contrast to the complex psyches found in Tolstoy and Chekhov, for instance, Albinus, Rex, and Margot are cartoons, with speech balloons floating above their heads. Indeed, even their thought processes resemble the interior monologues of characters in Hollywood films. So, for example, when Nabokov transcribes Albinus's silent thoughts, he employs a standard voice-over template:    Albinus, his queer emotions riding him, thought: "What the devil do I care for this fellow... ...chcock: Fifty Years of His Motion Pictures. New York: An Anchor Book, Doubleday, 1992. Originally published by Hopkinson and Blake in 1976.    Works Consulted Nabokov, Vladimir. Lolita. New York: Vintage Books, A Division of Random House, Inc., 1999. First published 1955. Raguet-Bouvart, Christine. "Camera Obscura and Laughter in the Dark, or, The Confusion of Texts." Translated from the French by Jeff Edmunds. Seifrid, Thomas. "Nabokov's Poetics of Vision, or, What Anna Karenina is Doing in Kameraobskura." Copyright 1996 Board of Trustees of Davidson College. Originally published in Nabokov's Studies #3 (1996). http://www.libraries.psu.edu/iasweb/nabokov/seifrid1.htm Simon, John. "Vladimir Nabokov: The Russian Years." From The New Criterion Vol.9, No.6, February 1991. http://www.newcriterion.com/archive/09/feb91/nabokov.htm   

Psycholinguistic: Linguistics and Language Essay

This study seeks to determine the relevance of the behavioristic and cognitive approaches for Saudi learners’ acquisition of English as a foreign language (EFL). A special attention is given to learners in EFL programs at the University level. It also assesses the effectiveness of these approaches on student in translation program as well. One contention is that while behaviorist-inspired structuralist methodologies are best applicable at the beginning levels, transformationalist/cognitivist approach contributes tried methodologies to enhance the learners’ written and spoken skills in advanced stages. Advances in translation can be achieved through a study of the process of translation with an emphasis on a deductive rather than an inductive approach. INTRODUCTION Foreign language teachers have long been perplexed by a continuum of abundant psycho-linguistic theories. One approach is the traditional method to second/foreign language teaching and learning. This embodied the grammar translation method which developed at the end of the eighteenth century in Germany and spread throughout Europe (Howat, 1984). The second approach is the direct method that developed in the late nineteenth century as a reaction against the grammar-translation method (R. Carter, 1993). Prior to the time of Chomsky, â€Å"little was known about the process of second language acquisition, and thus (traditional approaches) were grounded in the linguistic, psychological, and pedagogical theories of their day. †(1) The author has conducted literature search through Educational Resources Index (Eric) was well as Languages Association (MLA) and Psychological. Abstracts (Psyclit). It has been noticed that some work, mostly dissertation, have dealt with the Saudi acquisition of specific linguistic features of L2, such as Morpheme acquisition Order (Al-Afaleg, 1991), Temporal Conjunctions (Noor, 1991), English Derivational Morphology (Al-Qadi 1992) Tense and Aspect (Farraj, 1995) and Second Language Relative Clauses (Maghrabi, 1997), and Studies on the psycho-linguistic theories of language acquisition, specifically in relation to the Saudi learner of English do not seem to exist. There are four major theories of language acquisition and language learning which many psycholinguists and applied linguistics are familiar with:Behaviorism, neo-behaviorism, cognitivism, and humanism. The purpose of this article is to examine two of these theories: Behaviorism (which is related to structuralism) and cognitivism (which is related to transformationalism) and then show the extent to which these two theories relate to language learning and particularly to Saudi learners enrolled in EFL and translation programs in King Saud University. STRUCTURAL (BEHAVIORISTIC) VIEW: The psychological theory behind behaviorist linguistics was founded by J. B. Watson (1942). (2) The extreme behavioristic stand-point is characterized by B. F. Skinner’s well-known study, Verbal Behavior (1957) which presents a theory of language learning even more firmly planted in the court of Pavlovian animal behavior than the language theories of the Russian behaviorist school which was itself greatly influenced by the work of Pavlov. The work that could be regarded as the basic doctrine of the structural school of linguistic theory was Leonard Bloomfield’s Language (1933). In this work, Bloomfield argued that the study of language could be pursued without reference to psychological doctrines and he took a firmly behavioristic line aimed at scientific objectivity. Bloomfield did not deny the role of meaning in language, but he objected to its importance in the study of language at a time when human knowledge of the vast range of semantic association attached to every linguistic form was so very little. Moreover, he viewed semantics as a subordinate element to the primary stimulus response relationship of verbal behavior. To Bloomfieldians†¦ â€Å"language is nothing but a habit that the child comes to learn by imitation. In their account of language acquisition, the child is exposed to linguistic data which he/she internalizes and then reproduces at a later stage. Language is thus learned from outside, we learn it in the same way that we learn other habits. Learning a language is not very much different from the laboratory mouse learning to expect to be fed each time someone rings a bell. †(3) They believe that, â€Å"a scientific theory must reject all data that are not directly observable or physically measurable. †(4). To the behaviorists, habit formation is brought about through repetition, mimicry, and memorization. Thus no clear distinction seems to be made between learning the first language and the target language. To them linguistic habits, generalization and associations have to be repeated using different data. Skinner (1957) based his whole theory of language acquisition and speech realization on the recognizable external forms of what Chomsky terms â€Å"input and â€Å"output† and makes no allowance for any internal process of the organism. Stimulus and reinforcement (or reward) from the input and the â€Å"verbal operant† (or response) forms the output. The structuralists, whose views are related to behavioral psychology, see language as a finite list of ordered elements to which one can attach labels. They undertake a systematic analysis of structure. The teacher depends on such structural description as the distribution and combination of elements into a chain of speech. It is based on the process of substitution, the replacement of one unit by another unit of the same grammatical class. They follow a taxonomic approach in teaching. Their view is characterized by the insistence that language is learnt by the strength of habitual association and by the context generalization (i. e. general association). It is more of an inductive rather than a deductive system. The Swiss scholar Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913), who is an associationist, believes that â€Å"all language items are essentially interlinked. †(5) He argues that â€Å"language was like a game of chess, a system in which each item is defined by its relationship to all the others†¦language is a carefully built structure of interwoven elements. †(6) TRANSFORMATIONAL (COGNITIVE) VIEW: The transformational (cognitive) theories, represented by Noam Chomsky have been acknowledged by linguists as a revolutionary contribution to linguistics, though Chomsky himself related his views to those of Hambolt and to rationalist philosophers of the Seventeenth Century such as Descartes. The school of thinking, which has developed around Chomsky’s ideas, has been variously termed â€Å"Cognitive†, â€Å"mentalist†, â€Å"generative† and â€Å"transformationalist. †His Transformational Analysis (1955), Syntactic Structures (1957), Aspects of the Theory of Syntax (1965), and Language and Mind (1968) are regarded as particular pioneer works of the new approach. The cognitivists reject the views of the behaviorists. They believe that â€Å"everybody learns a language, not because they are subjected to a similar conditioning process, but because they possess an inborn capacity which permits them to acquire a language as a normal maturational process. This capacity is by definition universal†¦the nature of language is such that it is impossible to explain it without postulating an innate mechanism of a fairly well-defined kind. †(7) They look for a universal grammar that contains universals relating to the deep-seated regularities characterizing all languages. For instance, subject and predicate, negative and adjectival forms are present in all languages because they are a universal feature, whereas the structuring and arrangement of these features belong to individual languages. The deep structure rules are limited by the grammar of each particular language. Universal grammar, according to Chomsky is â€Å"†¦a theory of the â€Å"initial state† of the language faculty, prior to any linguistic experience. †(8) To the cognitivist, children are born with an innate capacity for language development. The human brain is â€Å"ready† for language, in the sense that when children are exposed to speech, certain general principles for discovering or structuring language automatically begin to operate. These principles constitute, what Chomsky terms, a child language acquisition device (LAD). â€Å"A child uses its LAD to make sense of utterances heard around it, derived from his â€Å"primary linguistic data† hypotheses about the grammar of the language-what the sentences are, and how they are constructed. This knowledge is then used to produce sentences that, after a process of trial and error, correspond to those in adult speech: the child has learned a set of generalizations of rules, governing the way in which sentences are formed. †(9) Chomsky emphasizes the linguistic ‘creativity’, that is â€Å".. the ability of human beings to produce and comprehend an infinite number of novel sentences. †(10) Basic to this reason, Comsky believes that â€Å"Bloomfieldian linguistics was too ambitious in that it was unrealistic to expect to be able to lay down foolproof rules for extracting a perfect description of a language from a mass of data. It was too limited because it concentrated on describing sets of utterances which happened to have been spoken. †(11) Whilst the structuralist lays emphasis on the surface structure (patterns†¦etc.), the transformationalist lays emphasis on the processes of the deep structure; the stress is on learning to learn the development of a strategy of learning rather than the accumulation of information and rules. The structuralist tends to overemphasize the surface forms and the development of rules and to neglect the meaning. Unlike the behaviorists who believe that if there is a response there must be stimulus, the transformationalists (cognitivists) argue that language acquisition is autogenic and that the environment serves merely to trigger off a maturation process. Language comes primarily though the maturation that the environment triggers off and not through the environment itself. Erric Lenneberg, who is a cognitivist, also suggests that training is not necessary and that maturation is enough. His critical period hypothesis (1967) holds that â€Å"language acquisition must occur before the onset of puberty in order for language to develop fully. †(12) DISCUSSION Based on the contradictory views of the two schools, a brief discussion of how these views may relate to second language learning and teaching will be presented. This will be followed by a presentation (explanation) of the extent to which these views can apply to the case of the Saudi learner of English at the university level. From the preceding background, structuralism (behaviorism) seems to attribute the function of language to instruction and experience. A process of habit formation is brought about through repetition, mimicry, and memorization. There is a little difference between learning a first language and a target language. Linguistic habits, generalizations, and associations have to be repeated using different data. Cognitivism, on the other hand proposes that the processes of second language acquisition are not identical to those of the first language acquisition although there are similarities. One of the similarities could be that L2 may need to be learned at the same time as L1. Nevertheless, considering the question of universal and maturation, since acquisition of an L2 requires conscious control of learning and this cannot be handled at an early stage, transformationlists (cognitivists) hold that consciously controlled learning should be left to a much later stage, though there is no conclusive evidence to support this view. At this stage of analysis, it can be argued that, first, innate factors are less important for L2 learning than social factors of environment, motivation, and reinforcement. Second, a transformational system can perhaps operate with native speakers of a language, but although it is too complicated and may be confusing to be applied in second language/foreign language teaching, certain aspects may be useful. For instance, identification of kernel sentences which are similar in different languages, could be economical. Transformation could work from the comparison of these kernel sentences. Third, due to abstract characteristics of some of the cognitive views, the structural acquisition technique is probably more practical for formal learning in the first stages of the second language, and the cognitive technique may assume greater importance in the more advanced stages. Fourth, while some credence should be given to Chomsky’s language acquisition device (LAD), which explains why children invent new terms that mean nothing to adults, its limitations become real when dealing with adults learning a second language. That is when linguistic interference causes serious obstacles to second/foreign language learners. In such situation LAD will not be useful. Fifth, a structuralist method closely linked to Skinners’ stimulus-response-reinforcement theory of verbal behavior is the audiolingual approach which advocates the formation of the speech habits. Its feasible use can be realized through J. B. Carrol’s (1966) following basic terms such as: a) Speech is primary, writing secondary, so the habits that are formed in language must be speech habits. b) Automatic response is best achieved by constant repetition. c) Automatic response is best achieved by constant repetition. Offshoots of this theory are the language laboratory, structural drill, imitation, and memorization techniques. (13) Finally, cognitive theory advocates the development in the student of a conscious control of the psychological, grammatical, and lexical patterns of a given second language. This can be achieved through study and analysis of these patterns so that facility in using language stems from the teacher’s understanding of its structure. The structural approach (as it employs behavioristic means) has remained useful in the teaching of English as a foreign language, most importantly to help the learner acquire good language basis. For Saudi EFL learners, the use of drills at the phonetic level is of great help especially when dealing with segmental items that cause either interlingual or intralingual errors. A Saudi learner not only fail to produce the voiceless stop /p/ and the voiced fricative /v/ but tends to replace them with his L1 segments /b/ and /f/ respectively. Similarly, the velar nasal / / as a phoneme occurring at the final position of a word like â€Å"sing†, â€Å"long† which causes some difficulties for the Saudi EFL learner where he replaces it with the sequence of the two phonetic segments /n/ and /g/, and the alveo-palatal affricate /c/, occurring in words like â€Å"children† and â€Å"speech† where, instead, he transfers his Arabic alveo-palatal fricative /s/. Emphasis on drills will also enable the learner to reduce a possible interference of the Arabic syllable structure CVCV into the English structure. Since some Saudis tend to pronounce English words like â€Å"against† as *againist†, and â€Å"first† as *firist†. Structural (behavioristic) teacher can help in solving other problematic linguistic features such as agreement and word order which Saudi EFL learner encounter. Thus, patterns and exercises are needed to reduce erroneous forms such as *†He play, they buyed, talls buildings, and hypercorrections such as: * â€Å"He cans, and She musts†. The transformational cognitive orientation can be effective in the advanced stages of a foreign language acquisition. Thus, for Saudi students at the university higher levels, where advanced courses on linguistics and translation are offered, it is logical to assume that structural drills, repetitions, and memorization techniques will no longer be essential. At this level of advancement in the intimate knowledge of language and culture we may conceive a minimal level of interference from the native tongue (Arabic) of the learners. Yet, such aspects of the target language as deep structure and transformational rules will enable the Saudi learner to understand some of the idiosyncratic forms and ambiguous sentences. Transformational rules will reinforce the learner’s awareness of the syntactic and the semantic relations between various English linguistic patterns. Through these linguistic relations, learners can make inferences and develop some generalizations about the structure of English language. Communication strategies, conversation, and creative essay writing using cultural content will be more beneficial at these levels. With regard to the translation program, the analysis of source language texts that translators have to translate and the analysis of texts they have to create, a process of linking aspects from cognitivism with that of behaviorism should be observed. Negotiating the meaning of the source language text is not just a sociolinguistic matter; it is psycholinguistic as well. Saudi trainees in our translation program happened to have rendered the meaning of â€Å"They are into the habit of splitting straws† based on knowledge acquired through some behavioristic approach and produced a literal erroneous translation outcome. This means that there is always much room for the smaller scale experimentation on the factors affecting the text conversion process. The transformation of a text originally in one language into an equivalent text in a different language demands that the content of the message and the formal features and functional roles of the original text should be retained. In this regard the Saudi trainees translated the verb â€Å"laid† in â€Å"They laid him open to blackmail† without any reference to a likely secondary meaning that the verb â€Å"lay† might imply. This approach supports the belief that much of our experience of the external world of the senses and of the inner world of the mind is mediated by language and by the concepts stored in our memories. These factors refer to entities via the convention of language and do so variably depending on the medium of communication (language used). It is the process that creates the translation outcome and it is only by understanding that process that we can hope to help our Saudi trainees to improve their linguistic skills. Having said that, it is difficult to see how translation theories can move beyond the subjective and the normative evaluation of texts without drawing heavily on aspects from both behaviorism an cognitivism. Translation theories have made little systematic use of the techniques and insights of contemporary linguistics. With this fact in mind, Saudi translation trainees should be trained within a framework that combines features from all branches of cognitivism and behaviorism. This entails developing in the  trainees’ performance and competence a familiarity with and a competence in the use of the psychological and psycholinguistic models of memory and information processing on the one hand, and linguistic models of meaning, including meaning beyond the sentence on the other. Logic of the examples provided above asserts the validity of some aspects of the two psycholinguistic views. Cognitive approach may operate with some specific semantic and pragmatic aspects of L2 by means of exploring features as cohesion, conceptual and connotative meanings, speech acts and kinetics. Such features should, at this stage, receive due consideration. CONCLUSION From the above analysis proceeds that with regard to language acquisition, behavioristic theory can provide much useful information concerning verbal responses and reinforcement. But it is inadequate to account for innate and cognitive features. Transformational theory, on the other hand, provides much useful information on the basic nature of the organism and its internal processes, but makes little or no account of stimulus-response-reinforcement relationships. Unlike the cognitive approach, behavioral approach tends to manipulate the language and disregard the content. Despite the pedagogic significance of both theories, it seems that none of their approaches is complete in itself. For one reason, the nature of the Arabic language has significantly different phonetic and grammatical structure from that of the English language. Due to this difference and as advocated by Smith (1987) there are â€Å"†¦ far fewer areas of facilitation, and far greater areas of interference†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (14) The situation of the Saudi EFL learners at the university level requires an eclectic approach with combined aspects derived from the approaches stated earlier. This approach can guarantee more effective outcome at the pedagogical level. I believe the attitude, the age, and the aptitude of the learners are three factors that should be considered in second language acquisition. A combination of innate propensities and objective necessity create the most favorable attitude. All these factors, including the teaching strategies, stand for fundamental variables in learning a foreign language. Relationship between communicative exchanges and syntactic forms alert the translator to the mechanisms that link the highly abstract and universal proposition with the totally physical and context-dependent utterance or text. REFERENCES (1) Pica, T. P. Communicative Language Teaching: â€Å"An aid to second language acquisition? Some insights from classroom research. † English Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 2, 1988. , (p. 70) (2) Malmkjaer K. (Ed. ) The Linguistics Encyclopedia, Routledge, Longon, 1991. , (p. 53) (3) Kebbe, Z. M. , Lectures in general Linguistics, An Introductory Course, Arabic Academic Press, Aleppo, 1995. , (p. 14) (4) Op. cit,(P. 53) (5) Aitchison, J. , Linguistics, Hodder Headline, London, 1992. , (p. 24) (6) Ibid. (p. 24) (7) Wilkins, D. A. , Linguistics in Language Teaching, Edward Arnold, London, 1974. , (p. 168-169) (8) Slakie, R. , The Chomsky Update, Linguistics and Politics, Unwin Hyman, Ltd, London 1990. , (p. 19) (9) Crystal,. D. , The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Linguistics, Cambridge University Press 1987. (p. 234) (10) Op. cit. (p. 26) (11) Ibid. , (p. 26) (12) Brown, H. D. and Gonzo, S. , Readings on Second Language Acquisition, Prentice Hall. , p. 77, 1995. (13) Carrol, J. B. , â€Å"The contribution of Psychological Theory and Educational Research to the Teaching of Foreign Language†, in Trends in Language Teaching, Ed. , Valdmen, 1966. (14) Swan, M. and Smith, B. (Ed.) Learner English, Ateacher’s guide to interference and other problems, Cambridge University Press, 1987. , (p. 147) (15) Bloomfield, L. 1933 Language. London: Allen & Unwin. (16) Chomsky, N. Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, 1965. (17) Chomsky, No. Syntactic Structures. The Hague: Mouton, 1957. Afaleg, O. â€Å"A Comparison of Morpheme Acquisition Order in Learners of English as a Foreign Language versus English as a Second Language: The Case of Adult Learners in Saudia. Diss. Indiana Univesity, Bloomington, 1991. (18) Qadi, N. S. , â€Å"Acquistion of English Derivational Morphology by Arab Speakers†, Diss. University of Georgia, Athens, 1991. (19) Farraj. , A. M. â€Å"Acquistion of Tense and Aspect in the English Based Inter-Language of Non-native Speakers†, Michigan State University, East Lansing, 1995. (20) Noor, Hashim, â€Å"The Acquisition of temporal Conjunctions by Saudi Arabian Learners of English’, International Journal of Applied Linguistics, Vol. 3, N. 1 (p. 101-2A), 1993. (21) Maghrabi, A. â€Å"The Roles of Psycholinguistic Constraints and Typological Influence in the Acquisition of Pronominal Copies in Relativization by Arabic and English Learners†, Thesis, Georgetown University, Washington, D. C. , 1997.

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buy custom Constitutional Law essay Federalism can be defined as when the national government and other government units share the power to govern a country. Federalism can be said to contradict the meaning of unitary government that holds the power centrally. Another type would be confederation which the states can be said to be clearly dominant. The United States habitants can be said to be under multiple jurisdictions, yet their constitutions focus on the relationship between the states and the government that can be said to be federal. The relationship of the federal government and the states can be said to have been an issue of debate over the years (Smith, 2004). The American constitution appeared to take longer than expected since all the states had to approve or ratify the constitution. There existed a huge debate and compromise that led to the delay. This debate would be said to have created two groups of people, the anti-federalists and the federalists (Sutton, 2002). They all had arguments they wanted to be considered before approving the debate in court. The main reason as to why the anti-federalists could not ratify the constitution would be because of the bill of rights. Amidst all other complains, the anti-federalists gave the most effective would be the lack of bill of rights. They would complain considering the government would dismiss the rights the American people had fought for in the past. The federalist, on the other hand, would answer all questions the anti-federalists asked especially about the bill of rights. They would prefer that no rights would be listed since they would be too many to choose from which ones to list. The federalists had won and by the year 1788, where they involved the drafting of the bill of rights. This led to the ratification of the constitution; hence the federalists would be said to have the best arguments since they drafted the bill of rights. The bill of rights has largely contributed to the rights of citizens being observed and respected (Belilia, 2011). The anti-federalists appeared to come to terms with the federalists after the drafting of the bill of rights. The rights of the citizens had been addressed, and they could come together as one nation. Buy custom Constitutional Law essay

Boston Massacre- Analysis of Accounts essays

Boston Massacre- Analysis of Accounts essays Little is known about the events of March fifth, 1770 at the front of the Boston Commons House. The end results and a few accounts give an overview of what occurred, but the details of this tragic day are uncertain. All that is confidently known is that a British sentry struck an offensive boy leading to a gathering of protesting Bostonians. The sentry called for reinforcements and the situation escalated to the point that a soldier fired a single shot, soon followed by the shots of his fellows. Five Bostonians died, six were wounded, and the officer and his soldiers got off with minor punishments. Though little is known for certain, through a study of the testimonies of Captain Preston and witnesses for the prosecution and defense, the events of the Boston Massacre can be reconstructed. Prestons testimony begins with the gathering mob, as that was when he arrived on the scene. He claims that the mob was taunting, threatening, and assaulting the soldiers with sticks and snowballs. He also claims that he did not give the order to fire, and reports that his soldiers heard the crowd yelling fire and mistook that as an order from him. All of this is corroborated in testimony for both the defense and prosecution. However, other portions of his testimony are not supported. He reports that the mob advanced to the points of the bayonets, and made a general attack upon the soldiers with clubs and snowballs. Though some of the prosecutions witnesss testimony is likely false, truths may be obtained as well. Hinkley, Wyatt, and Burdick all admit that snowballs and at least one stick were thrown at the soldiers from a distance before the first shot was fired, while only Fosdick denies it. Because of this it is reasonable to assume that Fosdick was either lying or in an unsuitable position to give accurate testimony. Hinkley, Cunningham, and Bliss all report that they did no...

Anythin to do with Microeconomics Research Proposal

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Business and Management Decision Making BZ Essay

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