The Nature Of Quality And The Categories Of Quality Television Essay

The Nature Of Quality And The Categories Of Quality Television - Essay Example Value is about finances, cultural importance, and artistic importance. However, it is financial value that must first be addressed to then move towards addressing the more esoteric values. Quality is determined by who is defining the concept. Cultural changes and shifts will also affect the concept of quality. Through an exploration of the concept of family in television, as an example, an understanding of how culture is influenced by television as much as it influences the nature of programming can be understood. The categories of culture that are defined for the concept of ‘quality’ television are related to the idea that the elite determine the distribution of information, thus informing the public and formatting belief systems and cultural boundaries. In an examination of the idea of quality and relating it to the idea of categories of culture, the nature of power and information control emerges. The concept of quality television is a topic for families, social group s, and theorists. It is not often, however, a topic of interest for programmers. The first issue in trying to determine how to define quality television is through an understanding that that those most interested in quality are not necessarily those who are responsible for making television. Television is business, therefore the interests of the programmers is to find television programming that will sell, which is not always in line with what is considered high quality. Television is the business of making programs that can be made for the least amount of money in order to gain the highest profit from advertising dollars. The interest from the business end that might contribute to higher quality television would be in the realm of writers, directors, creators and producers. McCabe and Akass quote Robin Nelson for having stated that â€Å"notions of quality are ‘an open narrative of the broad cultural and institutional context of the evaluation and the valuer, rather than a c losed resolution answering the question of worth for all time† (McCabe and Akass, 4). Quality is a question of fashion as much as it is a question of culture. The nature of a piece of ‘art’ is considered of high quality only because society has determined that it represents a notion of quality. Quality means different things to different sectors of society. The very concept of quality cannot be determined through an overall sense of the idea as each individual provides their own framework of quality. According to Friske and Jenkins, the differences between quality as determined by the bourgeoisie and that of the elite, the concept of quality is determined through different criteria. Quality is relevant, to the bourgeoisie, through its functionality. Therefore, in trying to understand the nature of quality, the concept of relevance must be determined. The defining concept of relevance lays within â€Å" A consensus of what is high quality can be reached through a determinant of what is valued. Relevance is a way in which quality is determined and judged as it is â€Å"activated in the specifics of each moment of reading: unlike aesthetics, relevance is time – and place bound† (Fiske and Jenkins, 103). It might be determined, then that the way in which quality is discovered is through an understanding of its relevance to time and space, the way in which it fits into the greater scheme of cultural meanings. Quality is a custom, rather than a specific identifiable quantity. To determine quality is to associate it to how something functions within the dynamics that are relevant during a time period. This is specifically relevant to the nature of television as most programs have a very small, finite time in

What's the difference between Financial Accounting and Management Essay

What's the difference between Financial Accounting and Management Accounting - Essay Example While management accounting is largely implemented for individuals working within the organization, financial accounting generally functions for external entities. In terms of financial accounting there are a number of specific considerations. Although law does not require management accounting, financial accounting is a necessity for organizations. The requirements for corporations to keep financial accounting records is a large consideration, as recent Dodd-Frank regulation has necessitated that expensive accounting measures be kept to ensure that accurate records are established. Within this spectrum of understanding financial accounting is further distinguished, as it requires an external review by a certified public accountant (CPA). It follows that external stakeholders use financial accounting. Generally these external stakeholders implement financial accounting reports as a means of making investment decisions, as the financials of a company are the primary determinant of equ ity value. In addition to management accounting being for individuals within the organization and financial accounting being for external stakeholders, there are a number of further differentiating factors between these forms of accounting. While financial accounting necessarily involves the entire organization, oftentimes management accounting is implemented for significant sectors of the business or corporation. This division is such that it creates significant structural divisions between these forms of accounting. While the structure of financial accounting is regulated by the Internal Revenue Service and accounting regulations, managerial accounting is contingent only on the strategic initiatives within the organization. For instance, management accounting records may occur on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Additionally, management accounting oftentimes has a strategic angle, as it allows internal officers examine the

Concept of internal marketing

Concept of internal marketing The concept of internal marketing The concept of internal marketing is a tool that companies use within their workforce to communicate with their employees. Many company owners and authors of internal marketing believe this concept is as important to a companys survival as external marketing (communicating to customers). When communicating to employees this involves the communications of â€Å"corporate culture and goals, mission and vision statements, as well as personnel policies and procedures†. http://www.bnet.com/2410-13237_23-168356.html Internal marketing was introduced in the mid 1970s. This was initiated so companies could use the concept as a way of achieving consistent service quality. Internal marketing became known in the service marketing industry. The objective of this concept was to get a more improved performance from the employees who regularly dealt with customers. Although this concept began within the service marketing it has now broadened beyond and is included in many other companies and organisations. Ahmed and Rafiq authors of the book Internal Marketing: Tools and concepts for customer-focused management suggest that authors have many definitions of internal marketing and from studying the literature they have highlighted 5 main elements of the concept; Employee motivation and satisfaction Customer orientation and customer satisfaction Inter-functional co-ordination and integration Marketing-like approach to the above Implementation of specific corporate or functional strategies Employee motivation is a significant element of the concept, for many authors understand this to be the essence of what internal marketing to be. An employees attitude towards their own work place is believed to directly influence the value of the customer service that is given to consumers. This was summarised by Kusluvan (2003) â€Å"Internal marketing efforts are assumed to result in employee satisfaction, job involvement, work motivation, employee commitment, maximum employee effort on behalf of the organizations and customers, increased job performance, service-oriented behaviours and lower turnover which, in turn should improve service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty† Kusluvan, S (2003) pg:42. There are many other definitions of internal marketing. Ahmed and Rafiq argue that the span of understanding about internal marketing from other authors is huge but vague in its limitations. One of the earlier studies by the author Berry, L (1974) believed that â€Å"effective internal marketing, which would contribute to effective marketing would require financially rewarding personnel, management commitment to sales training and self-development revision of personnel transfer policies and a redefinition of management in terms of helping people to achieve through work† (p.13). Berry along with Pasuraman (1991) later added another definition to the concept in their book Marketing services: Competing Through Quality by stating â€Å"Internal marketing is attracting, developing, motivating and retaining qualified employees through job-products that satisfy their needs. Internal marketing is the philosophy of treating employees as customers and it is the strategy of shaping job -products to fit human needs† (pg 26). These authors believed that there was a set of principles to treating employees fairly and motivating them. They also highlighted the belief that employee satisfaction was an important element of internal marketing. The definition by these authors stress the importance that employee satisfaction is needed in order to develop, motivate and retain the best and most qualified employees. From these two definitions given by Barry you can understand that the concept of internal marketing is a broad notion. The American Marketing Association have given a more simplistic and modern definition for the concept â€Å"marketing to employees of an organization to ensure that they are effectively carrying out desired programs and policies†. This definition doesnt give readers a breadth understanding of the concept. Unlike Berrys (1991) definition it doesnt justify how internal marketing can be achieved in the workplace and it also doesnt explain the ways in which employees are to be marketed to ensure the work carried out by them is effective and of a good standard. An important element of internal marketing as said earlier is motivation [motivating the work force]. Considered by many authors as the ‘grandfather of all definitions on internal marketing Grà ¶nroos (1994) created a definition which saw the efforts of motivating employees as very important. Grà ¶nroos had two previous definitions both created in 1981 which suggests that internal marketing is the selling of the firm to employees who are seen as the internal customers. Grà ¶nroos believed that â€Å"the higher employee satisfaction that will result will make it possible to develop a more customer-focused and market-oriented firm† (Cahill, 1996, p.4). Grà ¶nroos 1994 article looks into motivation and states that â€Å"the internal market of employees is best motivated for service mindedness and customer-oriented performance by an active, marketing-like approach, where a variety of activities are used internally in an active, marketing like and coordinated way† (Grà ¶nroos, 1994, p. 13). This definition, as well as Johnson and Seymours (1985) definition which explains internal marketing should â€Å"create an internal environment which supports customer consciousness and sales-mindedness†. Both definitions highlight the fact that internal marketing is about the service and sales mindedness of the customers. There are other recent definitions of the concept of internal marketing by Ballantyne (2000) which suggests that internal marketing â€Å"is a strategy for developing relationships between staff across internal organisational boundaries. This is done so that staff autonomy and know-how may combine in opening up knowledge generating processes that challenge any internal activities that need to be changed. The purpose of this activity is to enhance quality of external marketing relationships† (pg: 43). This definition emphasises the importance of the relationship between the staff and the organisation and how internal marketing is a strategy that will allow this relationship to become stronger. It also highlights the fact that building on the relationship can enhance the service quality and also their relationship with their external markets. To evaluate how affective internal marketing is with employees companies usually give staff seasonal or yearly surveys which they will us e to measure the affects of their internal marketing efforts. There are many answers to what can actually make a successful company. Some may say its the companys ability to adapt to the market or even a companys high level of customer retention and many believe successful companies are created from within the organisation. Communicating internally but affectively to your internal market (employees) many authors believe is an important attribute for company success, An article written in 2007 about the importance of internal marketing suggested thatâ€Å"Internal communications is traditionally viewed as the sole province of the Human Resources department,† and the article continued by stressing the importance that employees have over effective external marketing â€Å"When employees understand and commit to the value proposition of the company and its brands, external marketing becomes more effective, because the employees become product champions†. As the pace of the economy is fast changing and the recent recession has affected many companys survival, internal marketing grows increasingly important. Due to the recession and the increasing pace of change in the workforce, there has been news of many companys creating alliances with one another, merging with one another and also downsizing as a whole. During these hard times employee motivation is extremely important, especially if every employee is understandably beginning to have concerns about their own companys survival or their current job position. Organisations must instil within these employees some sort of strength and satisfaction that would mean that the employees would continue working and at a good level. Generally, a strategy that many companies use and one which coincides with Ballantynes (2000) definition is that companies â€Å"empower staff to build stronger customer relationship†. Internal marketing supports this strategy (or theory some might say) and suggests that through staff empowerment employees will drive for better understanding, they will have a deeper commitment to the relationship they hold with the organisation and as a result there will be greater involvement from the staff. While todays diverse work force becomes more complicated there are a few barriers which can possibly affect how internal marketing is kept within an organisation. In the book Internal marketing: directions for management, Varey R and Lewis B explain these barriers. The first and probably the most important barrier would be the employees and an organisations ‘resistance to change. Kotler (1990) believed that problems can occur from an organisations ‘built-in â€Å"resistance of management to change† (Percy and Morgan 1990). Managers often do not consider new ideas brought about their company, and this is because a change in the work place can bring forth an overall fear of concern about their job and future positions. Other barriers to internal marketing are ‘inter and intra functional conflict. Inter-functional conflicts often occur when a senior managers assumption of their organisational culture is ill-advised and as a consequence managers may become unaware of the issues and problems which affect prolific activities or â€Å"co-operation and integration† (pg: 78). Intra-functional conflicts are basically when one internal function fails to recognise another internal function. Intra-functional conflicts on the other hand are where the goals and objectives of the organisation and its departments are different to the individual and personal goals of employees. â€Å"It occurs because individuals have different goal, desires and ambitions, and will be submerged in different social spheres of interaction that will impact upon their overall attitude and behaviour†. (Pg: 79) If ever these barriers work in cohesion then it can spell big trouble for any organisation. Although the three chosen are seem as the major barriers affecting the use of internal marketing within an organisation there are also a few other problems which can affect successful implementation of the concept. 1, managerial incompetence 2, poor understand of the internal marketing concept 3, rigid organisational structure and 4, top members of staff treating employees like they are unimportant to the business. Anon (2007) Internal Marketing Kotler P, Bowen J and Makens J (2003) have stated 5 importances of internal marketing; Employees must have a customer service attitude Employees must understand your product Employees must be enthused about your product and your company There must be good communication between employees and management Employees must be able to identify and solve customer problems Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism 3e (2003) Generally employees of organisations, especially those who communicate directly with customers can have an influence on customer satisfaction. The authors suggest that these are 5 important features of internal marketing and in order for it to be affective organisations must aide in ensuring that employees behave in a desired manner expected of them from the organisation. Internal market in todays industry is needed because as Berry L Pasuraman A (1991) stated it serves as a â€Å"managerial philosophy† that a company deploys on to employees that in turn would teach the employees how to maintain good high standard of affective customer service. Within organisations employees are recognised as a major part of the capabilities that service organisations produce. â€Å"The popular view is that employees constitute an internal market in which paid labour is exchanged for designated outputs.† Fill C (2009) pg: 895. Fill suggests if the objective of an organisations internal market is kept then employees will reap the benefits through paid labour. Kotler P, Bowen J and Makens J (2003) have proposed that these are the four objectives of internal marketing; To ensure that employees are motivated for customer-oriented and service-minded performance. To retain good employees. To increase customer satisfaction To increase profitability Some may argue that the main objective of internal marketing is to retain suitable and efficient employee personnel. As a means of retaining these ideal employees, organisations develop motivated and customer-conscious staff which while working simultaneously and cohesively can work towards achieving absolute customer satisfaction. There is a philosophy in internal marketing that every action made within the organisation is oriented towards this sole purpose. As times and the economy change so would the process of internal marketing. The model above shows four steps of internal marketing. Some authors believe this model to be too vague and feel that the complexity of the internal market or many organisations cannot be met by four simple steps. Grà ¶nroos (1996) believes â€Å"The internal marketing process is not to be viewed as a process, which only moves in one direction from the top down. On the contrary, the process needs to be directed from and to every side of the organisation in order for it to be successful† As it is important that an organisations internal marketing objectives are met by its employees, an organisation will produce an internal environment that staff will need to function in to a desired way recommended to them by their company. In the article Internal Marketing (2007) it is written that there are four important areas within an organisations internal environment which are essential for the organisations internal market: Motivation Co-ordination Information Education Internal Marketing from engineer sood These four areas have come up many times in definitions by numerous authors and combined create the four objectives of internal marketing that organisational managers should be trying to reach from their employees. If these are reached then as a result the employees work would drive the profitability of the organisation to a positive and effective level. To conclude in many definitions you will read internal marketing being referred to as a concept that aims on â€Å" attracting, developing, motivating and retaining qualified employee† Berry Pasuraman (1991). In some other cases you will read that internal marketing is a philosophy whereby employees are treated as customers or even in some cases where organisations will basically teach employees a specific way of working in the work place and handling customers. Internal marketing has come a long way since it was first proposed in the service marketing industry in the 1970s. The role of marketing in general has undergone many changes. Organisations have begun networking with one another and members of organisations have begun sharing responsibilities and working as teams. Although many if not all definitions of the term ‘internal marketing can still be relevant to today, the concept in itself over the past 40 years has become one which is/will constantly change as long as the world of business changes. From a concept which first focused on supporting the consciousness and sales-mindedness of employees to one which broadens its scope and understands that the concept is much more profound and more complex to achieve good employee to customer service quality. Key words such as ‘relationships, or ‘motivate and philosophy are now being used in the more modern terms of the definition. J.N. Sheth suggests â€Å"motivation is what moves people. It is the driving force for all human behaviour or more formally, it is ‘the state of drive or arousal that impels behaviour toward a goal objective† (Sheth et al 1999). Indeed, motivating employees has continually been used by authors since the concept of internal marketing was initiated , and although motivating employees to work harder and more efficiently is seen to be very important, organisations also need to understand and create a way of making employees enjoy the work that they are doing. Content workforces which take pleasure in their work are understood to be more productive and affective, which in turn creates a better service and customer experience.Organisations must instil within these employees some sort of strength and satisfaction that would encourage the employees to continue working and at a good level. As the new age dawns many organisations have even used employees to help sell their company e.g. Halifax. Halifax adverts and many other adverts similar to this have used employees as a way of advertising to external customers about big internal changes to policies and procedures that the company may be having. You see adverts everywhere with pictures of employees holding offers or incentives from their company or maybe even different adverts where employees are actually talking to the camera. This can be seen as a form or a strategy used for internal marketing. As a good employee is as important to a company as the employer, employees may feel the need to get more involved with company actions and strategies. In the article Internal Marketing (2007) it was stated that one of the problems which could affect the successful implementation of internal marketing is the ignoring of an employees importance to the company and treating them like any other tool of the business. Companies such as The Carphone Warehouse have their own internal marketing strategy whereby they are accompanied by new employees on a weekend of training. On this expedition employees are taught how to deal with customers, they are given information about the company and objectives that the company and each individual employee are and should be trying to reach, they are taught many things about the products sold in the shops, how to deal with complaints and they are also taught ways in which they should act in the workplace (the rules and codes of conducts). Organisations which take on the strategy to market internally must have a clear and precise objective and mission. The objectives of the organisation must be very clear if it is to correspond with how managers internally market their company to employees. If objectives are clear there will be no confusion within the staff on how to do things and what to aim for. This will help the process of knowledge development of the employee by piecing together understanding and loyalty to individual development. As a personal definition of the term internal marketing one would define it as an internal culture created by the managers of an organisation. This culture allows employees to express their creativity and innovative selves to an extent where they still show responsibility and accountability. It is the selling of the ideals and objectives of the company to the employees so that they work harder towards the goal of ultimate success. Developing and motivating employees are strategies deployed to attain the best qualified staff which would allow organisations to reach set objectives. It is a concept which can be evaluated seasonally through surveys and observations of the employees. Internal marketing should be used to meet the expectations of customers, instead internal marketing should be used to exceed them.

Why the Spanish Armada Invaded Britain and Lost Essay -- essays resear

Spanish Armada Essay In this essay I am going to look at why the Spanish armada wanted to invade Britain and why they failed to do so, was it down to luck or were the British too smart for the Spanish. And was it all England's glory? The Spanish wanted to invade England was mainly to turn England back into a catholic country, and to get Queen Elizabeth of the throne and to get a queen who was for the catholic monarch on the throne. However there are many other reasons: Firstly Philip II couldn?t accept that was not the king of England, as he was married to Queen Mary I, who was the Queen before Elizabeth. Secondly, when Philip proposed to Elizabeth she turned him down. Another reason is Elizabeth wouldn?t stop the privateers from robbing and sinking Spanish ships, which were carrying gold over the ocean, however it is to be said that Elizabeth ?turned a blind eye to it?, which means that she knew it was happening but wasn?t taking any notice. The last straw was when Elizabeth executed Mary Queen of Scott?s, who would have been Philips choice of queen to rule England, in 1587. The battle at first sight looked at it should have been a complete walkover for the Spanish, as there army was much stronger, however if you want a successful battle you must have a successful plan. Before the fleet even set off Sir Francis Drake, Vice-Admiral of the English fleet, damaged many of the Spanish ships in Cadiz, this is just one of the reasons why the Spanish failed to invade England. The Spanish set-sail in May 1588 with 131 ships, this was after the bad weather held them back. One of the main downfalls of the plan is when the Spanish were supposed to be landing in the harbour at Calais, on the 6th August 1588, the Spanish were not sure... ...t of the ships got shipwrecked. The weather was an enemy to the Spanish around 6 times during the whole duration of the battle. So this can go down to luck for the English. It would be easy to give the glory to England, however the Dutch rebels, who were rather good sailors, gave the English a helping hand to finish off the remains of the Spanish fleet. I conclusion, it is clear that there was some good smart moves by the English, however most of the battle was down to luck, mainly the weather ,that was on England?s side. It is also quite easy to pick out a number of faults in the plan, the Spanish should have planned better and been more prepared e.g. firing the correct size cannonballs. Also it wasn?t just the English who were attacking the Spanish, the Dutch rebels were good sailors so that would back up the English when perusing the Spanish round Scotland. Why the Spanish Armada Invaded Britain and Lost Essay -- essays resear Spanish Armada Essay In this essay I am going to look at why the Spanish armada wanted to invade Britain and why they failed to do so, was it down to luck or were the British too smart for the Spanish. And was it all England's glory? The Spanish wanted to invade England was mainly to turn England back into a catholic country, and to get Queen Elizabeth of the throne and to get a queen who was for the catholic monarch on the throne. However there are many other reasons: Firstly Philip II couldn?t accept that was not the king of England, as he was married to Queen Mary I, who was the Queen before Elizabeth. Secondly, when Philip proposed to Elizabeth she turned him down. Another reason is Elizabeth wouldn?t stop the privateers from robbing and sinking Spanish ships, which were carrying gold over the ocean, however it is to be said that Elizabeth ?turned a blind eye to it?, which means that she knew it was happening but wasn?t taking any notice. The last straw was when Elizabeth executed Mary Queen of Scott?s, who would have been Philips choice of queen to rule England, in 1587. The battle at first sight looked at it should have been a complete walkover for the Spanish, as there army was much stronger, however if you want a successful battle you must have a successful plan. Before the fleet even set off Sir Francis Drake, Vice-Admiral of the English fleet, damaged many of the Spanish ships in Cadiz, this is just one of the reasons why the Spanish failed to invade England. The Spanish set-sail in May 1588 with 131 ships, this was after the bad weather held them back. One of the main downfalls of the plan is when the Spanish were supposed to be landing in the harbour at Calais, on the 6th August 1588, the Spanish were not sure... ...t of the ships got shipwrecked. The weather was an enemy to the Spanish around 6 times during the whole duration of the battle. So this can go down to luck for the English. It would be easy to give the glory to England, however the Dutch rebels, who were rather good sailors, gave the English a helping hand to finish off the remains of the Spanish fleet. I conclusion, it is clear that there was some good smart moves by the English, however most of the battle was down to luck, mainly the weather ,that was on England?s side. It is also quite easy to pick out a number of faults in the plan, the Spanish should have planned better and been more prepared e.g. firing the correct size cannonballs. Also it wasn?t just the English who were attacking the Spanish, the Dutch rebels were good sailors so that would back up the English when perusing the Spanish round Scotland.

Euthyphro

Analysis of Euthyphro Nikon121 PHI 200 Bob Harris October 15, 2012 Analysis of Euthyphro Socrates was put to death in Athens for subverting the youth of the city. He was indicted by Meletus and awaiting his trail on the porch of the King of Archon when he met Euthyphro. It was at this point he engaged in a debate about piety. In this paper, I will examine that debate and present my own conclusion about its purpose as well as my own definition of piety. Holiness, or piousness, is the center of the conversation between Socrates and Euthyphro.Both of the men met on the porch of the King to deal with a legal matter; Socrates the defendant and Euthyphro the plaintiff. Socrates was being charged with impiety, and Euthyphro was bringing charges against his father for murdering a servant. When Socrates heard of the nature of Euthyphro’s case, he concluded that Euthyphro must have understood the nature of impiety and piety. Since Socrates was being persecuted for a lack of piety, he be gan a conversation to understand the nature of piety and impiety. In the dialogue, six different definitions of piety were given and refuted by Socrates through Socratic questioning.Socratic questioning has three main goals: to challenge assumptions and self-proclaimed experts, discover a deeper understanding, and apply rational standards critically. Each of the six definitions failed to stand up to the Socratic questioning, and in the end we are left even more confused about what piety really is. The first definition of piety given by Euthyphro was that it was doing what he was doing, and any other similar acts (Plato & Jowett). This was easily refuted by Socrates as he had asked for a clear standard from which to judge all acts, and Euthyphro had given examples only.Piety is that which is dear to the gods, and impiety is that which is not dear to them is the next definition given by Euthyphro (Plato & Jowett). Piety and impiety are clear opposites, so one act cannot be both. Howev er, by this definition, since there were many gods, it is possible for an act to be both pious and impious. The gods often disagreed in many old stories, so if one god held an act to be dear it was possible another would hate it. This would make an act pious and impious, which is a contradiction.After his above point was refuted, Euthyphro modified his point to read that holiness is what all the gods love and the opposite was hated by all of them (Plato & Jowett). This definition is a bit harder to refute, but it definitely falls short of giving a clear standard from which to judge all acts. This definition fails to show the nature of piety. It says the gods love piety but it does not clearly explain why. There has to be a reason that the gods love piety, and without that reason piety seems to become relativist concept. I think this definition just gives a characteristic of piety.The next definition given is that holiness is part of justice that is concentrated on by the gods (Plato & Jowett). Socrates uses examples of people attending to lesser beings for the sake of improving them, and shows that this is impossible with gods since they are beings above us. The word attending defeats this definition. This leads to another unclear definition that suggests that people somehow improve the gods, which we know from the concept of a god is impossible: holiness is that part of justice devoted to service or ministration to the gods; it is learning how to please them with words or deeds (Plato & Jowett).The last definition given by Euthyphro, before he runs off leaving more questions than answers, is piety is the art or science that gods and men use to do business with each other (Plato & Jowett). This definition falls short in that it does not clearly show the benefit gained by the gods in this perceived business deal. It only seems to suggest that they find the act pleasing, which seems to lead back to the third definition. This definition commits a common fallacy t ermed Begging the Question. It defines pious as being pious because it is pious, which is not much of an answer.Socrates goal in this conversation is to understand piety, so that he can defend himself in his hearing. However, I believe that this piece has a deeper goal that belonged to Plato. It seemed that he wished to expose piety for the sham that it is to shame those that executed Socrates. I believe this because before Socrates was executed he asked that a goat be sacrificed to the god of medicine. I believe this showed that he believed in an afterlife, which indicates belief in the gods. I believe that this dialogue did not actually happen and was simply written by Plato after the death of his teacher.I think this is shown through the nature of the character of Euthyphro. He was a self-proclaimed expert on piety, as most piety experts are, and he failed to have an intelligent response to any question posed by Socrates. After failing miserably to give a satisfactory answer, he ran off. I believe this demonstrates that Plato was using this piece to put piety itself on trial. I am not a very stout believer in holiness so I can only think of a way to modify one of Euthyphro’s existing definitions to explain it.I believe a clear explanation of piety would have been to say that the gods’ love makes acts pious. This gives an explanation of why certain acts are pious, but it still does not give the nature of piousness. Socrates may have questioned why the gods loved the acts, as the reason the gods loved them would be a clearer answer than the fact that the gods’ love made the acts pious. If that answer is missing this definition also seems the follow the last definition of Euthyphro. It would seem to say that pious acts are pious because the gods love them, which is baseless and arbitrary.I believe no one thinks that moral claims are baseless so this definition would also fall short of Socrates expectations. There is no definition about why acts are pious, because pious acts are determined by men and attributed to God. Men have created God and said that he has given out certain principles, but the real reason that these acts were determined right or wrong are lost in the annuals of time. At some point, some community labeled certain acts right and wrong; perhaps nature built it into us, but nature is accepting of killing one’s own kind so this also falls short as an explanation.The reality is that the concepts of what are right and wrong were decided by early humans and adopted by society as a whole. The concept of religion furthered those beliefs of right and wrong until they became widespread. These beliefs today have become such an integral part of what we are that we fail to realize that these morals may not be right. If early humans had decided differently, and early religion adopted those views, we would have an entirely different set of morally right and wrong concepts.We would also view those concepts a s being undeniably right, and view the opposites as impossibly incorrect. However, killing one’s own kind is something that happens in nature with very little impact, so our moral code is still very open for debate as is piousness and its origins. References Mosser, K. (2010). Philosophy: A concise introduction. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc Plato, & Jowett, B. (n. d. ). Euthyphro. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved from http://www. gutenberg. org/ebooks/1642

Two Theories of Literacy Development

In this task I am going to identify 2 different theories of language development I am going to be doing, Naom Chomsky and Jean Piaget. Jean Piaget According to Piaget, language development is related to cognitive development, that is, the development of the child’s thinking determines when the child can learn to speak and what the child can say. For example, before a child can say, â€Å"This teddy is smaller than that one†, she/he must have developed the ability to judge differences in size.In Piaget’s view, children learn to talk ‘naturally’ when they are ‘ready’ without any deliberate teaching by adults he thinks children pick up language by repeated behavior. From doing his research into children’s language and how they think, Piaget put his theory on the idea that children do not think like adults he thought that they learnt through schemas which is repeatable behaviour which you see in children as they play and then Piaget t hought that through their play and interactions with their surroundings children build up their own understanding of the world.And Piaget thinks language development comes from logical thinking and reasoning skills. Schemas Schemas are patterns of repeatable behaviour which you might see children do everyday through play and on placements I have seen children do things on placements. Schema: Transporting I have seen most children when I’ve been at placement doing this e. g. when they carry blocks from one place to another either in a bag or trolley or when they take sane from the sand tray to the sensory area this is transporting. Rotation this is when children are fascinated by things spinning e. . the washing machine or anything with wheels they like rolling things down a hill and children enjoy spinning around or being swung around. An example of how children could learn language though schemas could be, if a chid is rolling or pushing a toy car along the floor. And it goe s under the sofa they will say something like ‘oh or its gone’ only as they do it more and more and they have influence through the environment they will become more advance in there language and later on the child will be ale to identify that its gone under the sofa.Piaget thinks children pass through 4 distinct stages: sensory motor, pre-operational; concrete operational; formal operational. Sensory-Motor Period According to Piaget’s theory he thinks children are born with basic ‘action schemas’ such as sucking and grasping. The sensory-motor period starts from birth to 2 years. This is when the children are doing their basic action schemas to take in information about the world. Piaget describes two functions of children's language: the â€Å"egocentric† and the â€Å"socialized. During the sensory-motor period, children's language is â€Å"egocentric†: they talk either for themselves or â€Å"for the pleasure of associating anyone who happens to be there with the activity of the moment. † This stage involves the use of motor activity without the use of symbols. Knowledge is limited in this stage, because it is based on physical interactions and experiences. Infants cannot predict reaction, and therefore must constantly experiment and learn through trial and error. Such exploration might include shaking a rattle or putting objects in the mouth. As they become more mobile, infants' ability to develop cognitively increases.Early language development begins during this stage. Children show that they know objects are still the when they can’t see them at 7-9 months, demonstrating that memory is developing. Infants realize that an object exists after it can no longer be seen. The pre-operational stage usually occurs between toddlerhood (18-24months) and early childhood (7 years). During this stage children begin to use language; memory and imagination also develop. In the pre-operational stage, childr en engage in make believe and can understand and express relationships between the past and the future.More complex concepts, such as cause and effect relationships, have not been learned. Intelligence is egocentric and spontaneous, not logical. The Concrete Operations Stage, this stage was believed to have affected children aged between seven and eleven to twelve years old. During this stage, the thought process becomes more rational, mature and ‘adult like', or more ‘operational', although this process most often continues well into the teenage years. Piaget claims that before the beginning of this stage, children's ideas about different objects, are ormed and dominated by the appearance of the object. For example, there appears to be more blocks when they are spread out, than when they are in a small pile. During the Concrete Operational Stage, children gradually develop the ability to ‘conserve', or learn that objects are not always the way that they appear to be. This occurs when children are able to take in many different aspects of an object, simply through looking at it. Children are able to begin to imagine different scenarios, or ‘what if' something was to happen. This is because they now have more ‘operational' thought.Children are generally first able to conserve ideas about objects with which they are most comfortable. Once children have learnt to conserve, they learn about ‘reversibility'. This means that they learn that if things are changed, they will still be the same as they used to be. For example, they learn that if they spread out the pile of blocks, there are still as many there as before, even though it looks different! Formal Operations Stage (11yrs-16yrs) Finally, in the formal operational stage of adolescence, When faced with a complex problem, the adolescent things about all possible solutions before trying them out in the real world.So when the child has passed through these stages Piaget thinks t hey are ready for the world and they will be able to sort things out throughout their life. Noam Chomsky Chomsky believes that children are born with an inherited ability to learn any human language. He claims that certain language structures which children use so accurately must be already engraved on the child’s mind. Chomsky believes that every child has a ‘language acquisition device’ or LAD which stores children’s language and structures for them to use and expand using their growing vocabulary.Chomsky points out that a child could not possibly learn a language through imitation alone because the language spoken around them is highly irregular – adult’s speech is often broken up and even sometimes ungrammatical. Chomsky’s theory applies to all languages as they all contain nouns, verbs, consonants and vowels and children appear to be ‘hard-wired’ to acquire the grammar. Every language is extremely complex, often with subtle distinctions which even native speakers are unaware of.However, all children, regardless of their intellectual ability, become fluent in their native language within five or six years. Chomsky thinks children learn language quickly and easily, and he thinks language is natural. All babies babble the same sounds, deaf babble. I’ve notice children at my placement make grammar mistakes and example would be, a child fell over in the playground and they said ‘I fellded down’ instead of saying ‘I feel down’ so Chomsky thinks children learn this themselves and we influence it as they get older because they listen to what we say and then we would say ‘oh have a fell down’.So by use saying it the correct way were hoping that the child them remembers this. Evaluation: Both Piaget and Chomsky believe that language is just something that children are born with and that it’s not through nurturing them but they believe that nurturing wil l help bring on their language and support it. Piaget thinks language development is related to cognitive development, that is, the development of the child’s thinking controls when the child can learn to speak and what the child can say.For example, before a child can say, â€Å"This teddy is smaller than that one†, she/he must have developed the ability to judge differences in size. Whereas Chomsky just thinks children will pick up the language but he believe it’s get influenced but people around but he think vocabulary has to be learned and that grammar is influenced by interaction. Chomsky he thinks children are born with all that is needed to produce language, but Piaget thinks parents and carers reinforce and therefore shape children’s language.