Managing Products and Services Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Managing Products and Services - Assignment Example banking, insurance, communications, transportation, travel and entertainment. Today, more than 60% of economy in developed countries depends upon service industry and more than 74% in United States alone. Therefore, today the experts seem to be more interested in focusing how to manage and market their services instead of products. This essay will help to understand the main features of this rapidly growing industry of present era. [1] Before the advent of service industry, the definition of product used to encompass the functionality of service as well because that service was particularly related to those products. This type of service is known as 'after-sales service'. But now due to increased interest in pure service industry, the scholars and professionals have begun to point out the differences between the two. Both product and service are offered to the customers with the aim of fulfilling their needs and demands and earning profits in return. But the literature tells us that it is the 'characteristics' of service which make it different and configurable in comparison to product. Those characteristics are explained as follows: [1] Intangibility: A service is intangible because it cannot be touched, seen, possessed, owned etc. Before using the service, a customer is unknown about its quality. And the service provider cannot assess and control the quality of service until and unless it receives the feedback of customers. It totally depends upon client expectations. So the customer is always uncertain about the value and quality of a service that he/she can experience after its use. Inseparability: A service is inseparable from its provider. That's if the provider is not present the customer cannot use the service e.g. A patient cannot be treated until and unless a physician is present to examine him/her. It also poses that often a customer wants the service to be provided in a specific way or by some specific individual __ it enhances the pressure of perfection in that particular individual that directly provides the service. Perishability: The service cannot be stored for future use or to present to someone as the specimen of quality. If the customer does not avail it, he cannot expect it to be there in the same condition, value etc in future as well e.g. if a client misses the appointment with lawyer that time can never be captured again. At one time the rooms in the most renowned hotel of the city are available but after a few days you might not get a single room vacant there. It means service greatly depends upon supply and demand. Variability: The quality and consistency of service is subject to greater change because it is delivered by 'people' and the behavior of human beings cannot be controlled. They can be in good temperament at one time and in a depressed mood the other. Thus, the quality of service greatly depends upon experience, knowledge, attitude, style, personality etc of the provider e.g. in a restaurant one waiter provides excellent service but another hardly knows how to please a customer. These characteristics show that provision of service or 'service production' is totally based upon 'personnel contact', also called 'people contact'; while a 'product manufacturing' does not need people (customers) for its completion. Both product and service are of two types in nature. [2]

Leadership and Organisational Behaviour Case Study

Leadership and Organisational Behaviour - Case Study Example W.L. Gore & Associates is also known for its ability to develop innovative fabrics and polymer products which can be used for industrial, leisure, electronic and medical purposes (Gore, 2013). The case study will be analyzed on the basis of various theoretical frameworks regarding leadership and organizational behaviour and the researcher will use conjectural view in order to address pertaining issues in the case study. The researcher will mainly use four types of aspects such as leadership theories, team leadership, organizational behaviour and group dynamics in order to analyze the cases study. The researcher will take help of the theoretical argument of various research scholars in order to substantiate the proposed theoretical framework for the cases study and there will be separate literature review in the paper which will present theoretical arguments of various research scholars. In the next part of the paper, pertinent aspects of the case study will be analyzed in the light o f theoretical framework. In the last section, the researcher will recommend some suitable strategies which can help W.L. Gore & Associates to address any future problems in sustainable manner. Paradigms of the Case Study Careful analysis of the case study reveals the fact that the case of W.L. Gore & Associates is exceptional when it comes to comparing work culture in other organizations. The case study was written by considering leadership and organizational behaviour theories such as, 1- mutual trust development in a team, 2- leadership, 3- shared value within the team members, 4- managing a knowledge sharing and organic culture and 5- zest for constant innovation. Now, the question is whether the case study has been succeeded to address all the above mentioned theoretical aspects? Giving answer to the question is not a simple task and neither the researcher is in a position to judge the merit of the case study. However, the case study should be appreciated for its effort to unloc k the success mystery for W.L. Gore & Associates by integrating some of the prominent leadership and organizational behaviour theories. The researcher has found that above mentioned five aspects of the case study needs theoretical consideration in order to analyze the case study in terms of some well established leadership and organizational theories. Hence, the researcher has decided to conduct a literature review in order to explain pertinent aspects of the case study in the light of theoretical judgement of eminent research scholars. Literature Review It is evident from the case study that W.L. Gore & Associates has carefully replaced the concept of managing from external periphery with the concept of self managed individuals who can achieve leadership position by disposing skill and knowledge. Orsburn and Moran (2000) argued that self managed work groups are far more flexible in comparison to bureaucratic structure. Pearce and Manz (2005) pointed out that modern organizations ha ve trying to experiment with the organizational dynamics and organizational culture which can improve their productivity. Pearce and Manz (2005) defined self managed leaders are those who do not need external pressure to achieve the performance objective in workplace rather they

Summary of America's 1 percent problem Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Summary of America's 1 percent problem - Essay Example since they had numerous investments, they were able to recover pretty soon and were already enjoying the fruits of the additional income once the recession ended by 2010. Arguments have been made for and against this increase in the inequality gap and the consequences it is bound to elicit. The truth of the matter however remains and that is the fact that the rich are continuing to be rich hence owning almost everything in the country while the poor and now the middleclass are becoming poorer and poorer by the day and the government is only aggravating this through its cut throat policies meant to benefit the haves who are the minority. This trend will make the US lose its economic superpower position to other nations that actually care about the whole nation in such a way that they are trying ways to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor for future social and political stability and not only economic stability. America should borrow a leaf from some of these nations such as Brazil otherwise the near future presents only doom for the nation in

Analysis of Ryanair Essay Example for Free

Analysis of Ryanair Essay Ryanair established in 1985 carrying more than 5,000 passengers between its route Waterford Airport in Ireland to London Gatwick during its first year. The company expanded by 1989 had 350 employees, 14 aircraft and carrying more than 600,000 passengers a year. In 1997 there were dramatic changes in the European airline industry with deregulation of European Union air transportation allowed airlines to open new routes into Europe. The European Low fares association reported that low fares airlines are carrying more passengers than before with an increasing number of destinations in Europe set to increase from 38% to 53% in European travel (elfaa. com, 2011). Ryanair took advantage from the deregulation with routes from London Stansted to Stockholm, Oslo and Paris. By 2001 Ryanair launched its own travel website and within 3 months received 50,000 bookings (Ryanair.com, 2011). The report will focus on the low cost industry environment by identifying the opportunities and threats as well as five forces of the external environment. The report will also identify the strengths and weaknesses of Ryanair. Part 1: Low cost Airline industry The low cost airline industry has become the most profitable with all segments in the market with low prices and high load factors. This strategy has been challenged since the 1990s with the liberalization of services allowing new entrants to compete for business (Economist.com, 2011). The low cost airline industry operates all activities by reducing costs in order to gain strategic success and competitive advantage. This approach has a lot of opportunities as well as threats. Political Governments in the UK have the highest tax compared to Germany with a $1.3bn departure tax and Austria’s similar $119m duty tax (Independent.co.uk, 2011). The threat of passengers paying higher prices as a result of increased tax for their airline tickets can lower profits for airlines. This can affect low cost airlines such as Ryanair and Easyjet as the higher taxes cut profits for the company for example Easyjet stated they had lost  £21m of its  £153m in 2011 (IATA.com, 2011). Acts of terrorism can also be a major threat to the airline industry. Initiating further routes is an opportunity for low cost airlines to other destinations in Europe with its growing economy and additional 15 EU countries that joined in 2004 such as Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Latvia can offer new opportunities for new routes to increase the number of passengers(Delfmann, 2005). There has also been a threat with the plans to sell Stansted airport, the main location for low budget airlines after the Competition Commission to reduce its dominance in the market. This will bring greater competition to low cost airlines and benefit passengers with more low fare airlines from regional airports such as Gatwick and Stansted competing more (Telegraph.co.uk/travel, 2011). Economic The threat of rising oil prices caused global airlines to lose $16 billion in profits which did rebound in 2010 with higher traffic. The threat continues with oil prices averaging $110 a barrel and estimated to further increases in the industry’s fuel bill which will rise from $10 billion to $176 billion (Bangkokpost.com, 2011). This threat has also been warned by Willie Walsh, the chief executive of British Airways and Iberia who cautioned that European carriers have to bear the impact of the high fuel costs with some operators having to go out of business (Guardian.co.uk, 2011). The recession in 2008 resulted in travelers seeking cheaper fares and led to growth in sales for budget airlines. This opportunity during recession allows budget airlines to take advantage and of more travelers seeking low fares with budget airlines rather than more expensive airline tickets. With the higher oil prices, natural disasters in Japan, discontent in the Middle East, North Africa and can force competitors in the airline industry to increase prices and fuel surcharges which pose major threats to airlines profits and survival of airlines. Social The growth in demand for passengers seeking low cost airlines for cheaper fares is an opportunity for budget airlines. People are living a better standard of life with declining inequality of incomes made up mostly of middle class income people. People are also more well-travelled, experienced and seek new destinations with the growth of vacation property (Goeldner and Ritchie, 2009). This is an opportunity as budget airlines frequently service short haul destinations for short trips or weekend trips for leisure or business purposes offering more destinations and new experiences to people with low fares. Migration has also made commuting a factor with people seeking employment opportunities and education as a motive for travelling as well as the rising quality standards has shown to expect growth for low cost airlines (Gross and Schrà ¶der, 2007). There are significant opportunities for low cost airlines that can benefit from the demand of increasing passenger from various destinations and purposes. Many people also seeking new destinations is a good opportunity for budget airlines to increase passenger numbers and revenue by providing different destinations of regional airports. Technological The increasing popularity of information technology is an opportunity for low budget airlines as they don’t use travel agents to sell tickets and allows consumers to be informed about schedules, compare prices and itineraries as well as flights with other airlines (Pease etl al., 2007). The new ‘saddle seat’ which is designed to allow 23 inches of legroom compared to 30 inches on a normal seat space and shaped to sit at an angle increase the number of seat for an airline (Telegraph.co.uk/travel, 2011). The seats offer an opportunity for low budget airlines such as Ryanair and Easyjet to allow more storage space and more passengers in a plane which can increase revenues. The opportunities in technology allows airlines to take advantage of potential revenues with the internet offering direct marketing for customers and value added service by bringing offers to the customers directly. The opportunities for of the new seats can offer planes to fit more passengers and is a further potential a growth in revenue for budget airlines. Legal The airline industry has considerable regulations with issues concerning legislation and guidelines. For example low cost airlines have aggressive advertising campaigns to emphasize low fares which have become an issue with consumer protection legislation. Separate details of surcharges such as government tax, airport tax and fuel surcharge have to be included so that it does not consumers are not misinterpreted and misunderstood when buying a ticket. This is a threat to low cost airlines as it disregards the concept of low fares with all the taxes passed on by governments and aviation authorities. Low cost airlines can be substantially threatened with EU regulations and laws which can lower profits and damage the reputation of an airline with a negative image. Environmental Natural disasters such as the 2010 Iceland Volcano which caused 14,000 Ryanair flights cancelled. Costs of the 2010 Iceland disruption to the global airline industry soared to  £1.1bn according to estimates from the International Air Transport Association (Iata) (Guardian.co.uk, 2010). This threat to the airline industry faced by natural disasters such as the Iceland volcano can occur at any time and stop people from travelling costing airlines major disruptions with delays or cancellations. Emissions used by the airline industry have been increasingly growing rapidly over recent years, increasing 98% between 1990 and 2006 with predications of further increases to another 88% by 2050. This threat to the aviation industry enforcing airlines to pay for carbon dioxide and lower profits (Ftadviser.com, 2011). Porter’s five forces Porter points out the five forces which consist of bargaining power of suppliers, buyers, threat of potential new entrants and threat of substitutes to the industry. A company can adapt to the forces in order to increase chances of gaining sustainable competitive advantage and profitability. In understanding the strategic decisions a company has to make, it can be useful to look at the five forces of rivalry amongst the firm, substitution, new entry, the power of customers and the power of suppliers. Figure 1.1: Porters five forces Source: (Fouris and Oswald, 2006) Barriers of entry: to obtain aircrafts is extremely expensive and acquiring a basis at airports is also difficult (Gross and Schrà ¶der, 2007). With the success of Southwest airlines and deregulation and liberalization of the airline industry has allowed 40 budget airlines in the airline such as Easy Jet. This level is high as a result of these factors. Substitution- for the short haul flights, the substitute products include car, train and boat services. Travelling by train is clearly a substitute choice for travellers as it is high speed or travelling by car with the many motorway links available can have an impact. Technology can also be a substitute, for example business travellers may choose to conference skype calls over the internet. This level is moderate as flying is the main method of travelling long distances at a shorter time. Bargaining power of buyers: consumers can now purchase their own tickets from low cost airlines and can choose airlines with for higher level of quality, better service and lower price. Customers have the power to easily switch to another product that have lower prices with the ease of the internet (Hitt, et al, 2008). This popularity of comparison internet sites allows passengers to compare flight prices and choose the lowest cost airline of their choice. Therefore to survive with these intense factors airlines have to provide lowest fares to attract customers which is important for budget airlines and as a result the power of buyers is high as they consumers choose lowest fares causing risk of survival to an airline. Bargaining power of suppliers: Airlines rely heavily on the inputs for the company to survive which would be fuel, materials for the planes, services and manpower. Airlines either use Boeing or Airbus together with high maintenance fees, training staff. Additionally with the increase of cost for fuel to $50bn in 2011 resulted in travelers paying higher prices for tickets (Reuters.com, 2011). Therefore these inputs have high bargaining power over airlines as it can affect profits of an airline substantially. Competitor rivalry: may occur from price competition, product differentiation, advertising against other competitors is likely to affect the business (Bowhill, 2008). The intense rivalry occurs between low fares carriers are Ryanair, Easyjet and the carriers that provide ‘frills’ service with lower fares are British Midland Airways. Rivals also have to invest high capital investment and have a unique selling point to attract a large majority of customers and offer significant discounts and special offers. According the annual reports of Ryanair and Easy Jet, in 2010 Ryanair carried over 66 million passengers in comparison to Easy Jet carrying just 34 million. Therefore the airline’s low cost model delivers increased revenue and passenger growth as customers seek cheaper flights and benefit from price wars between airline fares. However budget airlines are still affected by rivalry with Ryanair and Easy Jet competing for customers flying with no frills airlines and the level of competitor rivalry is moderate. Conclusion Finally the analysis has demonstrated the attractiveness for the budget airline based on the ease of entry regulations and with the low expenditure costs lower than charter airlines that provide more service. The unstable environment has led to an increase in fuel costs with airlines paying heavily for their supply and in contrast the unpredictable economic environment has caused consumers to spend less and look for cheaper travel and prefer budget airlines such as Ryanair. Even though there is intense rivalry between airlines, budget airlines have an attractive strategy with more airlines using the low cost model to compete for passengers. Part 2: Internal analysis The internal factors of Ryanair’s concerns strengths and weaknesses to assess the extent to which the strategies for the airline in order to be successful, these summarizes the internal business environment and the capabilities (Johnson et al., 2002). The strengths of Ryanair are: The company has a successful low cost model benefitting from low expenses by using staff to clean the plane, passengers have to pay to print boarding pass reducing the need for staff at check in desks and take advantage of the internet to sell tickets. Ryanair’s low fares are aimed at encouraging demand especially with price sensitive leisure and business travellers that might choose alternative forms of transport method. Ryanair have set fares on the basis of demand on particular flights with higher fares on flights that have the highest demand for bookings booked nearer to the date of departure. Ryanairs competitors also do not operate on comparison sites and save commission or fees to other comparison websites. The company loses fewer bags and with 88% punctual flights compared to competitor’s ant explains why the company is a favorite airline for customers with over 73 million passengers in 2010 (Ryanair.com, Annual report 2010). Flights to secondary airports: the company offers point to point service on short haul flights to secondary and regional airports around the major hub centers and cities. The point to point routes rather than hub airports allow the company to provide direct nonstop flights and avoid the costs of providing services through connecting passengers, baggage transfers and transit passenger assistant costs. By choosing secondary locations allows convenience for a large majority of the population and is generally less crowded than in major airports. This has also resulted in on time flights, faster turnaround times, less terminal delays as well as more competitive airport access and handling costs or operating restrictions that can reduce expenses (Ryanair Annual Report, 2010). Low operating costs: Ryanair maintain low operating costs as a low budget airline company and aims to reduce costs in main areas which include: aircraft equipment, personnel productivity, customer service costs and airport access and handling costs. Weaknesses Ryanair have been negatively perceived as arrogant as the company does not take into consideration the competition by putting other low fares airlines out of business creating a bad image with negative media. Ryanair is viewed as not caring too much about customer needs or problems which reflect O’Leary’s opinion that customers pay low prices and get a good deal therefore should expect low standards. There have also been complaints for the extra payments for fees and taxes as well as paying higher prices for stowing luggage and onboard food and beverage. The company has also come across as having a negative reputation by having underpaid staff that are disciplined for any mistakes, work long hours and unhappy staff with staff (itfglobal.org, 2011). The company also charges  £5 for every purchase using bank card,  £40 for printing a boarding pass at the airport and  £100 for changing the name on the booking. Therefore customers often have to pay a lot more than they expected which makes Ryanair’s image appear dishonest (Ryanair.com, 2011). Porters value chain The generic strategies are concerned with the strategies of the company and at the micro level by exploring Porters model of the value chain. The value chain classifies the activities of the company and divided into primary and support activities used to identify the cost leadership strategy as illustrated in appendices b. The core competencies of Ryanair consist of maximizing revenues whilst providing a no frills low cost strategy and keeping logistics simple. This is maintained by Ryanair’s capability to lower operating costs such as aggressive online booking reducing the cost of staff and operate in secondary airports using Boeing 737-800. Through simple services and investing less on employees, Ryanair core competencies provide effective and efficient resource management. The primary activities involved in the inbound logistics of Ryanair consist of its 272 Boeing 737-800 planes that can carry 189 people and agreements to secondary airports. Ryanair have contract agreements with these large aircrafts with the ability to fly long hours and do not charge fuel surcharge (Ryanair.co.uk, 2010). Operations: Ryanair have lower unit costs as part of its operation and save costs through lower handling fees, landing fees in secondary airports and fast turnaround times with the capacity to utilize the aircraft at a shorter time. Ryanair operate in 1,110 routes and 1,400 flights a day from 44 bases. The efficiency of its operation supports the low cost strategy position with fast turnaround times, no meals on board and improved employee productivity (Ryanair.com, 2010). Financial analysis The strengths of Ryanair are quite clear. The company has been profitable with an increase in profits of 26% to â‚ ¬401m and operating profit increase by 28% to â‚ ¬516.2m in 2011. The figure below illustrates how the company increased passengers by 8% and revenue 16% by 2010. Figure 2.1: Summary Table of results (IFRS) in Euro Source: (Ryanair.com, 2011) Figure 2.2: Summary table for EasyJet Source: (Easyjet.com, 2011) As seen from the tables above it can be clear to differentiate the profit revenues. Profit after tax for Ryanair in 2010 was â‚ ¬138 million and for Easyjet was just  £121 million. Revenue for Easyjet in 2010 was  £2, 973 million in 2010 and  £2, 66 million in 2009 compared to Ryanair’s revenue in 2010  £18 million and  £16 million in 2009. According to Ryanair’s annual reports, revenues rose by 16% to â‚ ¬896.8m due to an 8% rise in traffic and a 5% increase in average fares in 2010. Ryanair has been able to gain a growth in revenue even during the financial recession which had a significant effect on other major airlines resulting in bankruptcy and closure. Due to its cost efficient methods through increased passenger traffic with its new routes and low prices Ryanair has been able to uphold its place as the number one low cost carrier. This difference also shows in Ryanair’s current ratio at 1.79 in 2010 compared to Easy jet only gaining 1.33. Conclusion From the internal analysis it is clear to see Ryanair’s low costs strategy means it is less affected than its competitors with its cost leadership. This has required the company to gain a large market share whereby it has purchased large quantities of planes and low cost operations has made shown that cost leadership is the only way to work for the future and globally. Ryanair has built a low cost culture however still needs to pay close attention to the external environmental factors including governmental policies and increased cost of fuel. The core cost savings mentioned has made the company highly successful with its short haul routes with standardized no frills services, higher seating density and its ticketless reservation system. Ryanair have succeeded by becoming a successful airline in Europe with the Southwest airline model and managed to grow its market segment of price sensitive customers through its no frills service. Bibliography Afuah, A. (2009) Strategic Innovation: New Game Strategies for Competitive Advantage. New York: Routledge. Beech, J. and Chadwick, S. (2006) The business of tourism management. 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(2007) Handbook of low cost airlines: strategies, business processes and market environment. Berlin: Hurbert and Co. Hitt, M.A., Ireland, R.D. and Hoskisson, R.E. (2009) Strategic management: competitiveness and globalization: concepts cases. 8th Ed. Mason: Southwestern Cengage Learning. IATA.com (2011) Airline Industry 2011 Profit Outlook Slashed to $4 Billion. [Online]. Available at: http://www.iata.org/pressroom/pr/pages/2011-06-06-01.aspx. [Accessed on: 12 June 2011]. Independent.co.uk (2011) Chief of airline industry attacks tax bandit UK. [Online]. Available at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/chief -of-airline-industry-attacks-tax-bandit-uk-2293964.html. [Accessed on: 20 June 2011]. Independent.co.uk (2009) Ryanair it’s cheap not cheerful. [Online]. Available at:http://www.independent.co.uk/money/spend-save/consuming-issues-ryanair-its-cheap-not-cheerful-1781973.html. [Accessed on: 25 June 2011]. Itfglobal.org (2011) Campaigns. [Online]. 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Types or Remedies Essay Example for Free

Types or Remedies Essay Compensatory A money award equivalent to the actual value of injuries or damages sustained by the aggrieved party. When a contract has been breached, the court orders the party that breached to pay the amount of direct losses done to innocent party. Consequential Special damges that compensate for a loss that is not direct or immediate (for example, lost profits0. The special damages must have been reasonably foreseeable at the time the breach or injury occurred in order for the plaintiff to collect them. The party that breached the contract must reimburse the innocent party for the indirect losses even if they were foreseeable damages. Punitive Money damages that may be awarded to aplaintiff to punish the defendant and deter future similar conduct. A monetary award the court orders on the guilty party to punish them for a breach of contract. Nominal A small monetary award (often one dollar) granted to a plaintiff when no actual damage was suffered or when the plaintiff is unable to tshow such loss with sufficient certainty. When the plaintiff cannot prove damages or no damages were done, the court may provide a small amount of money, â€Å"often one dollar†. Liquidated An amount, stipulated in the contract, that the parties to a contract believe to be a reasonable estimation of the damages that will occur in the event of a beach. For the court to order this remedy, the contract must be in writing. Liquidation takes place of compensatory and consequential remedies. In the contract, it must say â€Å"if contract is breached† breaching party must pay this much to the other party. Rescission A remedy whereby a contract is canceled and the parties are returned to the positions they occupied before the contract was made; may be effected through the mutual consent of the parties, by their conduct, or by court decree. This remedy requires both parties to â€Å"undue† the contract and put each party into the pre-contract position. Restitution An equitable remedy under which a person is restored to his or her original postion prior to loss or injury, or placed in the position he or she would have been in had the breach not occurred. Very similar to a rescission, but both parties must return each other into previous states but instead of canceling out the contract and returning each other into pre-contract state, they would be returned to pre-breached state. Specific performance An equitable remedy requing the breaching oarty to perform as promised under the contract; usally granted only when money damages would be an inadequate remedy and the subject matter of the contract is unique (for example, real property) The court orders breaching party to complete the specific action that was promised in the contract. Reformation A court ordered correction of a written contract so that it reflects the true intentions of the parties. Quantum meruit Literally, â€Å"as much as he deserves’-an expression describing the extent of liability on a contract implied in law. An equitable doctrine based on the concept that one who benefits from another’s labor and materials should not be unjustly enriched thereby but should required to pay a reasonable amount for the benefits reecived , even abesnt of a contract.

Visual Aids Help Tths Students Improve Their English Education Essay

Visual Aids Help Tths Students Improve Their English Education Essay In Vietnam, English is considered the most important foreign language, which is taught as one of the main subjects in schools as well as in universities and is also used the most in communication among other foreign languages. According to the Longman dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics, English is used as a foreign language or a second language to communicate with foreigners who speak the English language in non-English speaking countries. The English teaching and learning at Thuong Tin High School is not very significant in terms of the students achievement. Especially, the big concern is for English vocabulary retention. At the end of the first term 2009 2010 only about 50% of the students got an average of 5 and 6, and only 8% got 7 or 8 and the rest got 3 or 4 in the English oral test in the 2009 State First Term Examination. These figures have made the teachers of English in TT High School feel worried, they need to consider the serious problem carefully and find out the best methods to improve the situation quickly. This poor achievement is not new but has lasted for years, and there have been many things done about it but the situation has not improved. Students have been given extra lessons so that they have more time to practice their English, especially English speaking lessons, they have been helped a lot with revision before every test. They have even been provided with well-prepared hand-outs of the points on which they are going to be tested and told what to learn to do the tests well. In spite of what they have been informed and reminded of, unexpected things have still occurred, students have not improved their achievement, and the fact that most students were not very proficient in speaking and writing tests which were shown on the report of first term. To find out which factors are important in language learning, it is necessary to have a close look at social factors as well as a number of psychological dimensions of difference. Attitudes and motivation, self-confidence, intelligence, language aptitude, and language learning strategies have also been found to have an effect on language learners success in their language learning (Gardner, 2001). The research project took place at Thuong Tin High School located in Thuong Tin, a town about 30 kilometres from Ha Noi Capital and has been developing very fast. The people have become richer and a large number of families have invested money in after school activities and private tutoring for their children in English and other core subjects. If students and learners have an excellent level of English, they will gain acceptance to higher schools of learning and better-paid jobs. English is an important and compulsory subject at almost every school in Vietnam. Thus, usually students have to learn English for at least 7 years, from grade 6 to grade 12. In many schools in cities children start learning English in grade 3. There is even a trend to learn English before elementary school as their parents believe that the English language is a useful investment for their childrens future. Most jobs now require the applicants to have knowledge of English language at certain levels. Though English is taught from grade 3 in primary schools, most high school students are difficult to read an English paragraph fluently, talk to each other in English as a conversation, listen to a short introduction on television or write a letter or even a paragraph of description in English well. The issue that why most TTHS students have still had low results on speaking and writing tests though they have been helped a lot before tests, and what possible solutions could be found. The TTHS teachers have had a serious discussion and come to conclusion that most TTHS students have low English vocabulary retention and this has great influence on their speaking and writing tests. Students can not speak, listen, read and write English if they do not have enough necessary English vocabulary. But what we, teachers, have to do to help our students improve their English vocabulary. More things must be done to change the situation for the better, and the concerns were carried out, such as; motivation, methods of teaching and learning, environment of teaching and learning, materials and inclusive of Visual Aids. The defined solution for this issue was that Using Visual Aids to help students improve English vocabulary retention, because the teachers believed that there is no ways of lear ning vocabulary better than seeing the real things or illustrated things. Most teachers of English agree that it is difficult for them to have successful lessons on vocabulary or communication without visual aids and students will not be easy to understand and practice if they do not have certain visual aids for every task because students do not have enough necessary vocabulary to practice. The purpose of this research is to determine using Visual Aids helps TTHS students improve English vocabulary and the effects that visual teaching strategies have on the academic achievement of TTHS students. Research questions: How do VISUAL AIDS help students improve English vocabulary retention? What effects do visual teaching strategies have on the academic achievement of TTHS students? LITERATURE REVIEW Visual aids Brown (1973:1) emphasizes that using variety of media, visual aids, will increase the probability that the students will learn more, retain better what they learn and improve their performance of the skills they are expected to develop. Moreover, Finocchiaro (1974:63) states that the students will understand and retain better when they have been shown or taught some objects that associate with it. Educational professionals have acknowledged the fact that students who struggle in reading comprehension because they may lack the ability to comprehend words. Joseph (2006) realised, there are several approaches to teaching word-reading skills but few incorporate systematic procedures that facilitate mastery, build fluency and lead to retention of skills for struggling readers(p.803). Students who struggle in acquisition skills need specific interventions to increase their reading level and word knowledge. These interventions should be ongoing and occur early in the learning process in order to ease the cognitive load at the students current reading level and for the next grade level. Using visual aids to enhance English vocabulary and vocabulary retention is a strategy that has been researched and implemented into TTHS English classromms. With the use of visual aids, such as; authentic materials or illustrated things, students could increase their English vocabulary retention as well as they can base on their vocabulary to improve their speaking, writing, listening and reading comprehension skills. Joseph (2006) confirmed that students tend to be more motivated and choose to complete assignments and tasks that contain some items that are known to them and that appear to demand lower level of effort because they feel confident about their ability to complete such tasks. If implemented properly, visual aids, which are authentic materials or illustrated things, can make ongoing deffernces in students ability to read with confidence independently and continually. It is the consistency of vocabulary interventions that allows the struggling students to see the vocabulary terms within the reading passage if they are to expand their knowledge of the vocabulary term. This can make the difference in their proficiency of languag e acquisition Dave (1975: 10-11) also proposes some of the visual aids as follows: Real things and toys with different sorts, sizes and colors are useful to draw students interest. Real things can be presented to students by means of field trip or bringing the object to the class for direct observation. Chalkboard or blackboard are certain to be the most useful teaching aids, used in the class. They have the advantage of providing points of attention for the class and they can be used for many purposes. Pictures are flashed for a brief moment, therfore, the pictures should be simple and big enough to be seen clearly by every student in the class. Wall charts or wall pictures are big papers with some pictures and words, useful for presenting vocabulary to the class. From the explanation above, not all of media can be applied in the classroom; the teachers have to select the appropriate media that directly related to the learning process. Vocabulary assessments should also be used for a precursor to evaluate students comprehension. Johnston (1997) pointed that as childen spend more and more time reading and writing, many routines and common patterns become automatic, picking up speed and actually going through a different part of the brain, no longer involving conscious efforts (p 145). This is an important factor if students are to become independent of the classroom teacher. It is important to increase students toolbox of vocabulary strategies. According to Haycraft (1983: 102) teaching aids can be used for consolidating vocabulary, practicing structure and word order or for variety of games. Besides, teaching aids can also give a great help to the teacher in the class. A learner cannot always successfully learn English just by listening to the explanation from the teacher. Visual aids help teacher give more emphasis on pronunciation of the words, utterances and incorrect written of words. Moreover, in vocabulary class, the learners are encouraged to give their opinions about the visual aids that are presented by the teacher, thus the learners can be more active in teaching-learning process. Visual aids are also very useful to train the students to speak and memorize the words automatically. Visual aids, especially pictures are very useful in teaching vocabulary to encourage and motivate the students to learn the language. As stated by Coppen (1969: 88) pictures are parts of visual aids.The purpose of picture is to provide a stimulus which will elicit a particular response from the learner. The picture represents some action and in order to learn the appropriate words to describe the action itself must not be in question. Pictures are parts of visual aids. They may be used in teaching the elementary school students to avoid boredom. Brown (1973: 410) states some functions of pictures as follows: Media are used to teach the students to learn effectively. Pictures help the students read the books and eventually interpret and memorize words. Edmund Fason (1959: 416) states that teaching-learning process with pictures will get succeed if the pictures are related to the material of the study, pictures should be coloured and varied, colourful pictures intensify the students imagination. Using visual aids can give a great help to the teacher in the class. The students will not always be successful in learning English just by listening to the explanation from the teacher or by reading many books. Using visual aids in vocabulary class encourage the students to give their opinions about the presented pictures. The teacher can make them more active during the teaching-learning process. Moreover, flashing visual aids for a short time is very useful for the students to speak and memorize the words automatically. Retention Retention should be a requirement for the acquisition of vocabulary terms. Joseph (2008) makes these recommendations, in specific environmental conditions, words that were taught were considered learned when they were read correctly on next-day retention probes. Words that were not read correctly on next-day retention probes were not considered learned. Previously taught but unlearned words were retaught with the same instructional condition until they were read correctly on next-day retention probes (p 298). This would be a good procedure to follow if learners are to highten their retention of vocabulary terms. These retention probes were designed to measure students vocabulary acquisition. Retention probes were always administered the day immediately following the instructional condition and before another round of instructional conditions bagan. Each retention probe consisted of all the visual aids of unknown words that were taught in the previuos daily sessons. The visual aids we re exchanged and presented as one group of words to the students. Reiser and Dempsey (2007) states, maximizing learning with rich media involves two memories systems; working memory and long term memory that shapes human learning (p314). METHODOLOGY Subjects This research study took place in Thuong Tin High School in Thuong Tin town, 30 kilometres away from the centre of Ha Noi Capital. The subjects involved in this research were 40 students, they were in two different classes 12A2 and 12A3 (aged 16-18). They were randomly selected to put into two groups: 20 students in the control group (12A2) and 20 other students in the experimental group (12A3) (This means that the class 12A2 has 20 participants who belong to the control group, and the class 12A3 has 20 participants who belong to the experimental group). All of them are grade-12 students in the school year 2009 2010 and go to school everyday from Monday to Saturday. They have 3 English periods every week, each period lasts 45 minutes. The experiment lasted one month. After forming two groups, a test was given to students to check their English vocabulary so that the researcher could ensure students in two groups had the English vocabulary equivalence (Appendice 2). Instruments. Many visual aids were used when conducting this research, this was done by using pictures, real things and illustrated things. To make clear the research question, these following types of data were collected: surveys, pre-tests and post-tests, interviews, observations, and test scores. A survey was given at the beginning of the study to determine if the students enjoyed learning English and their attitudes to the instructional style of the class (Appendice 1). This helped me understand students perception of the class and if any changes, other than those used during the study, needed to be made to maximize the students academic performance. A Pre-test and Post-test were used before and after the research to find out the difference between the pre-test results and post-test results in order to know whether studentsvocabulary retention has been improved (Appendice 3A, 3B). Observations and test scores were also used as measurement tools. In order to take notes and determine the participation and attitudes of the students, observations were used daily. Did the students respond differently to the various visual aids? Were the students on task during a certain visual strategy? Did the students enjoy some visual strategies over others? Observing also made it possible to determine if outside variables affected the students test scores. Were the students having a stressful day? Did the students just come back to school from a holiday break? To determine if the use of visuals affected test scores, test scores during the four week study were compared with those from the previous four weeks. At the end of the study, the answers to the questions must be found; Why do TTHS students speak, listen to, read and write English so badly? How do visual aids help them improve their English vocabulary retention? Which effects do the visual teaching strategies have on the academic achievement of TTHS students? Design and Methods of Data Collection When implementing the experiment, the researcher used different visual aids in lessons, for example; pictures, real things and illustrated things were utilized alternatively so that students could understand the mentioned words and memorize them more effectively. Interviews were done before and after the research in order to know whether students were interested in the experiment, how they behaved during the research and what they achieved after the research. Observation was implemented in the process of research, this helped the researcher know that all the students in the experimental group took part in the experiment regularly. Test scores were done after the experiment finished, the test scores were collected from the pre-test results and the post-test results to show the improvement and difference of using visual aids in teaching and learning English vocabulary. Teaching activities that used visual aids were provided to the experimental group students in the class 12A3 in all the lessons; listening, speaking, reading and writing lessons every week. RESULTS Survey Results. The survey that was given to the two English classes included five questions and five answers, numbers 1-5 (Appendice 1). When asked students the five questions, the researcher found that there was a big difference about students attitude to learning English, and learning English vocabulary with the help of visual aids before and after the experiment. The result was compared in the Pre and Post-survey (Appendice 1). Questions Answers Before the experiment (n=students) After the experiment (n=students) 1. Do you enjoy learning English? Yes 32 68 No 48 12 2. If you do not like learning English, why? Because : Teaching methods 34 18 Lack of visual aids 46 62 3. Would you like to learn English vocabulary by watching visual aids, such as; pictures, real things or illustrated things? Yes 52 68 No 28 12 4. Do you think you will improve your English vocabulary better by looking at the visual aids when you are discussing a topic? Yes 46 67 No 34 13 5. Should visual aids be used and taught regularly and variously in classes Yes 48 66 No 32 14 There were several tests (a sample test in appendice 2) given to students in the both groups to ensure that the students in the experimental group was equivalent with students in the control group about the English vocabulary before the experiment. Groups Percentage of words that recalled and written down before the experiment 0 20% 30 50% 50 70% 80 100% Control group (n=20) 2 8 7 3 Experimental Group (n=20) 3 9 6 2 Interview Results In each group, 5 students were randomly invited to interview before and after the experiment. They were asked to give answers to 3 questions (Appendice 4). The 5 students in the experimental group produced the same words as the 5 students in the control group before the experiment but the experimental students produced more words than the control students after the ezperiment. a. An interview before the experiment b. An interview after the experiment. Tests Results Pre-tests: Groups Number of words 10 40 40 70 70 -100 Control (n=students) 8 9 3 Experimental (n-students) 7 10 4 Pots-tests Groups Number of words (n=100 words) 10 40 40 70 70 -100 Control (n=students) 5 10 5 Experimental (n-students) 2 11 7 From the results of the post-tests, it was easy to find that if students were provided with visual aids in their lessons. They could increase their vocabulary much better. Before the experiment, the two groups were equivalent in their vocabulary, but there was a big gap between the control group and experimental group after the experiment. The experimental group increased their vocabulary a lot more than they were before. However, the control group did not improve their vocabulary a lot. Questionnaire Results After the study time, the 20 students in the experimental group were given a five question interview about their feelings towards the class. The answers were categorized as either being agreement and disagreement and compared with the results before the experiment.. Comparison of Agreement and Disagreement Responses from the Interview QUESTIONS Answers from Ex-group (n=students) YES NO Before After Before After 1) Do you like the English class? 8 15 12 5 2) Do you enjoy learning with visual aids 12 17 7 3 3) Do you think the visual aids are helping you? 10 14 10 6 4) Do you want to have visual aids in future lessons? 11 16 9 4 5) Are you motivated with and interested in learning English vocabulary with visual aids? 10 18 10 2 Discussion The objective of my research was to find out how visual aids help students improve their English vocabulary and to discover if visual learning strategies have an effect on ESL academic achievement in a high school English classroom. The main findings of this research show that there is a positive correlation between the use of visual aids and the results when using surveys, interviews, observations, and test score comparison Comparison of Averages from the Control and Study Periods According to Dong (2002), he found that when teachers use visuals, the students ask more questions. During the study period, I observed that the students in the experiment asked more questions than the control group. The students were interested in the visual aids and always asked questions to clarify their misunderstanding. CONCLUSION This research indicates that students may learn in many different ways and teachers should do many things possible to support and to meet the needs of all students. Visual aids can break the language barrier that separates students from teachers. Pictures, ral things or illustrated things always helped to explain both special and common English words fully. For example, the word fire an employee was given to students in a question on a test, but none of the students in the class knew what that word meant and trying to explain it did not help either. The meaning of the word was then made clear when I made a picture on the board. This research would recommend that teachers use as many visual aids as possible in their classroom. This research also shows that visual aids can increase students English vocabulary and improve their vocabulary retention. The most useful and popular visual aids were introduced in class were pictures, illustrated things, such as; toys or model forms. For example, during the unit on cars, it was so easy for students to guess and to know the parts of a car when they saw pictures of car parts or a toy car. My research had a positive impact on student learning, English is quite a difficult subject with lots of vocabulary and visuals are the best way to learn those words. There are also a lot of topics that have to be covered in an English class. Visuals, especially pictures, are a great way to show students the overall concept and the minute details of a topic. The students in my English class have learnt and improved their vocabulary a lot when I applied the visual aids in the class. As already mentioned, pictures were the most popular and effective. There was a purpose behind each and every visual. I carefully planned out how I would do and explain each visual so that students could performed well. REFERENCES Collier, V. P. (1992). A synthesis of studies examining long-term language minority student data on academic achievement. Bilingual Research Journal, 16 (1-2), 187-212. Dong, Y. R. (2002). Integrating language and content: Education and Bilingualism, 5 (2), 40-57. Duran, B. J., Dugan, T., Weffer, R. (1998). Language minority students in high school Hamblen, K. A. (1993). Theories and research that support art instruction for instrumental outcomes. Theory into Practice, 3 (4), 191-198. Mayer, R. E. (1989). Models for understanding. Review of Educational Research, 59 (1), 43-64. Gardner, R.C. (1985), Social Psychology and Second Language Learning: The role of attitudes and motivation, London: Edward Arnold Gardner, R. C. 2001. Language Learning Motivation: The Student, the Teacher, and the Researcher.Texas Papers in Foreign Language Education, Volume 6,  Number 1,  Fall 2001. Joseph, L. (2006, May). Incremental rehearsal: A flashcard drill technique for increasing retention of reading words. International Reading Association, 51 (1), 90-92. Petrie, G. M. (2003). ESL teachers views on visual language: A grounded theory. The Reading Matrix, 3 (3), 137-168. Tan, A., Nicholson, T. (1997, June). Training poor readers to read words faster improve their comprehension of vocabulary. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89(2), 276. Appendice 1 Survey The servey was given to 2 classes (each class consists of 40 students). Questions Answer Before the experiment (n=students) After the experiment (n=students) 1. Do you enjoy learning English? Yes 32 68 No 48 12 2. If you do not like learning English, why? Because : Teaching methods 34 18 Lack of visual aids 46 62 3. Would you like to learn English vocabulary by watching visual aids, such as; pictures, real things or illustrated things? Yes 52 68 No 28 12 4. Do you think you will improve your English vocabulary better by looking at the visual aids when you are discussing a topic? Yes 46 67 No 34 13 5. Should visual aids be used and taught regularly and variously in classes Yes 48 66 No 32 14

The Weary Blues and Lenox Avenue: Midnight :: essays research papers

â€Å"The Weary Blues† and â€Å"Lenox Avenue: Midnight† by Langston Hughes are two poems written as scenes of urban life. Although these poems were written more than seventy years ago, it is surprising to see some general similarities they share with modern day city life. Dilluted down with word play and irrelevant lines such as â€Å"And the gods are laughing at us.†, the underlying theme is evidently urban life. â€Å"The Weary Blues† and â€Å"Lenox Avenue: Midnight† approach the general topic of urban life from two different aspects also.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The Weary Blues† speaks of a person hearing a Negro playing the blues on a piano â€Å"Down on Lenox Avenue the other night,†. The poem is centered around this event, explaining â€Å"He did a lazy sway†¦He did a lazy sway†¦Ã¢â‚¬  It seems that Hughes was addressing the common link of Negro’s, urban life, and the blues music seventy years ago; quite a different approach than his other work.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Lenox Avenue: Midnight†, my personal favorite of the two, is more of an outlook on urban life back then, stating that â€Å"The Rhythm of life/ Is a jazzy rhythm,†. There is an uneasy connection between urban life itself and the blues music that was so common during that time in that urban life itself is nothing but the blues and that â€Å"the gods are laughing at us.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Lenox Avenue: Midnight† is a more meaningful poem, reaching out to anyone that could relate. In a way it relates to modern day hip-hop in the sense of reaching out to the common people of that culture and time. â€Å"The Weary Blues† on the other hand is more of an observation thing going on in the poem, observing the Negro man playing the blues on his piano. The poems indirectly relate to modern day city life. Instead of the blues, hip-hop has taken its place.