Acquiring the Human Language-Playing the Language Game

1.What arguments in support of language as an innate ability are brought up in the film? This video is about a great mystery; how do children acquire language without seeming to learn it and how do they do so many things with so little life experience. 2.Explain the ambiguity of the question asked by Jill de Villiers to both children and graduate students: â€Å"When did the boy say he hurt himself?† Why is this question ambiguous and why is it interesting to note that this question is ambiguous? Question was â€Å"When did the boy say he hurt himself?† and there are 2 answers to this question. If focus on When said, the answer is â€Å"in the bathtub.† However when it focus on When fallen, the answer is â€Å"climbing the tree† And it is very interesting because they found that children will give only 1 answer when given unambiguous sentence â€Å"When did the boy say HOW he hurt himself†, â€Å"in the bathtub.† By this experiment, we can conclude that a child must have some kind of knowledge of syntactic structure because nobody had ever taught the child about this. 3.List some of the fundamental questions regarding language learning/language acquisition that are discussed in the film and explain how are linguists trying to answer these questions. (What questions do linguists ask and what kind of evidence do they look for to answer them?) The original theory on how languages are learned was it is learned by imitation. However, linguists found that child not only imitate adult but produces brand-new sentences. And the fundamental questions were raised, if we don’t learn by imitation, how do we learn? So linguists try to prove that acquiring language is different from learning other things by some experiments. 4.Mention some of the evidence in the film presented as evidence AGAINST the imitation theory of language learning. Child can produce brand-new sentence and they make errors. They can understand quite complex sentence in early age. 5.The film (Chomsky) claim that acquiring language is different from kinds of learning. What does he mean? It means we seem to learn language with different say from leaning other difficult things such as playing the trumpet and riding bicycle. It is not learned by practice, or by imitation. 6.What proof is there that analogy is not the explanation for first language learning? With the sentence â€Å"I painted the red barn†, we can substitute color word, and it is acceptable. If we switch the last two words, it is still acceptable. So by analogy, child will extend this to other verb â€Å"see† and create new sentence. â€Å"I saw a read barn.† And a concept of analogy doesn’t work for switching last two words, since I saw a bard red is broken sentence. And also, with sentence â€Å"Taro ate† it means he ate something but this something is not his shoes or hat. Another proof that analogy is not the explanation of first language learning is the verb â€Å"grow† can mean differently in the sentence such as â€Å"John grows tomatoes† and â€Å"John grows.† Analogy is wildly broken and cannot explain first language learning. 7.Observe the details of the experiment with the 16-month old babies who are shown Cookie Monster and Big Bird. Explain the experiment’s design, including the question posed by the researchers and the conclusions they reach regarding children’s acquisition of syntax based on the results of this study. The experiment design is showing two films simultaneously to babies. And asks to find the same scene with the explanation, Cookie monster washing Big Bird and Big Bird feeding Cookie Monster. The questions behind the study was will the child look more at the screen that matches the language that they are hearing. And the result surprisingly show that they understand the order of the information. 8.An extended section of the film discusses how children learn new words. Explain the point(s) illustrated by the following examples: -The child who calls his own dog â€Å"Nunu†, then applies the word Nunu to several other things (another dog, cow, slippers, salad) : Overgeneralization – â€Å"The Gavagai Problem† (the big rabbit on a billboard) : Assumption – Child labeling an item a flimmick, a closed flimmick and a spud : Child expects object labels to refer to the whole object – Children discussing the meaning of the word â€Å"alive† and the one child deciding that a car must be â€Å"alive† A child picks out a category that is relevantly alike 9. The film moves to Papua New Guinea (home of 750 languages spoken by 3,000,000 people) and discusses language universals and then Universal Grammar. -What aspects of language are candidates for language universals? Subject, Object, Verb – What are examples are presented in the film as evidence of Universal Grammar? There are certain kinds of mistake that children never seem to make. (ex. What did you eat your egg and?) 10. Explain what Chomsky means when he says that â€Å"all children are pre-programmed in advance of experience; they know fixed, invariant structural principles of language†. Capacity to learn language is deeply engraved in the mind and children are not taught language, they just do it.

Walmart and Employee Job satisfaction Research Paper

Walmart and Employee Job satisfaction - Research Paper Example Therefore, it has become a challenge for the human resource department and the management to make sure that the employees of the organization are motivated so that they are able to produce good results for the organization. This paper is about Wal-Mart which employs more than 2,000,000 employees all over America. The organization is facing employee has been facing employee dissatisfaction and low morale among its employee in several states in which it has its retail outlets. Employees are not happy with Wal-Mart because they say that it does not treat its employees. Workplace morale is essential for productive performance which is crucial for a company to succeed, but pitiable management results in unconstructive attitudes and performance at work (Sherman & Chappell, 1998). Low Morale Employees are frequently absent and do not like to come to work because they suffer from low morale because they feel that Wal-Mart is not appreciative of their hard work and their intense efforts at th e workplace. This absenteeism has caused undue pressure on other employees who have to do the work of two or three persons without any tangible benefits. Wal-Mart employees are not properly trained or empowered to handle the extra work and pressure which has caused low morale in most retail outlets (Latimer, Hempson, & Kendrick, 2011). Low morale of employees at Wal-Mart has caused employees to squabble and fight among themselves. Moreover, management of the Wal-Mart has not been successful in addressing this problem because they too lack the training to implement fair dispute resolutions. Despite Wal-Mart’s claim of 86% employee satisfaction, the attitude, body language and work performance of the employees do not substantiate this claim (Niesing, 2008). Low Wages Although Wal-Mart is one of the largest retailer’s in the world, its employees are among the lowest anywhere in America. Because of very low salaries and benefits Wal-Mart employees occasionally organize foo d drives for themselves as their extremely low wages create great hardships, and they are unable to meet expenses. Naturally when employees cannot make ends meet and are under constant financial pressure, then morale takes a nosedive. Morale had been quite low at Wal-Mart since the 1970’s when prices of all essential items registered a very sharp rise (Feenstra, 1998). Because of the low wages at Wal-Mart, the employees are forced to get government assistance in the form of food stamps and other subsidies. The wages paid by the corporation are not enough for even a single person to support himself, so it is not possible that a typical Wal-Mart employee could support a family without government assistance (Goetz & Swaminathan, 2006). Forbidden to form Unions Forming of Unions is explicitly forbidden for the employees for collective negotiations of their demands. Wal-Mart has issued statements that 86% of its employees are quite satisfied and happy with their jobs. If this is a fact, then Wal-Mart should allow the formation of unions without aggressive management interference. . When seeking employment at any retail outlet, the applicants are well aware of the fact that even discussion about unionization can get them instantly terminated. Despite this, with all the criticism that people have about the organization, it is an established fact that for any Wal Mart store that

Is terrorism a threat to international order Essay

Is terrorism a threat to international order - Essay Example However, even after the most significant and iconic terrorist strikes known to us i.e. the 9/11 attacks, the world order and the existing international relations have not changed significantly. In fact, if anything, the international order and the relationships between various countries (particularly western allies) have been more strongly defined since the attacks. Again, this definition may not remain true in the long term since international order is not solely dependent upon one evil character being the terrorist and one heroic country saving the world. The image of a country being good or bad is nearly always dependant on the perception of the people and it is irresponsible of the media or the government to present a very biased viewpoint since perceptions can be difficult to change overnight. Coady (2005) says: â€Å"There are very bad policies and very bad political leaders, but realism dictates that we recognize the presence of evil wherever and whenever it occurs. It also dictates that we take cognizance of the fact that the monsters of today were our allies of yesterday and may be our allies of tomorrow, and that our own shining virtue often appears in a different light to others. (Coady, pg. 16, 2005)† Of course the countries and individuals who are labelled as being terrorists by others quite simply reject it and take themselves as freedom fighters, separatists, even revolutionaries. Similarly, the titles given to terrorists range from evil to inhuman and responsible members of the international community are asked to shun them and force the surrender of terrorist group members since they are a threat to international order (Baylis, 2002). Undoubtedly there are several issues surrounding the debate and the first is the justification for terrorism. Martin & Martin (2003) report that it was St. Augustine who first gave the two

The effects of interest rate volatilities on the demand of Turkish Essay

The effects of interest rate volatilities on the demand of Turkish money - Essay Example This study aims to look at, particularly the possessions of interest rate volatilities in case of Turkey along with customary factors influencing the demand for money. Because the raise in interest rate volatility is probable to lead structural variations in the formation of behavioral dealings which defines economic sector. It will also really influence the demand for cash. Other than, it must be strained here that the nominal interest rate contains two parts: Expected rate of inflation and an expected real rate of return. Interest rate volatility is a very important factor in determining a healthy monetary policy for the economy. It is important to identify the factors that create the demand for money. The period of 1990s saw the banking sector in Turkey highly dominated by public banks, which were inefficient in its activities. The Turkish bank sector had a large number of serious discrepancies and deficiencies such as large risks in foreign currency, interest rates and liquidity in the banking sector. During the decided investigation period of 1990-2000s, the increase in GDP was only 2.5 per cent in Turkey. The banking sector in Turkey was deficient of good governance and the economic environment in which the banks existed brought severe economic losses to the bank. â€Å"The credits-to-total assets ratio declined from 47 percent to 32.8 percent between 1990 and 2000†. There was also a decrease of around 50 – 80% in the credits to deposit ratio in the Turkish banks. The Turkish banking sector was regulated and supervised by the coordination and cooperation of two authorities, the treasury and the central bank of Turkey. â€Å"Turkish Bank Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority† (Turkish Bank n.d.). During this financial period, the Turkish banks financed public deficits due to very high real interest rates, which were charged by the banks. The high volatility in the interest rates also had its consequence on the demand of money in the Turkish economy. It is important to identify the determinant, which increases the demand for money in the economy in order to create and conduct a healthy monetary policy which suits the Turkish economy. The increase in interest rate volatility is accompanied by an effect in demand for money. Investigating the determinant of the demand for money is significant to make and conduct a healthy financial policy, which is directly connected to whole economy. For instance, a factor that raises the demand for cash may unfavorably affect financial performance by rising velocity of money and nominal income circulation. This study aims to look at, particularly the possessions of interest rate volatilities in case of Turkey along with customary factors influencing the demand for mo

Mentoring programs Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Mentoring programs - Research Paper Example This particular kind of social work intervention is followed with similar programs all over the world. Both individuals and organizations involved in monitoring are supported with such organizations as MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership and the National Mentoring Center. Furthermore, numerous corporations sponsor large-scale monitoring initiatives, which involve their employees. Mentoring programs are also supported by the government; in 2003 alone President George W. Bush donated half a billion dollars for two new mentoring initiatives (DuBois and Karcher, 2005). Recently, mentoring has been approved as a serious approach to rehabilitate criminal offenders and reduce rates of recidivism. Mentoring has appeared in several legislation documents, from the Reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of 1992 to the Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Block Grant of 2005-2006 (Walker, 2007). In the reauthorization of the original document, the Congress added a part G, in which mentoring was described as a useful tool for addressing juvenile delinquency. Since 1995, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has administered its own federal program, the Juvenile Mentoring Program (JUMP), designed to reduce juvenile delinquency, gang participation and school dropout rates. However, while the field of youth mentoring experiences enormous growth in terms of practice, it still lacks theoretical foundations and research, crucial for further growth and development (DuBois and Karcher, 2005). It was not until recent years that youth mentoring has gained interest from psychologists, sociologists, educators, human development specialists and social workers. While the multidisciplinary character of youth mentoring may be beneficial for the field's knowledge base, it also poses a significant challenge for both researchers and practitioners. Due to the disciplinary boundaries which limit researchers' regular exposure to their colleagues work, it may result difficult to identify opportunities for synergy within and across different areas for inquiry. Consequently, in many cases they can go undetected and unexplored (DuBois and Karcher, 2005). In terms of practice, the difficulty in acquiring "one-stop shopping" for definitive accounts and its implications may res ult in a compromised capacity for intervention and policy efforts to benefit from available theory and research.Given all these concerns, it is crucial for scholars to provide the fast-expanding and progressing practice of youth mentoring with both theoretical foundations and research base. Furthermore, in the light of a recent increase in juvenile violence and high recidivism rates, it is essential to design appropriate measures of prevention, treatment and control of crime (Cord, Widom and Crowell, 2001). The FBI data reveal that in 2001 juveniles comprised 17% of all arrests and 15% of those that involved violent crime. In many cases criminal activity in adolescence leads to such consequences in adult life as homelessness, substance abuse, and mental illness. Moreover, each juvenile offender that becomes a recidivist costs society approximately $1.7 to $ 2.3 million, not to mention great economic, medical, physical and psychological consequences for

Persian Gulf Wars of 1991 & 2003 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Persian Gulf Wars of 1991 & 2003 - Essay Example The invasion of Kuwait by Iraq was the first incident in history whereby two member nations of the United Nations were involved in an armed conflict (Carlisle and Bowman, 2003). This brutal takeover unfolded a series of tragic events that engulfed the two nations as well as the rest of the world and disrupted the peaceful world order. It divided the nations of the world into two groups, each trying to defend their respective allies in a desperate attempt to salvage the situation and uphold their political ideologies. Comparison between Gulf and Persian Wars of 1991 and 2003 The primary purpose of the first Gulf War (which took place in the year 1991) was to defend the sovereignty of a member nation (Kuwait) against the unwarranted invasion by Iraqi forces. The first war (of 1991) marked the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq while the second war marked the invasion of Iraq by a coalition of forces led by the United States, UK, Australia and Poland. The invasion of Kuwait was executed by the Iraqi armed forces at the behest of the then President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein. Such invasion would prove to be catastrophic for the rest of the world since Kuwait, similar to Iraq, was an oil-rich country and the invasion would greatly benefit Iraq, resulting in the country being in possession and control of over 40 per cent of the world’s oil reserves. This fact alarmed the rest of the world and under the leadership of United States along with its closest ally - UK many other countries including and as varied as France, Japan, and Pakistan formed a coalition of forces and supported Kuwait in defending its sovereignty (Finlan, 2008). The key objective of the first Gulf war was hence to prevent the tilting of balance of power in favor of the oil-rich Iraq by defending the political territory of Kuwait, and restore the world order. The second Persian Gulf War (of 2003) also known as the Iraq War, was Post the defeat of Iraq by the coalition forces and the subsequent cease fire which ended in 1991; Iraq was obligated to allow inspections of its military units and research facilities for suspected development, use and possession of weapons of mass destruction. The refusal of Iraqi dictator to submit to such demands triggered the 2003 War on Iraq which served as a basis for political unrest within and without the borders of the Arab world. There were several efforts to disarm Iraq of its nuclear weapons through diplomatic pressure. However the failure to do so compelled the United Nations to allow United States led forces to use military power to achieve the political objective (Sidlow and Henschen, 2008: 373). The Palestinian-Israeli Peace Process: An Evaluation The Palestinian-Israeli peace process also known as the Oslo peace process refers to the decade old diplomatic efforts to restore peace and end the animosity between the two warring nations. The fundamental bone of contention between Palestine and Israel was the refusal of the Arab world to acknowl edge the existence of the Jewish state. The need for peace process arose from the rebellious behavior of Palestinians under the Israeli occupation, and their reluctance to cooperate with the Israeli government. There was widespread unrest among the Palestinians against the Israelis which began from the boycott of Israeli goods by the Palestinians, and eventually increased in scope and magnitude to burning, lynching,

Intrusion detection systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Intrusion detection systems - Essay Example IDS is the short form for the Intrusion Detection Systems. These systems basically find out the manner in which unwanted signals towards the systems are manipulated. In fact there are a host of different kinds that come under the IDS heading. Moreover, coming to the point of these manipulations which occur in the first place, we discern that these are the usual attacks that are carried out by the hackers who are skilled and quite adept at their work and even at times, script kiddies do play these tricks whereby they make use of the automated scripts to achieve their objectives. IDS thus looks at the malicious data traffic that is taking place in computer networks as well as tries its best at finding out the spots where the firewall would not play its active part and thus seize the chance of finding the loopholes that might exist within a computer and indeed the whole of the network under question. Thus what is left unattended and undiscovered by the computer firewall is usually caugh t by the IDS which makes its functions look all the more imperative in the related scheme of computer networking and security issues that arise every now and then.Thus vulnerable services are saved from the attacks and applications are saved as a result of the precaution which has been applied.The components which make up the IDS include the sensors, a console and a central engine. They are briefly highlighted here. Sensors play their active part in the generation of events related with security issues.