The College Board: Connecting Students to College Success

Professional DeveloPment AP Spanish Language  ® Teaching Listening Comprehension Special Focus 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 1 8/15/08 2:59:34 PM The College Board: Connecting Students to College Success The College Board is a not-for-profit membership association whose mission is to connect students to college success and opportunity. Founded in 1900, the association is composed of more than 5,400 schools, colleges, universities, and other educational organizations.Each year, the College Board serves seven million students and their parents, 23,000 high schools, and 3,500 colleges through major programs and services in college admissions, guidance, assessment, financial aid, enrollment, and teaching and learning. Among its best-known programs are the SAT ®, the PSAT/NMSQT ®, and the Advanced Placement Program ® (AP ®). The College Board is committed to the principles of excellence and equity, and that commitment is embodied in all of its programs, services, activities, an d concerns.For further information, visit www. collegeboard. com. The College Board acknowledges all the third-party content that has been included in these materials and respects the intellectual property rights of others. If we have incorrectly attributed a source or overlooked a publisher, please contact us. Page 14, 16: â€Å"Lluvias en Costa Rica dejan 18 muertos† from Radio de las Naciones Unidas, October 19, 2007 (http://www. un. org/radio/es/detail/6528. html). Used by permission of the United Nations.  © 2008 The College Board.All rights reserved. College Board, Advanced Placement Program, AP, AP Central, AP Vertical Teams, connect to college success, and the acorn logo are registered trademarks of the College Board. PSAT/NMSQT is a registered trademark of the College Board and National Merit Scholarship Corporation. All other products and services may be trademarks of their respective owners. Visit the College Board on the Web: www. collegeboard. com. 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 2 8/15/08 2:59:35 PM Contents 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Brant Hadzima 2. Pre-AP ® Listening Comprehension Strategies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 ann mar 3. General Strategies for AP ® Spanish Listening Comprehension . . . . . . . . . 31 Brant Hadzima 4. Listening Strategies for Multiple-Choice Assessments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 maria redmon 5. Listening Strategies in Preparation to Speak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Daizha Heberling 6.Listening Strategies in Preparation to Write . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65 Jill Pellettieri 7. About the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83 8. About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83 iii 08- 1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 3 8/15/08 2:59:35 PM 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 4 8/15/08 2:59:35 PM Introduction Brant Hadzima Newfound Regional High School Bristol, New HampshireThe AP ® Spanish Language Examination is an assessment designed to determine a student’s overall level of fluency in Spanish. This summative language examination employs a variety of authentic assessments that require students to demonstrate competence and fluency in Spanish. Most recently, the examination has been revised to best assess authentic use of the language, and the spirit and intent of the new examination is based wholly upon assessing integrated language skills. The four essential skills required to communicate fluently in a language are reading, writing, speaking, and listening.These skills are interconnected, and therefore the AP Spanish Language Examination does not assess them separately. Virtually every aspect of the examination requires students to integrate all four of these ski lls in some form in order to perform a particular task. In preparing for the examination it is important that the teacher instruct, practice, and assess all of these four individual skills. Although ideally classes should be designed to integrate skills as much as possible, it is important to first ensure that all four skills are properly developed.One cannot simply assume that because a student can write fluently in a language, he or she can also speak it with the same level of competence. The skills may be intrinsically interrelated, but they certainly do not develop uniformly. In some instances it may be necessary to allocate more time and effort to master one specific area of competency than another. Therefore, the intent of this unit is to focus predominately on one of the four essential skills: listening comprehension. Instruction, practice, and assessments have been specifically designed to hone listening comprehension skills.This unit can be used as a full AP Spanish listeni ng comprehension unit, or components of the unit may be utilized for additional remediation in listening comprehension as needed. 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 1 8/15/08 2:59:35 PM s Pecial focus: Teaching Listening Comprehension The authors have made every effort to provide appropriate pedagogical research as well as practical suggestions for classroom strategies designed to develop listening comprehension skills. As the title states, this special focus unit is based upon integrating listening comprehension skills across the modes of communication.There are several modes of communication that are assessed in the AP Spanish Examination, and consequently the unit is separated into five sections to address these modes: †¢ Pre-AP ® Listening Comprehension Skills †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ GeneralStrategiesforAPSpanishListeningComprehension ListeningStrategiesforMultiple-ChoiceAssessments ListeningStrategiesinPreparationtoSpeak ListeningStrategiesinPreparationtoWrite Finall y, although listening comprehension prompts on the AP Spanish Language Examination will inevitably vary in style, format, and content, the authors have endeavored to address a variety of means in which listening comprehension can be assessed.It is the intent of the authors to provide not only research-based theory but also practical strategies that can be readily employed and also further adapted to address all styles of listening comprehension assessment. 2 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 2 8/15/08 2:59:35 PM Pre-AP ® Listening Comprehension Strategies ann mar Alamo Heights High School San Antonio, Texas The Challenge of AP ® Listening Comprehension Success on the AP Spanish Language Exam requires highly developed listening comprehension skills—skills that cannot be achieved in a one-year AP course.Success depends on vertical teaming—the coordinated work of all the teachers from the beginning levels through the AP course. To make the goals of equity and access to A P success a reality, we need to provide ALL students at every level the opportunity to develop strong listening skills. To start teaching with the end in mind, all teachers in the program must be familiar with the AP Exam, and in particular with the role listening comprehension plays on the test. Four separate parts of the test, totaling 60 percent of the score, rely to some extent upon the student’s ability to understand spoken Spanish.A description of those AP Spanish Language Exam tasks that include a listening component follows. Multiple-Choice Listening (20%) This section includes a series of short and long dialogues and narrations testing a student’s ability to comprehend the main idea, understand details, make inferences, make predictions, and infer social relationships. The test consists of 30 to 35 questions and lasts around 30–35 minutes. Formal Writing (Integrated Skills) (20%) One of the three sources students must incorporate in their formal essay i s an audio recording, which is played 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. ndd 3 8/15/08 2:59:35 PM s Pecial focus: Teaching Listening Comprehension only once. Students must take notes and refer to the source in their essay, synthesizing rather than merely summarizing. Informal Speaking – Simulated Conversation (10%) Students participate in a conversation, creating 5–6 responses of 20 seconds each to audio prompts. Students follow a functional script, reacting to the recorded stimulus. The task requires real-time processing for immediate response; the thread of the conversation may include unexpected twists requiring accurate listening comprehension and quick thinking.Formal Oral Presentation (Integrated Skills) (10%) One of the two sources for the formal oral presentation is an audio recording played only once. Students must take notes and refer to the source in the oral presentation, comparing rather than only summarizing. There are additional challenges. The listening passages include a broad variety of regional accents and cover a wide range of academic, social and cultural topics. The recordings may include background distractions such as music or ambient noise, and may have a rapid rate of delivery as is normal in radio news. Pre-AP StrategiesTo start preparing students for these challenges from the start, I have outlined 10 strategies that teachers of beginning and intermediate levels can use to build students’ listening skills starting at the beginning levels. The strategies, sample activities, sources, and rubrics proposed here are meant to contribute to the lively exchange of ideas and experiences among teachers. I encourage teachers to try these and other strategies and share your successes and difficulties via the AP Electronic DiscussionGroup,anddepartmentandprofessionalmeetings. Principles for Building Listening ComprehensionStrategy 1: Teach in Spanish and teach about the Spanish-speaking world. Strategy 2:Getthemostoutoftextbook liste ning materials. Strategy 3: Design listening activities that provide evidence of engagement, including note taking. Strategy 4: Use authentic materials, with scaffolding tasks. Strategy 5: Develop generic tasks for listening, and use them often. 4 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 4 8/15/08 2:59:35 PM Pre-AP ® Listening Comprehension Strategies Strategy 6: Vary the evaluation of listening tasks making it appropriate to the purpose of the task. Strategy 7: Develop your skill at finding appropriate listening materials on the web.Strategy 8:Getstudentsspeaking with native speakers early on, and use technology to share their conversations with classmates. Strategy 9: Teach and practice component skills like recognizing cognates, listening for gist, etc. Strategy 10: Create a culture of listening in your classroom and program. Strategy 1: Teach in Spanish, and teach about the Spanish speaking world. From Spanish I onward, use Spanish to teach. Teach and use the words and expressions neede d for classroom routines right from the start. Classroom instructions and interaction is authentic communication, and is comprehensible, because it is â€Å"here and now. Established routines help minimize the need for English explanations. Team with your whole department to educate administrators, counselors, and parents about your approach. Praise and grant occasional random rewards for attentive students who immediately follow instructions given in Spanish. The more students know about the countries, cities, regions, physical and human geography, history, art, conflicts, challenges, and traditions, the better equipped they will be to understand authentic listening passages produced in and for the cultures of the Spanish-speaking world.Throughout the program, we need to build students’ knowledge of the Spanish-speaking world. Assign students a country, and then periodically ask them to report to the class about that country, regarding the topic at hand. For instance, in a unit on the environment, students report on the park system, endangered species, or environmental challenges of â€Å"their† country. In a unit on careers, have them research and report on two or three large employers in the country, or an aspect of the economy of the country. In a unit on food, each student can provide details of the national cuisine.This type of reporting can begin at the earliest levels, with research in English, Spanish, or both. Strategy 2: Get the most out of the textbook listening materials. Use the listening activities in your textbook, then reuse them and recycle them. Consider having â€Å"listening quizzes† or â€Å"listening tests† separate from other elements to emphasize its importance. Include easy, short passages and longer, more difficult 5 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 5 8/15/08 2:59:35 PM s Pecial focus: Teaching Listening Comprehension ones.On tests, sometimes you can use listening passages you have done previously in class, but with different questions. This will reward students for paying close attention during practice activities that are not for a grade. When the textbook provides â€Å"listen along† audio recordings of reading passages, start the activity by listening to a minute or two without looking at the written text, just to let students see how much they can â€Å"catch† without reading. Have students jot down the words they hear on a piece of paper, then share with class, writing a list on the board.Then read along, and do textbook reading activities. Then go back over the list. Praise the class on how much they could hear, and note to them how their skills improve throughout the year. The next day, listen again without looking, and see if they feel they understand more. The goal is to build students’ confidence in their ability to improve their listening skills. Strategy 3: Design listening activities that provide evidence of engagement, including note taking. Student s should DO something while listening in order to provide evidence of engagement.Ideas for types of evidence follow: †¢ notefamiliarwords †¢ writedownallnumbersyouhear (good for weather reports, sports news, economic news) †¢ checkwordsheardoffalist(prepare the list ahead of time, or have students predict words they might hear) †¢ fillinachartwithinformation †¢ fillinapartialscript(leave out cognates, familiar words, or numbers, etc. ) †¢ writedownanswerstobasicwho, what, when, where, why questions †¢ answerpreparedtrue/falseormultiple-choicequestions †¢ useâ€Å"thumbsup†orâ€Å"thumbsdown†toansweryes/noquestions Attachment A (p. 3) provides a simple chart students complete as evidence of engagement while listening to a series of interviews with native speakers found on a University of Texas Web site. Strategy 4: Create scaffolding tasks to help students to approach authentic materials from the start. Use authentic listening pas sages, full speed right from the beginning levels, but scaffold the activity by at first providing tasks that support, rather than test, students’ understanding. To make the listening more accessible to students, choose 6 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. ndd 6 8/15/08 2:59:35 PM Pre-AP ® Listening Comprehension Strategies passages on topics you are working on in your textbook. You can pair authentic listening passages with short written texts on the same topic, providing background knowledge, especially if the material or setting is unfamiliar to students. Provide students with unusual names of people, organizations, or locations mentioned in the passage, as these names are especially difficult to catch. Use a listening process, analogous to the reading process, including the following steps.A. Prelistening activity Activate prior knowledge of vocabulary or the topic; make predictions based on a headline, photograph, or theme; personalize by relating to students’ experience ; connect to studies in other classes. Tell students the topic, encourage brainstorming of known vocabulary, then offer to preteach five vocabulary words they don’t know but think they’ll need to understand the program. You could get the class to make a list of 10 words, and then you could translate the 5 words they decide they need the most. B.Have students listen with a purpose, providing concrete evidence of their comprehension. Focus student attention on specific elements, and require each student to show evidence of what was heard. Build in opportunities to hear the listening passage more than once. Provide extension tasks for those who have completed the first task on the first listening, letting others continue to focus on the basic skill. At times, provide transcripts to follow when listening, to help students recognize words they know when they see them, in the stream of speech. C. Cooperative listeningAfter students provide some evidence of what they hear the mselves, have students share their results ORALLY with a partner, noting the partner’s answers in another color, for instance, using a green pen. This will allow you to distinguish what was gathered independently from the details students got from a classmate. Be sure to require all students to note or check off what their partners heard, even if the students already wrote down what they themselves heard. On a final listening, or with a transcript, students can verify what was actually in the recording. D. Apply/connectHave students use the information gained in listening in another task such as writing a summary, making a comparison, making a prediction, 7 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 7 8/15/08 2:59:36 PM s Pecial focus: Teaching Listening Comprehension connecting to personal experience, reflecting on the learning process, writing about strategies, etc. Attachment B (p. 14) illustrates scaffolding by using the listening process in a simple â€Å"Checklist† activity. Novice-level students can successfully listen to an authentic source to develop the ability to recognize known vocabulary in the stream of authentic speech.The students simply listen to a passage and check words they hear, and skip words that are not in the passage. Then they compare lists with a classmate, listen again, and finally check their work against a script. The checklist and two colors of pens will allow the teacher to evaluate each student’s engagement in the activity, independent and cooperative listening skills, and the ability to extend or apply what was learned. The sample activity in the attachment was designed around a Radio Naciones Unidas report on torrential rains in Costa Rica. Strategy 5: Develop generic listening tasks and use them often.Many Web sources have high-interest audio news and information with accompanying written information. When the files are available to download and save on a computer, teachers can develop activities around these sound files, and keep them for future use. But it is difficult to find the time to prepare specific questions about today’s news each week, and many great Web sites have audio files that are not availablefordownloadingandthatmaynotbeavailableforreusenextyear. Generic tasks cut down preparation time and allow the listening task to become routine, which will help build confidence.Attachment C (p. 18) Pesca las palabras can be used to engage novice listeners in any authentic listening source. The sample activity in attachment C was used to listen to a BBC Mundo report on domestic workers in Latin America in a Level 2 class. Attachment D (p. 21) is a generic form to use while listening to any audio or video newscasts, and is based on the journalistic questions who, what, when, where, why, and how. For interest, vary the prelistening task and the application task according to the topic of the newscast you choose. The video news broadcasts found on the Web site Univision. om provide a we alth of short listening segments to use with this form. Strategy 6: Vary the evaluation of listening tasks, making it appropriate to the purpose of the task. WhenBUILDINGlisteningskills,useaprocess-orientedrubricsuchastheFormative Listening Comprehension Evaluation rubric (Attachment E, p. 22). This rubric evaluates four areas: 8 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 8 8/15/08 2:59:36 PM Pre-AP ® Listening Comprehension Strategies †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Engagement Independentlistening Cooperativelistening ApplicationofinformationgainedthroughlisteningThis formative rubric recognizes the importance of attention to the whole listening process. It can be used to assess any of the listening tasks involving the listening process outlined in Strategy 4. WhenEVALUATINGlisteningskills,teachersshouldusemoreobjective measures, such as multiple-choice questions. Alternatively, students can take notes and answer open-ended questions or summarize. Then teachers can use a more product-oriente d rubric, evaluating the students’ ability to capture the main idea, understand most details, make predictions and inferences, and use linguistic cues to infer social relations.WhenINTEGRATINGskills,teachersshouldcreatetasksthatrequirestudents to listen, then use the information the students hear in writing and speaking tasks. Strategy 7: Develop your skill at finding appropriate listening materials on the Web, and share your findings with others. Work with your technology department to ensure that all teacher and student computers at school have the necessary software to view and listen to Web-based materials. With one teacher computer and speakers, all students can hear sound files on one computer. If you have the ability to project onto a large screen, you can share video clips from your computer with students.Encourage the library and computer resource center to make headphones available for students to borrow, so they can do their listening there. If you have a teacher W eb site, include links to Web sites with audio. Many Web page programs also allow you to upload audio files to your site. Some excellent Web sources for listening follow: Radio Naciones Unidas http://radio. un. org/es/ This is an excellent source, since files are not copyrighted, the archive is searchable, many programs have transcripts, and files can be downloaded to your computer. Click on Abrir archivo to view a list of recent short news items.Click on the title ofthenewsitemtoseethetranscript. RIGHTCLICKonthefilebuttonandclick on â€Å"Save Target As,† then navigate to the folder in which you want to store the 9 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 9 8/15/08 2:59:36 PM s Pecial focus: Teaching Listening Comprehension file. The actual sound file should download onto your computer’s hard drive, or to a flash memory stick if you so indicate. You can then play it off your computer, burn a CD, etc. The archive is searchable, so you can enter a term such as arte, comida, Peru, etc. , to help find material on topics you are studying. BBC Mundo http://news. bbc. co. k/hi/spanish/news/ The site contains a wealth of text, multimedia, video, and audio materials, much of it organized by topic. Studio 834 provides interviews with speakers from all over the Spanish-speaking world, and many interviews include scripts. Use this resource to familiarize students with regional variations in accent. Radio nuevos horizontes http://www. nuevoshorizontes. org This site has a searchable archive of programs on a variety of culture, traditions, health, immigration, arts, literature, and personal finance topics. Free downloads of audio only; CDs available for purchase, with transcripts.Langmedia http://langmedia. fivecolleges. edu/collection/lm_spanish. html. Students can view short videos of native speaker interaction, from a variety ofcountries. Goodfornovicestudentsforcomprehensionandodeling,andfor comparing accents from a variety of countries. Uteach proficiency exercise s http://www. laits. utexas. edu/spe/siteindex. php Here students can view short videos of native speakers doing performance tasks on a variety of topics at the novice, intermediate, and advanced levels. Language Acquisitions Resource Center at San Diego State University http://larc. dsu. edu/voces. VideotapedinterviewswithwomenfromGuatemala and Mexico present students with a variety of voices and experiences. The worksheet available at nflrc. hawaii. edu/voces provides a good example of showing evidence of engagement. Univision http://www. univision. com Enter â€Å"videos† in the â€Å"Uniclave† window and for a searchable collection of videos of one to eight minutes’ duration with news, entertainment, and more. Radio Caracol de Colombia http://www. caracol. com. co/ Has an audio archive link on the left-hand menu. 10 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 10 /15/08 2:59:36 PM Pre-AP ® Listening Comprehension Strategies Strategy 8: Get students to interview and reco rd native speakers, and share their recordings with classmates. Across the country, students in more and more communities today have the opportunity to use Spanish outside the classroom. Students can consider interviewing neighbors, parents’ co-workers, school personnel, etc. Handheld cassette recorders, microcassette recorders, digital voice recorders, certain mp3 players, computers, digital cameras, some phones, and iPods and other devices can be used to record voices.If your department can invest in even five digital voice recorders, you can lend them to students to do their interviews. Have your beginning students interview a native speaker, write a transcript of the conversation, and share the audio recording withclassmates. Keeptheinterviewssimpleatfirst,focusingonthetopicofthe current chapter or unit. For example, in a chapter on foods, the class can come up with a short questionnaire, for example: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ ?Cualesunacomidatipicadetupais? ?Cuales sonlosingredientes? ?Comoseprepara? ?Cualestucomidafavorita? Reflect with classmates on accents, regional vocabulary, and other haracteristics and how they effect pronunciation. At the intermediate level, include in your planning learning the language needed to call to request the interview, set up an appointment, and write a thank-you letter in Spanish. See attachment F (p. 23) for sample materials for an interview project from a Level 2 unit about jobs. Strategy 9: Target component skills for listening. Focus your listening activities on component skills and strategies for listening. Here are some suggestions: skill Discourse type task type gain familiarity with regional variations interviews with people from various countries (BBC Mundo Estudio 834)Mark a transcript where regional differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, verb forms, etc. , are evident. news and information check list activity recognize familiar vocabulary in the context of speech intended for native speakers â⠂¬Å"Pesca las palabras† 11 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 11 8/15/08 2:59:36 PM s Pecial focus: Teaching Listening Comprehension skill Discourse type task type recognizing cognates in the stream of speech news and information texts Prepare a cloze passage by eliminating cognates; students listen and complete. The topic of health often has many cognates. Students listen and note as many cognates s they can. inferring social relationships from linguistic clues recorded interactions between native speakers such as those on the Langmedia Web site Note and discuss the linguistic clues. listening for main idea, detail news and information texts Prepare a T chart on the board, with â€Å"Main idea† and â€Å"Supporting detail. † Listen, and then ask what students understood. Have class decide where each piece of information should go. comprehending specific information news and information Complete charts, fill in blanks, write numbers heard, and answer prepared multipl e-choice or open-ended questions. dvertisements Strategy 10: Create a culture of listening in your classroom. â€Å"Tweak† your classroom oral activities so they require students to listen actively to each other. For instance, expand your â€Å"Think – Pair – Share† activities to make them â€Å"Think – Pair – Share – Compare. † Have students share what the partner said, not what the student reporting said. Then after hearing from several students, ask another student to compare. For example, on Monday morning, students think about what they did on the weekend, pair with a partner to say what they did, and report to the class what their partner did.After hearing four to six students’ activities, ask another person which two students had the most similar weekends or which two had the most different weekends, or what all the students had in common. This activity, in addition to providing evidence of listening comprehension , practices the comparison and synthesis skills so important to the formal essay and formal oral presentation tasks. Tune into the mp3 generation. Encourage students to include Spanish music on their digital music players, and seek out Spanish language podcasts.As technology allows, create your own podcasts of lessons, explanations, or poems you are studying, andencouragestudentstoputthemontheiriPods. GarageBand(forMac)and Audacity (a free download for PCs) allow you to make your own audio programs. Even ifyouhaven’tlearnedthetoolsyet,manyofyourstudentshave. Getthemtoshow you, and start listening! 12 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 12 8/15/08 2:59:36 PM Pre-AP ® Listening Comprehension Strategies Attachment A: Provide evidence of engagement – Fill in a chart Listening source – University of Texas Spanish Proficiency Exercises http://www. laits. utexas. edu/spe/beg06. tml Preparacion:Conunapareja,escribeunalistadetrabajos,oficiosyprofesiones en espanol. †¢ Ahoraescuchaalasseispersonashablardeltrabajodesuspadreso parientes. Usatuboligrafoparaanotarlosqueescuchas. nombre lo que hace el padre lo que hace la madre Ejemplo simplificado Nativo hablante Beatriz Luna Torres Alejandro Ernesto Madgits Regina Ruiz Maria Angeles Fernandez Fernando Camacho Apuntes para MI presenacion oral †¢ Hablacontucompanero. UsatuboligrafoVERDEparaanandirinformacion queescuchotucompanero. †¢ Escuchaotravezparaverificartutrabajo. †¢ Aplicacion:EscribelostrabajosdedospersonasqueTUconoces.Luego describe sus trabajos oralmente (graba la descripcion para tu portafolio). 13 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 13 8/15/08 2:59:36 PM s Pecial focus: Teaching Listening Comprehension mi nombre lo que hace lo que hace Attachment B: Sample â€Å"Checklist† activity based on the Radio United Nations news piece Lluvias en Costa Rica. Transcripcion–reportedeRadioNacionesUnidas,19deoctubrede2007. http://www. un. org/radio/es/detail/6528. html Nombre Fec ha: A. Preparacion.? Quetiempohaceaquihoy? B. Escucha. UsatuboligrafoAZULymarcaconunapalomita(v)azullas palabras que escuchas. C. Lee tus palabras a tu companero.Escucha las palabras de tu companero. Marcasuspalabrasconunapalomita(v)verde. Palabra Yo escuche v mi companero escucho v en verde leimos en el texto sol calor lluvias nieve dias anos nacion aguas mas menos ayuda rios 14 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 14 8/15/08 2:59:37 PM Pre-AP ® Listening Comprehension Strategies Palabra Yo escuche v mi companero escucho v en verde leimos en el texto institucion agencias comunicacion necesidades emergencia D. Anota numeros que escuchaste en el reporte. E. Anota5palabrasqueescuchastequeNOestanenlalista. F. Leelatrascripciondelprograma. Marcaenlaultimacolumnalaspalabrasque estanenelpasaje. G. APLICACIONComparaeltiempoenCostaRicaconeltiempoaqui. Engagement Independent listening Cooperative listening Application 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 15 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 15 8/15/08 2 :59:37 PM s Pecial focus: Teaching Listening Comprehension Lluvias en Costa Rica Dejan 18 Muertos T ranscript for Checklist Activity – Reporte de Radio Naciones Unidas, 19 octubre de 2007. http://www. un. org/radio/es/ detail/6528. html r eal Descargar imPrimir LaslluviastorrencialesdelosultimosdiasenCosta Rica,handejado18muertosycuantiosasperdidas materiales. El Coordinador Residente del Sistema de la ONU enesanacion,JoseManuelHermidas,describiolos fectos adversos que han tenido las aguas sobre el territorio costarricense. â€Å"Hanhabidoinundacionesseverasenvariaspartesdelpais. Todoellitoraldel PacificoestaafectadoytambienenelValleCentral. Delos81cantonesenCostaRica, 65 se han visto afectados. † Los danos provocados en las cosechas y las redes viales han sido estimados de manerapreliminar,enmasde70millonesdedolares. SegunelRepresentantedel PNUD, las agencias de la ONU en Costa Rice se encuentran listas para ofrecer la ayuda que pueda requerirse. â€Å"Hemosestadoene strechacomunicacionconelentenacionalresponsablepara atenderlasemergencias,queeslaComisionNacionaldeEmergencias.Hemosidoa unareunionconellos,ademasdelascomunicacionescontinuasportelefonoy noshan dadounalistadelasnecesidadesmasurgentes. HemosinformadoaOCHAconuna solicitud, de parte del coordinador residente, para poder acceder a fondos para poder, entre otras cosas, comprar algunos de los requerimientos mas urgentes que segun la comisionnacionaldeemergenciasoncamillasymantas. † El representante de la ONU en Costa Rica, dijo que las necesidades de alimentos delosdamnificados,estansiendoresueltasporelgobiernoycompaniasprivadas. Attachment B: Teachers’ Notes ObjectiveIdentify familiar vocabulary in the stream of authentic speech. Prelistening–Askstudents? Quetiempohacehoy Lluevemuchoaqui? Discuss a bit about weather, at students’ level. Then pass out paper, and have students write about today’s weather. 16 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 16 8/15/08 2:59:3 7 PM Pre-AP ® Listening Comprehension Strategies Listening Instructstudentstolistencarefully,andCHECKinBLUEorBLACKpen,any words on the list that they hear. Ask if they want to listen again, and repeat. Pair students and tell students to read the words they checked. Tell partners to useaGREENPENtocheckthewordstheirpartnerheard.DO NOT let them look at each others’ papers. This is the cooperative listening part—they listen to their partners’ answers and record. They should check all words the partner heard, even if they think the word wasn’t there. Then tell them they will listen again, and they should check to see if this time they hear words they didn’t last time. These should be circled in green pen. Post-listening Pass out the transcript so students can read and see which words in fact were there. Application Even beginning students can make a basic comparison with words like tambien, pero, mas, and menos.Students staple their paper to their par tner’s paper and pass both in. You score on the rubric in Attachment E, which includes Engagement (followed directions and completed all listening tasks), Independent listening (how accurate student was on the first listening, indicated by checks in blue or black ink), Cooperative listening (includes the green checks, which generally correspond to partner’s paper and circled words, showing the ability to recognize the words once alerted to their presence), and Application (the post-listening Reflections task). 17 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 17 /15/08 2:59:37 PM s Pecial focus: Teaching Listening Comprehension Attachment C: Generic Listening Task ?Pesca la palabra! Tema: Notasdelapreparacion Yo escuche mi companero escucho Conclusiones 4. clearly meets expectations 3. meets basic expectations 2. approaching expectations 1. Does not meet expectations Engagement Independent listening Cooperative listening Application 18 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 18 8/15/08 2:59:37 PM Pre-AP ® Listening Comprehension Strategies Attachment C: Pesca la Palabra – Lesson Guide Long-term goals (claims): †¢ Recognizefamiliarvocabularyinthestreamofspeech. Comprehendspeechintendedfornativespeakers. Specific objective: †¢ Recognizedfamiliarvocabularyandcognateswhenheardinthestreamof speech in authentic sources. Level: †¢ Novice(Spanish1and2) Teacher preparation Find an authentic listening passage relating to a current chapter theme or topic. Prepare the link on your computer, or download the file. Select a one- to twominute â€Å"chunk† of the program to focus on, noting the time marker in your media player for easy access. Select chunks with a good variety of words students have studied, as well as cognates. Photocopy the generic ?Pesca la Palabra! handout, filling out the theme and pre- and postlistening tasks prior to photocopying the form, if you wish. Once students are familiar with the procedure, they can create their own forms on notebook paper. Classroom procedures Prelistening: Chose an appropriate selection of prelistening strategies: †¢ Readthetheme/titleofthepresentationandaskforpredictionsaboutthe program. †¢ Showaphotoorobjectrelatedtothetopicanddescribeit. †¢ Predictcontent. †¢ Brainstormknownvocabulary. †¢ Offertopreteachfivevocabularywordstheydon’tknowbutthinkthey’ll need to understand the program.You could get the class to make a list of 10 words, then pick only 5 to translate for them. †¢ Hacerpredicciones-? Quevanaescuchar? 19 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 19 8/15/08 2:59:38 PM s Pecial focus: Teaching Listening Comprehension Usetheâ€Å"Notasdelapreparacion†forstudentstoshowevidenceofengagement in the pre-listening activity. Instruct them to write a description of the picture, or list the vocabulary the class brainstormed, or write their predictions of what will be in the passage. Listening Students listen and jot down words they comprehend in column 1; they can listen twice if they wish.Pairing: Pair students. Students take turns reading words from their list. †¢ Ifyourpartnersaysawordthatisalreadyonyourlist,putacheckbyit. †¢ IfyourpartnersaysawordthatisNOTonyourlist,writeitinthesecond column. †¢ IfyourpartnersaysawordthatISonyourlist,putacheckbytheword,in the second column. Listen again If you hear a word your partner said, put a check by it in the first column. Postlistening The generic form has a place for conclusions. Depending on the difficulty of the passage and the level of the students, create a closing task. †¢ SummarizeinEnglish(orSpanish) †¢ Personalize(e. . ,Describeeltiempoennuestraciudadhoy) †¢ Reflect(Wastaskdifficultoreasy? Why? Observationsontheaccentof speaker, etc. ) Evaluation – Use the rubric in Attachment E. 20 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 20 8/15/08 2:59:38 PM Pre-AP ® Listening Comprehension Strategies Attachment D GenericlisteningactivityforNewsProgram. F orexample,usewith Univision. com video segments. Noticias de la semana Antes de escuchar Fecha Fuente Pais Titular ?Quesabessobreeltema? Apuntes ?Quien? ?Que? ?Cuando? ?Donde? ?Como? Resumen/comparacion/personalizacion/opinion 21 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 21 /15/08 2:59:38 PM s Pecial focus: Teaching Listening Comprehension Attachment E Formative Listening Comprehension Rubric, evaluating the listening process Have Pairs staPle PaPers togetHer anD turn in. graDe on tHe ruBric. 4 . clearly meets expectations 3. meets basic expectations 2. approaching expectations 1. not meeting expectations Written evidence and teacher observation provide evidence of full engagement throughout the listening activity. Notes and teacher observation show evidence of engagement; attention may wander, at times. Notes and teacher observation show artial evidence of engagement; off-task behavior or lack of attention detract from engagement. Notes and teacher observations show evidence of sporadic engag ement in listening activities. Independent comprehension clearly meets expectations for level. * Provides some evidence of independent comprehension; relies on classmates and total class discussion for some information. Provides little evidence of independent comprehension; relies heavily on partner work and class discussion for information. Prevents very little to no evidence of independent comprehension; may attempt to opy classmates’ work. Cooperative listening Shows clear evidence of sharing, listening, and note taking during pair interactions. Shows some evidence of sharing, listening, and note taking during pair interactions. Shows partial evidence of engagement in cooperative listening tasks. Contributes little to cooperative listening activities; may be off task and may distract classmates. Application Creatively and accurately uses information from listening in concluding tasks. Uses information from listening to complete concluding tasks. Uses minimal information fr om listening n completing concluding tasks. Provides little evidence of listening in completing concluding tasks. Engagement Independent listening *Expectations vary by task and level. 16 100 10 70 15 95 9 65 14 90 8 60 13 85 7 55 12 80 6 50 11 75 22 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 22 8/15/08 2:59:38 PM Pre-AP ® Listening Comprehension Strategies Attachment F: Interview Activity As designed, this activity is appropriate at a Level 2 or higher. Goals †¢ Usesimple,familiarphrasestocommunicatewithSpanishspeakersinthe community. †¢ Toobtainspeechsamplesfromavarietyofnativespeakersforin-class listening. TolearnaboutjobsthataredonebySpanish-speakingcommunity members. †¢ Tocomprehendavarietyofnativespeakervoicestalkingaboutafamiliar topic. Procedures Preparation: †¢ Teachandpracticequestionsneededtogetinformationaboutanadult acquaintance’s job (see handout below). †¢ AssignstudentstofindaSpanish-speakingcommunitymemberto interview and record. Technology not e – Many students have digital cameras, digital video cameras, phones, microcassette players, laptops, iPods with the iTalk microphone, mp3 players with voice recording capability, or other technology for recording the conversations.Our department has purchased a limited number of Olympus digital voice recorders (at around $70 each), which are lent out to students for one night if they have no other means of recording the conversation. Students are given a week or two to get the interviews to allow for technical problems. The following Web site has information on Olympus digital voice recorders. http://www. olympusamerica. com/cpg_section/cpg_voicerecorders. asp Project: Students record their interviews and transcribe them on the ENTREVISTA handout. 23 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 23 8/15/08 2:59:38 PM Pecial focus: Teaching Listening Comprehension Sharing: In class, students share their interviews. Classmates fill in the chart with details about each conversation they hear . Evaluation: Based on completion of interview, accuracy of transcript, and note taking during the in-class sharing. Thanks to Lucinda Salinas, Alamo Heights High School Spanish 2 teacher, for sharing this activity. Used with permission. CreatedtouseinconjunctionwiththeHolttextbookExpresateLevel2. 24 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 24 8/15/08 2:59:39 PM Pre-AP ® Listening Comprehension Strategies Mi entrevista con †¦ Ud. Clase, quiero presentarles a Ud:? AquesededicaUd.? o? QueclasedetrabajorealizaUd.? El o Ella: Ud.? Quetipodepreparacionsenecesitaparaestaprofesion? (Fui a – I went to) El o Ella: Ud.? Comoleayudaelespanolensutrabajoosuvida? El o Ella:: Ud.? Otra pregunta, UD. escoja. ? El o Ella: 25 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 25 8/15/08 2:59:39 PM s Pecial focus: Teaching Listening Comprehension i salinas – alamo HeigHt HigH scHool – 2007 nombre de su companero ?vecino, amigo de la familia,etc†¦? el oficio Dime algo†¦ 26 08-1442. AP. SF. Span ish. indd 26 8/15/08 2:59:39 PM Pre-AP ® Listening Comprehension StrategiesAttachment G: Lesson Guide Goal–Familiarizestudentswithregionalaccents. From level one, engage students in listening to diverse voices. 1. Preparation †¢ Copythescriptsforthreeinterviews. Suggestedsourceis BBCMundo’s Estudio 834 †¢ http://news. bbc. co. uk/hi/spanish/programmes/estudio_834/ †¢ JavierZanetti,soccerplayerfromArgentina †¢ SaraBaras,flamencodancerfromSpain †¢ WillieColon,musicianfromNewYork(PuertoRicanancestry) 2. Materials Photocopies of scripts; highlighters. 3. Procedure †¢ Prelistening. a. Provide name, profession, and country. b. Ask for predictions about what students might hear. c.Students scan transcript to check on predictions, and find words they understand. †¢ Listening. Have students listen to each sample while following on their copy of the transcript. They should highlight any words or sounds that seem â€Å"different† from w hat they are used to hearing. Compare impressions and listen again. 4. Debrief Avoid generalizations like â€Å"in Spain, they speak like this,† or â€Å"Cubans pronounce it like this. † There is a great deal of regional and personal variation within countries. Make comments and observations about the ways the students hear THIS particular speaker pronounced at this particular moment.The goal is to increase the students’ comfort with variations, not to teach the specific characteristics of specific regional accents. (That could well be a different lesson at another level). Students write one or two sentences about each speaker’s pronunciation, and how easy or difficult the speaker was to understand. 27 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 27 8/15/08 2:59:39 PM s Pecial focus: Teaching Listening Comprehension 5. Evaluation Based principally on engagement as evidenced by notes taken on prelistening, highlighting on the transcript, postlistening conclusions, and t eacher observation of participation in classroom discussion.Attachment G T ranscripts of segments from BBC Mundo Estudio 834 (4/7/06, 6/2/06, 4/21/06) Sara Baras – bailarina de flamenco HablaconBBCMundodespuesdehacerdosobrasdebaile,â€Å"MarianaPineda†y â€Å"Juanalaloca. † BBC: ? Queaprendistedespuesdecasi,segunentiendo,800representaciones entrelasdos? Sara Baras: Puessi,pasamoslasmil. Fueronmasdequinientas representacionesdecadauna,oseaqueaprendimuchisimo. Elhechodetrabajar al lado de directores tan importantes como Luis Pascual y Luis Olmos, ha sido algo que me ha llenado de cosas nuevas, de cosas de teatro, no solamente de baile.Yahoraescomosiapreciaramuchomasunquejido,ohacerdemimisma, porque el hecho de meterte en el personaje de alguien te va acostumbrando a expresarte siempre pensando en alguien. Cuando de repente no tienes nada que contar, sino simplemente bailar es algo muy diferente. El haber hecho â€Å"Mariana Pineda†yâ€Å"Juanalaloca† creoquemehaensenadomuchomasdeloqueyo pensaba,nosoloaniveldeespectaculo,sinopormibaile. BBC: Ydosmujeresexcepcionalesenesosdosespectaculos†¦? Queesparati unamujerexcepcional Cualesserianlosatributosdeunamujerque,comotu, esexcepcionalenlosuyo? Sara Baras: Muchas gracias†¦ risas) Yo creo que una mujer excepcional, por ejemplo, es mi madre. Creo que una buena persona, una persona con inquietudes,inteligente,generosa,unapersonaquedaalgomas,? no? Creoque sobre todo las madres me parecen mujeres excepcionales. El amor que puedan dar no lo comparo con nada. Willie Colonseconsiderauncreadordelasalsa. NacioenNuevaYork,nieto de puertorriquenos. Tengo entendido que el 2006 es el ano de tu retiro, que estaspensandoenguardardefinitivamentetutrombon. Queriapreguntartesi realmenteteretirasoseguirasenlastarimashastaqueelcuerpoaguante. 28 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 28 8/15/08 2:59:39 PMPre-AP ® Listening Comprehension Strategies W. C. : (Risas)†¦ No es exactamente un retiro, teng o algunos proyectos a los que quiero dedicarme y no puedo hacerlo mientras estoy de gira con la orquesta. Ahora estoy en el proceso de grabar un LP, puede ser mi ultimo y yo creo que me mantendriasiempreapegadoalamusica,laproduccionylacomposicion. Son cuarenta anos de viaje†¦ al final de este ano puede ser. BBC: Muchosdicenquelaedaddeorodelasalsanovolverayqueinclusono faltamuchoparaquedesaparezcacomogenerorentableenelnegociodela musica. Comolovestu,? lasalsaestamuriendo,seestatransformando,esta cambiandoaotrogenero?Colon: Bueno, esa es la ley natural, pero yo tengo confianza que algo viene, todoloviejoesnuevoydelonuevounosecansadespuesdeunrato. Yocreo queesunciclo,especialmentecuandolatecnologiahacambiado,quese puedegrabarunbuenLPenelsotanooenelgarajeconunacomputadora quenoestancara. Esovaapermitirquedenuevo,comoenmiepoca,surjan productores independientes porque uno de los problemas ha sido que las grandes corporacioneshanidoadquiriendotodoslossellos(discograficos)pequenos, ent oncesmatanlacompetenciaytambienlahonestidadylarazondeserdela musica, una musica que nace de la esquina del barrio.En verdad no entienden la esenciayelporquelamusicaeratanrentableyestanimportante. Javier Zanetti juega futbol profesional en Italia, pero es de Argentina. El estableciounafundacionparaayudaraninospobresenArgentina. BBC: ? QuesignificaPupi,dedondevieneesenombre? Javier Zanetti: PupiesunsobrenombrequemepusieronLopezyCaballero cuandocomenceajugarfutbolenelclubargentinoBanfield. Despueslepusimos esenombrealafundacion. Hacecuatroanosquecomenzamosysinceramente hemoshechomuchisimascosaspararecaudarfondosparaestoschicos:partidos a beneficio, calendarios, pulseritas con los colores de Argentina, etc.Todo esto para ellos, para seguir fomentando y haciendo crecer los proyectos que tenemos en mente. BBC: Segun tenemos entendido son unos cien los ninos que reciben asistencia diariaenlafundacion†¦ Javier Zanetti: Si,enestosmomentoshaymasdecienchicosdetresacinco anos — los que nos estuvieron acompanando durante estos cuatro anos, ahora 29 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 29 8/15/08 2:59:40 PM s Pecial focus: Teaching Listening Comprehension tienensiete,ocho-ademastrabajamosconloshermanosdeestoschicosycon lospadres. Queremosunpococerrarelcirculo,paraayudaratodaslafamiliaen lasdistintasproblematicasquesepuedenpresentar. BibliographyHumbach,J. ,Smith,S. ,andMadrigalVelasco,S. ,Expresate Spanish 2. Austin, TX: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2005. 30 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 30 8/15/08 2:59:40 PM GeneralStrategiesforAP ® Spanish Listening Comprehension Brant Hadzima Newfound Regional High School Bristol, New Hampshire Introduction Teaching and assessing listening comprehension are perhaps the most challenging components of the AP curriculum, due in great part to the many variables that affect a student’s ability to comprehend spoken Spanish: the physical classroom environment and school equipment, learning styles, note-taking skills, regional dia lects, etc.Many teachers may assume that they are assessing â€Å"listening comprehension† when in fact they are assessing listening and cognitive reasoning skills. Listening may be part of the exercise, but the inevitable tasks of reasoning, critical thinking—even the kinesthetic connection to writing—are factors that can drastically affect the outcome. In essence, two of the major obstacles in solely assessing listening comprehension are first determining which factors may impede a true assessment of listening comprehension, and then making every effort to offer students the opportunity to mitigate these variables.This will help to provide a true baseline for students, and teachers will have a better understanding of whether they need to remediate listening or focus more on reasoning and critical thinking strategies. Teachers must know what students hear in order to then address how to analyze and synthesize the information presented orally. 08-1442. AP. SF. S panish. indd 31 8/15/08 2:59:40 PM s Pecial focus: Teaching Listening Comprehension Eliminating Variables Although it may appear to be obvious, there are several issues that the classroom teacher must evaluate and address prior to administering a listening comprehension assessment.First and foremost, it is imperative that students are provided with the best possible equipment and physical space for listening comprehension. If no language lab is available, a classroom should be optimized for a listening environment: Students should be provided with headphones and a listening center, the room should be quiet, comfortable, and free from distractions such as PA announcements and hallway activity. (I can vividly recall an adept AP Spanish student who performed poorly on one of the practice listening comprehension assessments for no particular reason.I evaluated the listening comprehension segment, tried to determine if the regional accent was overwhelming, and even took the test myself. Exasperated, I finally asked the student why he did so poorly. His response: â€Å"I was watching the garbage truck picking up the dumpster outside the window. † By simply drawing the blinds, his scores improved remarkably. ) Once the classroom space and physical environment has been evaluated and addressed, it is important to know and understand each student’s learning style. Most people tend to rely heavily on visual references in order to supplement auditory comprehension.An example might be how teachers themselves process information at a faculty meeting. If the principal states an outline and a deadline for a project with no visual reference whatsoever, it is more probable that the staff will misinterpret and/ or forget the information stated. Although we have developed coping skills such as taking notes and asking clarifying questions, it is more likely that the request will be taken seriously and acted on in a timely fashion if it is written as well. Another exa mple is when teachers are assigning homework.If teachers state what the homework will be without writing it on the board, there will inevitably be confusion for some (if not all) students. Of course there will be some who will diligently write down the assignment and ask a question if confused. Others, however, will remain silent and may not understand or remember the assignment. Therefore, one essential preassessment that should be done early in the school year is to have students determine their learning style. There are many assessments readily available, and one particularly detailed assessment is the Index of Learning Styles (ILS) developed by Richard M.Felder and Barbara A. Soloman of North Carolina State University. The Web site address is www4. ncsu. edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/ public/ILSpage. html, and it provides a free, 44-question Web-based assessment for students to determine their learning styles. Students should use this information 32 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 32 8/15/08 2:59:40 PM GeneralStrategiesforAP ® Spanish Listening Comprehension to better understand how they learn and process information, and teachers should discuss in the classroom how to best prepare for listening comprehension with the understanding that each student learns differently.Once the teacher and students understand their learning styles, the next step is to help auditory learners further hone and process their listening skills, and to provide the more visual learners with coping skills necessary to compensate for their discomfort with being assessed for listening comprehension. A student who â€Å"doesn’t like† listening comprehension and who â€Å"performs poorly† on these assessments may struggle due to personal learning style—and not due to Spanish language aptitude. We all have students who can read and write very well in Spanish, but who are not proficient in listening comprehension and/or speaking.It must be surmised that the se students do not have a deficiency in Spanish, but rather in processing auditory information. Teaching more Spanish will not make them better listeners. On the contrary, teachers must make a conscious effort to help students develop coping skills and to help the students feel more at ease with the style of assessment. Pretesting Listening Comprehension After addressing physical space and learning style, it is important to give a comprehensive listening assessment in Spanish to obtain a baseline and to observe student test-taking strategies.It is best to utilize assessments that model what will be tested on the AP Spanish Language Examination, and AP Spanish–style listening comprehension assessments with resource kits are readily available for purchase and do quite well for student preparation. AP Central ® has audio files available and sample assessments as well for teacher use in the classroom. Regardless, teachers should pretest listening comprehension with short dialog ues and narratives, and also medium-to-long narratives and dialogues. I recommend giving students an overview of how they will be pretested, and to recommend that students take notes when necessary.During the actual pretest it is a good idea to observe student behavior. Perhaps more valuable than the data from the pretest is the observation of student test-taking skills;i. e. ,whichstudentstookthoroughnotesandwhichonesjustlistened? What didthenoteslooklike—weretherelists,graphicorganizers,andothervisualaides? Whichstudentswereeasilydistractedand/orwereunabletofocus? Didstudents simply look for words written in the multiple-choice answers that were said in the dialogue (â€Å"word recognition†), or did they first interpret the information and then use processofeliminationtoselectthebestpossibleanswer? 3 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 33 8/15/08 2:59:40 PM s Pecial focus: Teaching Listening Comprehension Most likely, the students who performed the best in the assessment were the ones who were taking notes, who were focused, and who concentrated on understanding and interpreting the information instead of just attempting to recognize words that matched the ones in the answers provided. Obviously, basic proficiency in Spanish is essential, and a student who does not have the proper skill base from prior classes will be at a complete loss.However, assuming that students have had the proper prior training (for more information, please refer to the AP Vertical Teams ® and Pre-AP publications on the AP Web site), the issue at hand will be to teach students to be better listeners. Teaching Listening Skills Once a baseline for listening comprehension has been established, the task of honing listening skills and forming coping mechanisms begins. The first step is to help students create their own system for listening.I have found it very helpful to model good test-taking skills as a way to broach the topic of how to tackle the listening component. After t he students take the initial pretest in listening comprehension, I take the test myself in front of the class. I copy the answer key onto an overhead transparency, and we play the test out loud. As the dialogues are played, I take notes on the overhead or the board, and create links and graphic organizers. I then model the answer selection on the overhead using the process of elimination, and explaining why certain answers are wrong while referring to my notes.Often students will start to discuss the thought process, and it becomes an interactive class where students generate ideas and discuss what they did for that particular dialogue or narrative. At times students will volunteer to direct the next dialogue, and I allow them to model their thought process for the class. The essential component to that particular lesson is that students see how to process information that is presented verbally, that they observe and evaluate techniques that worked (and didn’t work). At that point, they should begin to develop a routine for listening comprehension that works for them.I finish the lesson by having students tell me what they intend to do differently next time to perform better. For the next listening comprehension activity I eliminate the variable of the multiple-choice questions. This gives students the opportunity to focus directly on the dialogue or narrative and to employ their personal listening strategies. The class begins by brainstorming various note-taking techniques. Next, students are asked to listen to a 10-minute narrative and to take notes on the essential information.When the narrative ends, students are allotted 15 minutes to summarize the narrative in 34 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 34 8/15/08 2:59:40 PM GeneralStrategiesforAP ® Spanish Listening Comprehension their own words (in Spanish). We then read our summaries out loud, and by sharing we realize what may have been missed, what was truly essential, and what impeded our understand ing. Students should begin to realize that deficiencies in vocabulary, perhaps dialects, the rate and speed of the speaker, and background information may be impediments for comprehension. PracticeWhen students understand the impediments to comprehending a dialogue or narrative, the task then becomes practicing, and learning by trial and error. Unlike writing or grammar, there is a limit to skills that can be taught for simply listening. Essentially, once distractions have been eliminated, the format of the assessment is familiar, and note-taking skills have been instructed and reviewed, the only way to improve is through continual practice. Practicing listening comprehension should be frequent, varied, authentic, and routine in order to truly prepare students for the examination.In reality, there should never be an AP Spanish Language class where listening is not an integral component of the class itself. It is important to note that not all listening activities have to be assessed formally, but it is important that they be assessed in a variety of ways. Visual Versus Nonvisual Although there are many ways to present listening, it is best to separate listening comprehension activities into two categories: those with a visual aid and those without.The listening activities that allow for a visual reference may be easier for many students, as they provide a frame of reference and therefore some level of comfort. Using segments from Spanish television, a podcast, or watching a PowerPoint presentation can function as a less threatening form of integrating listening into the daily classes. It is vital to ensure that these activities be varied so that students do not get too accustomed to a particular dialect or vocabulary base.If utilizing segments of Spanish television is part of the class routine, make sure to access different programs and channels whenever possible. Have students â€Å"prelisten† by presenting the title or some background on the segment, and discuss what they could expect to hear. Most importantly, however, assess what they have heard. Assessments can range from a quick student synopsis to a formative written assessment to a class discussion. The assessment piece is essential nevertheless, and 35 08-1442. AP. SF. Spanish. indd 35 8/15/08 2:59:40 PM

My initial regional marketing strategy Essay

In pricing, most of my pricing strategies were just following my competitors, because I have the faith that their prices are the results from the competition in that market. It is true that we should put an eye upon our main competitors, because they have the important information we need. For example, in Brazil, when I found the main competitor of me spent 35 million dollars on the promotion on Family & Healthy products, I realized that I could not I Ignore the promotion on this kind of product any more. So I invested about 5 million dollars on it immediately.Furthermore, I found that a big number of the competitors produced the medium toothbrushes and few of them put their heart into producing small and large products. And more people in all of the markets choose medium toothbrushes than other products. Therefore, I focused upon the medium products from the 1st period to the 6th period. What’s more, once I entered a new market, I chose only several medium products to produce because the data told me that the medium toothbrushes are the most popular products and the most profitable products. After I ran the actions I prepared, I got positive net contribution finally. In promotion, I always consulted the strategy from my competitors, because I believed they could survive in the market, meaning that their promotions were not bad. I usually was the second or third in promotion among all the companies. In addition, I arranged the promotion by the sales force after I arranged the sale force by the shopping habits of the customers in the native market. In pricing, I chose almost all the medium products because I thought the medium is the most practical. And I chose some small and large products, in order to collocate with the medium ones. In advertising, I also consulted from my competitors. However, I put all of my advertising into a continued advertisement. Especially in large market, such as Brazil and Mexico, I focus on the Family/Economy products, because I think the family is the group, who has the biggest buying power. 2. Changes and Rationale My first steps were 1st Brazil in period 1, 2nd Argentina in period 2, 3rd Mexico in period 4, 4th Chile in period 5, 5th Peru in period 7, 6th Venezuela in period 9. And the 10th period is the remaining period for me to do some adjustments to make a better result of the simulation. In order to  get a better performance, I rearranged the steps into 1st Brazil in period 1, 2nd Argentina in period 3, 3rd Mexico in period 4, 4th Venezuela in period 6. The reasons why I changed the order is that when I entered Brazil, I got the top market share immediately. After that I set a plant in Brazil, but I need time to improve the capability of the plant to support that markets I am going to enter later (we can only add 100 units of production in Brazil every year). As a result, I stayed at Brazil for another year. At the third year, I entered Argentina instead of the second year. As for the fourth market I entered. I used to enter Chile at the 5th period. However, at this time, when I entered Mexico at the 4th period, it needs some time for me to enlarge the market in Mexico. Consequently, I chose to enter into the 4th market at the 6th period, which is actually the requirement from the MBA 558 professor, corresponding to the class syllabus. What’s more, when I chose Chile, who was my first choice for the 4th market, I found that the work-force in that country was really high and the advertising cost was also too expensive. I abandoned it because I believe I didn’t have enough money to support this strange market at that time. And then I chose Venezuela to replace it because it was a little country and it was easy for me to handle. Moreover, its work force cost is low and market is normal, unlike Chile. 3. Performance Objectives VS Actual Performance After I ran the period 1 and period 2, I got a negative net contribution. That is inevitable and reasonable, because when I entered Brazil, I started the plant immediately and invested huge money on the promotion and advertisements. Moreover, I arranged nearly 100 people working on the sales and the price was also not too high. As a result, the cost of products sold was really high, which is why the net contribution was negative. However, as I invested huge money on the promotion and sales, and the price was not too high. I got lots of unit sales totally. It means that, I already have a relatively big mark share with the competitors. Because the market share is truly important especially for the new comers, I still felt optimistic about my wonderful future in Brazil. That is to say we must bear the negative net contribution at first and try to get positive net contribution later, which needs us have the enough support of finance. Every time I entered a new market, I got a negative contribution in the first period. However when I  enlarged my productivity and raised my price, I got a positive contribution in the following periods. I didn’t have a specific objective in every market, but the actual performance was that I have the biggest market share in Brazil, which is my most important market. And in other markets, I was always top 3 company in market share. I have the overall biggest market share. It seems like my strategy was not bad but need to be improved if I want to have the biggest market in every country. 4. Key Strategy Entry Steps Important markets first, Largest markets first. Sale force, Promotion, Pricing, Allowance and Advertising According to the shopping habits of the customers, rich status of the countries and competition situation. SKU  When I entered a new market, I focus on several medium products, because medium ones are the most practical and popular. After I occupied some market share, I developed some other products. In rich countries, I focus on healthy ones. By contrast, in poor counties, I drew attention into the economy ones. Among the children, I only sold medium products, because the children don’t have so many different requirements 5. Company Position for the future After the 10 periods, I have the biggest market share in Brazil, which is my most important market. And in other markets, I was always one of the top 3 companies in market share. In total, I have the overall biggest market share. It seems like my strategy was not bad but need to be improved if I want to have the biggest market in every country. In the future, I will try to enlarge my market share in the other countries, except for Brazil, in order to get the biggest market in every country. After that, my company should find a good way to get more net contribution, as my company was not the one who has the largest net contribution. 6. Lessons from the simulation experience The entry steps when my company want to expand  I should find a most important and large country to enter first and then expand step by step. In every new market, what I need to do step by step.  At first, I should focus on the specific product or some specific products, instead of kinds of ones. After I occupy some market share, I will try to produce other kinds of popular products How to arrange sales force and promotion upon it I would search the information about the shopping habits of the customers at first and then analyze it. After that, I arrange the sales force and the promotion. How to price the products and make the allowance Before I price my products, I should consult my competitors, because their prices represent the market supply and demand. As for the allowance, I will make it based on my price. When my price is raised, I would also raise my allowance. How to advertise Before I invest my money into the advertisements, I should find my target market and then try to consult my competitors in that specific market. And then I will make a advertisement corresponding to my competitors and my steps to enlarge my market share. What’s more, I would still stick on a advertisement if I have it for many years, because I believe I have a competitive advantage in it. How to arrange the plants I chose Brazil as the location of the plant because I thought Brazil has the sufficient work force, a big market and also the central location. Nevertheless, I made a mistake upon the production in the plant that I added its capability by 100 million units every year, making the depreciation so high. If I restart the simulation, I would control the power of the plant according to the sales. 7. Conclusion From the simulation, I learned how to do the streamlined global expansion with working as the country-manager and how to use different strategies in different periods, which are the vital things that I learned from this course.

International Market Entry and Development Research Paper - 1

International Market Entry and Development - Research Paper Example Increase in the purchasing ability of the people is another important factor along with easy access.    1. Explain the process for market research to assess foreign market potential.   Market research is crucial before an entry is made into the international market. Research conducted should be realistic and complete. Market research helps in developing an efficient positioning. Overall the analysis should have complete information about the general economic conditions and the market information about the target market. Detail information about the foreign customers should be present related to whom the services and products will be offered, detailed information about the segment and the niche. Detailed information about the suppliers working in that particular country and the details about how the supply chain is managed is also necessary. Also another important factor is the way and method of entering the foreign market, the way we can enter the foreign market and reach to our possible customers. The approach is an indirect approach which is using an intermediary or an agent in order to enter the market or directly entering the market. Another way is through collective exporting, trading house and consortium. 2. Explain the considerations for product adaptation in foreign markets and common  approaches to adjusting promotional strategy to fit foreign markets.   It is important for the firms to properly examine and adapt different market strategies once they enter the foreign market compared to the strategies they are already working with in the domestic market. The effect of these strategies on the performance of the firm is also an important factor which needs to be analyzed. Marketing mix plays an important role here which once adopted is very useful as it is based on the previous adaption strategies of the firm .Firms need to evaluate the importance if these marketing mix component so that they can analyze and check the possibilities of the firmâ⠂¬â„¢s success in it. The promotional strategies are also checked and analyzed again as a proper set of strategies defines the firm’s competitive advantage which is the basic tool for a firm’s success and performance in the foreign market. Market expansion helps a country in a lot of ways from increasing the sale of its product or the services offered which then increases the revenue generated from the products. Expanded market is great for the product category and also it helps in increasing the generic needs. It overall expands the size of the customer’s budget and acquires a share from it. 3. Explain the strategic marketing planning process, strategies for entering foreign  markets, and considerations for subsequent market expansion.   There are various ways and options which a firm can use once it has decided to enter the overseas market. Factors like cost, risk, degree of control and revenue generation are few factors which are kept in mind before the f inal decision is made of entering the foreign market. A simple form of entering into the foreign market is exporting which is through direct or indirect methods which include using agents when a former, countertrade or the final exporting decision is made. Another way of entering into an international market includes joint ventures or export processing zones (Blackwell Reference Online, 2012) Export strategy needs to be finalized along with deciding the specific channels

Finance Assignment Wal-Mart Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Finance Wal-Mart - Assignment Example Walmart operates in Mexico with its first overseas store being a Sam’s Club situated in Mexico City in 1991. In Mexico, there are 2,290 retail stores as of 2015 with 251 Walmart Supercenters, and 160 Sam’s Clubs. By January 2014, Walmart had 209,878 employees in its Mexican stores, clubs, and retails (n.d.). a) Walmart’s annual report for the financial year that ended 2014 addresses foreign exchange risk management in the section â€Å"Foreign Currency Risk† (Walmart 31). This segment argues that Walmart is susceptible to variations in the value of foreign currency because of its â€Å"net investments and operations in nations other than the United States† (31). c) The type of currency exposure that Walmart hedges is instabilities in overseas currency exchange rates. This type of exposure is related often to the predicted outflows of â€Å"principal and interest of non-US denominated debt† (31). d) One hedging techniques used by Walmart is taking part in currency swaps and labeling particular overseas-currency denominated, longstanding debt as â€Å"net investment hedges† (31). Another technique is labeling overseas-currency denominated, longstanding debt as â€Å"nonderivative hedges of net investments† of particular overseas activities (32). Nigeria seems to be the biggest concern in terms of currency volatility and country risk. Today, political views and policies are dependent on key deviation in policy course provide the personality-oriented characteristic of Nigerian political affairs. In 2015, currency matters will be the focus of the Central Bank of Nigeria (BMI Research 2015). After the aggressive tightening of monetary measures in November 2014, the Central Bank of Nigeria may find it essential to add tightening courses of action in an attempt to anchor inflation anticipations and calm nervous markets. These tightening courses of action make up the leading cause of currency issues in Nigeria for Walmart (2015).

Qualifiers for a Post Graduate Professional University Essay - 5

Qualifiers for a Post Graduate Professional University - Essay Example 2. Even if the person is unlucky enough not to have his work published, even then, if it possible that his doctoral thesis is under approval, or being considered for approval, is also signs of a winner and qualifier. The fact that the person has been able to put forth efforts towards receiving a doctoral degree and it is under active consideration is also manifestation of order winners and qualifiers. 3. The choice of an advisor is also a significant matter since the influence of the advisor would be felt in the academic activity of the research scholar if not overtly than covertly. For this reason, it is necessary that the advisor need to be a person of sound knowledge in his field, a person who could be depended upon to give excellent guidance and knowledge and who would be useful in carrying out the advisory aspects regarding the studies. It is seen that in our University, the advisor is a person who could be relied upon to give sound and judicious advice and help the students in whichever way it is possible. The relationship which student bear towards the advisor is also important, since an excellent personal rapport would ensure good professional relationships also. Therefore it is necessary that the students should cultivate good professional and personal relationships with the advisor who could guide them in their academic pursuits. Thus the professional standing of the adv isor would be helpful to the students in their academic activities It is seen that the order winners and qualifiers are the ones who have been blessed with good advisors and this is a significant aspect in being a winner 4. The Teaching faculty is also important in that the quality of training and imparting of knowledge has a definite bearing on the students. It is  necessary that in a class there should be systems by which the teacher has the complete responsibility for the designing of the course and its teaching to the students.  

A 'middle class, quasi scientific, technocratic or mangerial form of Essay

A 'middle class, quasi scientific, technocratic or mangerial form of collectivism very different from the ambiguites of social d - Essay Example Fabian society is popular for its achievement during nineteenth century proceeding into First World War. The movement formulated a stolid base for the Labour Party. It also subsequently influenced policies of nations rising from the decolonization of the British Empire, particularly India. Presently, the Fabian Society constitutes one of the communalist groups affiliated with the Labour Party and its presence can be felt and seen in nations such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand (Blackburn 2007). The Fabian Society, a London based movement, was formed in 1884 as a budding from The Fellowship of the New Life of 1883. The Fellowship Society’s main objective was to transform society through leading by example by demonstrating a simple lifestyle for others to emulate. However, because of varied thoughts, some affiliates of the society were focused on involving politics to assist in transformation process of the society. Consequently a decision was reached that a distinct societ y was to be founded. This was the rise of the Fabian Society. After its establishment, the Fabian Society campaigned for restitution of Western European Renaissance principles and their propagation globally. The Fabian Society was named after a Roman general, Fabius Maximus popularly known as â€Å"Cunctator† to connote â€Å"delayer.† According to theGuardian (2001), the Fabian Society preferred a gradual change approach to radical change. Fabius adopted the tactics of harassment and attrition as opposed to one-on-one combats against the Carthaginian army led by General Hannibal. The Fabian Society attained great heights of influence, especially through their publication of Fabian Essays of 1889, in which Webb and other Fabian authors made great contributions. The Fabians idea of social reforms and transformation were based on the concept of â€Å"permeation† of already established political systems or institutions. Their argument was that the infiltration of t he existing political organisations was the main way of achieving natural socialism. The Fabian Society was opposed to Marxist revolutionary approach to social change (social democracy). Renouncing the need to have aggressive and brutal class struggles, the Fabian Society affiliates embraced the idea of developing trade unions as well as other labour movements up to the time when Beatrice Potter, latter referred to as Beatrice Webb because of her union with Sidney Webb, became a member of the society. Webbs in 1900s assisted the group to establish Labour Representation Committee, from which the Labour Party was born. After its inauguration, the Fabian Society lured many famous figures into its socialist foundation. The central figures of the Fabian Society were Sidney Webb and Beatrice Webb among other key members. The two key pillars of the movement published numerous articles on property ownership under capitalism in industrial Britain. In the wake of 1900, majority of affiliates of the Fabian Society took part in the formation of the Labour Party and the establishment of its constitution, in which Sidney Webb extensively applied the principles in the initiating documents of the Fabian Society. As unbelievable as it may look, the Fabian Society started as a mere nine-member movement, who endorsed an executive committee of three members. A former chairman of British Fabian Society, Mrs. Cole, pointed out on the group’s success in instilling its socialist ideologies in the entire society and nurturing the schemes to flourish and change

A thoughtful comment about a video Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

A thoughtful comment about a video - Essay Example He first places the fork over one edge of the plate then sprinkles sugar carefully over the fork. This leaves space on plate to serve food (Cronin, 2012). The use of a sieve in sprinkling sugar is important in achieving uniform distribution over a third area of the plate for placing the fork. After sprinkling only amount require to covers the, he stops and lift the fork carefully. Leaving behind is a decoration that is fork-shaped. In the procedure, he makes sure to use right quantity of sugar so as not to affect food taste. In the second part of decoration, he uses a white square plate. This time he places a fork on plate followed by a spoon across over the fork. The spoon and fork combination make sure of decoration in a quarter of the square-shaped plate. He then sprinkles cocoa powder using sieve over the spoon and fork. The cocoa powder is dark in color and gives a nice contrast to the white plate for decoration to be visible. He finally lifts the spoon then fork carefully to leave decoration of their shapes on the plate (Cronin, 2012). The cocoa power is bitter hence avoid using large amounts due to its flavor in

Wal-Mart Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Wal-Mart - Case Study Example A brief introduction to business ethics and social responsibility is undertaken. The importance of CSR initiatives is also discussed. The results indicate that Wal-Mart is well perceived by many customers despite few criticisms leveled against it due to its low and affordable prices. Candid CSR initiatives emerged as a very crucial factor. Corporations today have to pay much attention to the needs as well as preferences of many interest groups. Corporations are not required to behave as if their profit making goal is more important that the interests of their stakeholders. Stakeholder theory maintains that management’s role is to create value for their non-shareholder stakeholders such as consumers, the community, creditors, employees and suppliers (Lii, 2011). However, Wal-Mart has been greatly criticized for going against this theory. Areas of criticisms include treatment of suppliers, foreign products sourcing of the corporation, environmental practices, employee compensations as well as working conditions, the corporation’s security policies, the use of public subsidies and slavery (Yuan, Bao, & Verbeke, 2011). They have sought to inflict harms on their stakeholders for profit seeking in a number of ways. However, the MNE has a number of CSR initiatives to help in leading as well as providing the m with an opportunity to make differences on the big issues that matter to everyone. The corporation noted that they are committed to using their big size as well as scale in helping the world live better. Through such initiatives, Wal-Mart has been able to empower women, contribute to energy efficiency and assisting with disaster relief (News & Brothers, 2005). The aim of this paper is to identify the harms Wal-Mart inflict on their stakeholders while they make profit and the CSR initiatives it has adopted as well as their motives. In addition, the paper evaluates the results of such CSR initiatives and makes recommendations to

“Castles Don’t Have Phones, Asshole!” by Jodi Parker Essay Example for Free

â€Å"Castles Don’t Have Phones, Asshole!† by Jodi Parker Essay

My Dream Job Essay Example for Free

My Dream Job Essay What is a bad boss or manager? We all have had some good managers and some bad managers. In most cases people don’t care too much for their boss. One of the biggest characteristics flaws in a poor manager is poor communications skills. They possess little to no listening skills and don’t seek out advice or suggestions from their employees. When a big decision needs to be made they normally make the decision on their own with little input from their subordinates. Another characteristic of a poor boss is a one who is afraid of confrontation. In management, I believe that any time there is an issue, the boss should not be afraid to address it. Some employees will take advantage and lose respect for their boss if that happens. I call those types of managers â€Å"buddy bosses,† which is not a good thing their needs to be a healthy balance. Bosses should be nice most of the time yet they also needs to be firm when the time calls for it. Good management skills don’t always come naturally. Managers have to continue to have ongoing training on leadership skills just like the workers need to have ongoing training on the jobs. In management; it is hard to please everyone in fact, if everyone is happy with you all the time you are probably a â€Å"buddy boss. † There will always come a time when you are going to have to say no to someone’s request. I believe that sometimes bad employees force a boss to become more firm most of with the employees. There are several types of bosses that I would consider bad. The first one is called an incompetent boss. They really don’t know the job and rely on the employee’s knowledge to get them through. When an issue occurs, they are no help at all. When an incompetent boss tries to help, they often make the situation worse. The second type of poor boss is a unchangeable leader. This is someone who does not like change and is unwilling to do what it takes to make the team more effective. This person doesn’t listen to the advice of the team, eve when they might tell them something that might help a process run smoother. The next type of poor leader I would call the abuser of power. They are people that get into leadership and use their power for personal gain. An example of this would be a boss that leaves early for the day all the time to take care of their personal business. The next type of poor leader is a leader that can’t be trusted. This is someone who employees don’t trust with information that can be used against them. When they have a problem the don’t feel comfortable talking to their leader in fear that they will tell someone else or use it against them in the future. They can’t tell them how they really feel. There is always going to be corrupt people in the world but when a leader is corrupt in any organization it breeds more corruption. There are some leaders that are down rite evil. They may have had a hard life and just don’t like to see others happy so they always find a reason to be upset and not satisfied with anything that is done within their department. Manager that operate in this manor normally don’t last long in leadership because there would make their employees unhappy and we all know that an unhappy employee won’t be a good producer. There ways to improve a bad boss if they want to improve. One way to do that is to make sure that middle level supervisors and managers have the support they need from upper management. I believe that leadership training should be an ongoing thing. I feel that in every organization there should be a hotline that employees can call to give feedback on how they feel their leadership is going. Once that feedback is collected it should be used as a training tool. Listening to the employees and responding to their needs and wants is in my opinion, the most effective way to go. During the hiring process employers should make sure that the leader they has the characteristic of a good leader. No one wants a bossy dictator as a boss. I have been in the workforce for over ten years and in that time I have had more good managers than bad. I think that is because it all comes down to respecting a person and there position. There have been times when my coworker s has come to me complaining about our boss. What I have found is that most of the time it not the boss at all it’s the employee view of their boss. Most people who don’t like their boss don’t like their job. I believe that if a person doesn’t like their job there is a likely chance they don’t like their boss because that the boss is only there to enforce the rules and doesn’t care employee’s personal feeling. In some cases they are right. The next time you are trying to determine if you have a good leader look for key traits. One key trait of a good boss is vision. Do they have a vision for the department that they will be managing? What is that vision? Does the vision line up with the companies mission statement? Ask yourself these questions. The next trait you should look for is wisdom. What useful knowledge can this person bring to the organization? Good leaders are strategic, wise and perceptive. The next question you should ask yourself about your boss is if he people are they passionate about what he or she does? Good bosses are very passionate people. They operate with such a high level of passion that they get consumed in it. They take action! Good leaders are determined to attain their goals. They know that the journey reaching their destination can be filled with problems. However, they are persistent people and are willing to put in the long hour and hard work to ensure that th eir goal is meet. Good leaders mean what they say. They have integrity. Theyre individuals who keep their guarantees and they do not play the old political games that plenty of others do. People find them reliable and as such are dedicated to them. Not all good bosses carry every single trait. They might be strong in some areas and lacking in others. But just remember, it isnt about being perfect, but understanding that bosses are human too; no one is perfect. Make an effort to try and get to know your boss and be a little more understanding about what they might be challenged with in their day to day duties.

Italy: Culture and Economy

Italy: Culture and Economy Have any of you ever wanted to travel to a place filled with ancient ruins of a once mighty empire, delicious cuisine and wine, and beautiful scenery? Well, Italy is the perfect place for you! Italy is a European country with a very artistic formative country. Italy has an ancient and culture dating back from 27 BC. One of the most famous ancient ruins in Rome is the Colosseum from way back from 72-70 AD. Italys food is a big part of the Italian culture. They like to get all together and spend time with each other. Most Italian families get together every Sunday, spend time with each other and eat with each other as a family. The currency in Italy is a Euro. Euros look like colorful money. On the euro it has on silver strip on the the edge from one side. Italy is a peninsula in Southern Europe. The Mediterranean Sea, Adriatic Sea, and the Tyrrhenian surround Italy along with their neighboring countries: France, Austria, and Switzerland. The Alps go from the north of Italy all the way down the western side, while the Apennines mountains run down the center of the entire country. To the west of the Apennines were the wooded hills and many of Italys cities, and to the south were hot, dry coastlands and fertile plains where they planted olives, almonds, and figs. They own 301,230 sq km and has a population 59.83 million. Italy had an economic transformation since WWII. In the 1960s, Italy was one of the worlds best economies. Their dominant exports were: clothing, shoes, food, and wine. The industrial north was dominated by private companies, a less developed, welfare-dependent, agricultural south, and had a high number unemployment. The imports cost $389.2 billion, and   the cost of the exports was $454.6 billion. And because of the type of government they have, their official name is Republica Italiana. Italy has a very unique culture. As you know, Italians mostly speak Italian, but the population also speak English, French, and even Spanish. Their education system is separated into sections; Children learn to read and to write in a variety of subjects including maths, Italian, English, and geography. Italians also spend their time watching opera, and it has become a major tradition there. On special occasions, Italians will eat Sunday lunches, and on holidays they will usually eat lasagna, ravioli, and tiramisu. The Italians discovered the worlds best food which is pizza. Italians were the first ones to The Renaissance, and especially their art, is a big part of Italian culture. Today, you can see all these works of art in galleries across the globe; the Renaissance also encouraged trade, science, and a new way of thinking. Similar to the US, Italy has some well known holidays like Christmas and Easter. Italys religion is similar to the US as well. Like the US, Italy is mostly Christian. Both of those countries even have a high GDP. Although Italy and the US are similar, they are also different in multiple ways. For one what makes Italy such a unique and popular destination is the places you can go. Like for example, you can visit the ancient ruins of Rome like the colosseum or just go and eat a pizza and a carafe of wine in Naples. Italys population might be less than half of ours, but it has a lower crime rate, HIV/AIDS, and longer life span. Italians mostly eat three times a day. Mostly their diet is cold meat, pasta, and rice but it depends on where they live it may be different diet on where they live. As you can see, Italy has a lot in common and a lot different with the US. Overall the Italian culture focuses on food, tradition, and family. Italian culture is very unique and great to witness first hand. If you think of Italy, the first things that would come up is food/wine, famous places like Rome, Venice, and Florence, and the rich history of Italy. Italy is a place you should definitely put on your bucket list.

Russia vs. China: FDI Analysis for Energy Company Essay -- Social Risks

Introduction A company that is considering investing internationally has to evaluate some important factors that are crucial in choosing the right country. In order to choose the best decision a businessperson has to analyze economic, political, geographical and social factors before entering a new market. This paper will analyze two countries using a fictive sample of Energy Company based in US. This private company wants to enter to a new market in one of the BRIC countries located in Europe or Asia. The energy company wants to build ECO power plants (environmental friendly) and introduce a new concept of sustainable energy source to these two countries (Russia and China). Hydropower, Wind power and solar energy should be used to generate the electricity. The capital investment is quite high in order to build new power plants, but the goal of the company is to become a big competition for already existing companies in this industry. The major advantage of this energy company is that they produc e electricity for a fair price and do not pollute the environment. The company wants to build a chain of ECO power plants in one of these countries and expand to other markets outside the US. Social risks and benefits Russia and China are countries with large population. These states belong to BRIC group, which are countries with fast developing economy. Both are very attractive destinations for foreign direct investments that can benefit whole country. Despite of the prosperity a huge amount of the population live below the poverty line and lack basic needs or education. The average wages in these countries are very unstable because they vary from region to region. While average wages in China are rising those in Russia are ... .... The World Factbook. Retrieved November 24, 2013, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html Central Intelligence Agency (2013). The World Factbook. Retrieved November 24, 2013, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rs.html Graham, E. M., Wada, E. (2001). Foreign Direct Investment in China: Effects on Growth and Economic Performance. Retrieved November 24, 2013, from Peterson Institute for International Economics website: http://www.iie.com/publications/wp/01-3.pdf The World Bank (2013). Doing Business in China - World Bank Group. Retrieved November 24, 2013, from http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/china/ The World Bank (2013). Doing Business in Russian Federation - World Bank Group. Retrieved November 24, 2013, from http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreecon omies/Russia

These three poems are all based upon time, they all show time passing :: English Literature

These three poems are all based upon time, they all show time passing and how it effects human life and nature. to his coy These three poems are all based upon time, they all show time passing and how it effects human life and nature. ‘to his coy mistress’ shows time passing as the poet tries to say that time doesn’t last forever , and that you should make the most if youth, because one day it will all be over and you will be getting old. ‘to the virgins make much of time’ also shows a very similar approach of how you should make the most.’Ozymandias’ shows time passing by saying that structures will out do people and that nothing can prevent time stopping, eventually it will catch up on us all. The poem to his coy mistress’ is a poem of great passion to ask the woman if she will date him and also go to bed with him. It is a poem of originality and the language used in the poem is very soft texture and content. The poem is split up into three sections one part is ‘if’, the second part is ‘but, and the last part is therefore. All theses show a different view of how he is persuading her to do all these things. The rhythm and rhyme of the poem to reinforce the arguments a used by rhyming couplets, which create a light hearted approach on the poem. The first two lines of the poem relate to the subject of time by saying, that if there was enough time and if life was longer then we could see much more things and, do more things with each other, it also uses the word crime which I used to show that it is no crime for us to do things together. The third and fourth lines show the man and the woman and how they could live their lives without rushing, because life would be longer than before. On lines 5-7 the poet compares the woman to the Ganges and himself to the Humber is used as a tone of mockery and is meant to be a joke. Line 10 shows the ‘flood’ which is a biblical reference showing that he will love her even before this point. On line 23-25 it shows how she will get old very quick and that you should make the most of your life, because one day it will be forgotten and your beauty will have faded. On lines 28-29 there are stops before the end, this is the poet