Communication and Professional Relationships with Children and Young Adults

Communication and professional relationships with children, young people and adults Introduction This unit provides the knowledge that forms the basis of effective communication and professional relationships with children, young people and adults. Learners will find out how to adapt their communication to suit the age or developmental stage of the person they are interacting with. The unit also covers the legislation, policies and procedures concerned with confidentiality, data protection and the disclosure of information. Learning outcomesAfter completing this unit, learners should: 1 2 3 4 know how to interact with and respond to children and young people know how to interact with and respond to adults know how to communicate with children, young people and adults know about current legislation, policies and procedures for confidentiality and sharing information, including data protection. This unit has links to the following national occupational standards. STL4 Contribute to pos itive relationships SWiS 2. 2 Explore school values, policies, roles and responsibilities CCLD 201 Contribute to positive relationshipsAdditional guidance for delivery For all sessions, it will be useful if the learners have access to school policy covering confidentiality and the grievance procedure. For session 1, you may like ask learners to research into relationships within the workplace. For session 2, you can facilitate a whole-class discussion in which learners identify someone whom they think is a good role model and give reasons for their choice. For session 3, learners can carry out some research on the Internet about communication and how to deal with conflict.They may find the websites listed helpful for this task. For session 4, you can ask a college employee to come in to discuss with the learners how their personal information is stored within the organisation and how this adheres to current legislation. Further resources Burnham, L. and Baker, B. (2010) Level 2 Cert ificate in Supporting Teaching & Learning in Schools Candidate Handbook, Oxford: Heinemann www. talkingpoint. org. uk – Website of the charity Talking Point, which contains a wealth of information on children’s communication. ww. transformingconflict. org – A useful website from the Transforming Conflict organisation, which offers advice and training on how to deal with conflict. Continued overleaf 1  © The TA College 2010 under licence to Pearson Education Limited. Printing and photocopying permitted. TDA 2. 3 Communication and professional relationships with children, young people and adults Level 2 Certificate in Supporting Teaching & Learning in Schools TDA 2. 3 Introduction continued Answers to activitiesA1 Interacting with young people and children to establish relationships Task 1 Words should appear in the following order: 1 4 trust positive 2 5 relationship high expectations 3 6 honest communicate A3 Interactions with adults How to establish professio nal relationships with adults By approaching and responding politely Be committed to cooperative working By considering the views of others Why adult relationships are important as role models for children and young people To demonstrate positive relationships To demonstrate mutual respect To model effective communicationA4 Communication Age range Younger than 2 years 2–3 years 3–4 years 4–8 years 8–16 years Adults How communication differs Vocabulary is limited. Communicating mainly through body language and by reading facial expressions. Starting to copy adults, learning more words and gaining confidence. Starting to string words together and may be using questions. Using language to build relationships. Developing reading and writing skills. Developing discussion and negotiation skills. More confident and using more complex language. Can communicate using complex language.Able to use verbal and non-verbal communication. A5 Adapting communication Task 1 Different ideas – People may interpret things differently and have a different concept of what everyone should be doing Poor communication – Not passing on information and failing to agree as a team can cause problems within school Different personalities – Everyone is different and sometimes, despite the best efforts, certain individuals just cannot get along A6 Legislation Data Protection Act (1998) – Legislation that ensures pupils’ personal information is locked away or password-protected if stored on computers.Confidentiality – Safeguarding all pupil information and ensuring that the people you are sharing information with are authorised to receive it. Disclosing information – When information has to be shared with outside agencies, for example, when neglect or abuse is suspected. A7 Sharing information Words should appear in the following order: 1 5 confidential special 2 6 authorised shared 3 7 personal staff 4 medical 2  © The TA College 2010 under licence to Pearson Education Limited. Printing and photocopying permitted. Overview of resources continued Overview of resources: TDA 2. Link to Functional Skills Link to textbook Resources Delivery notes 1 Know how to interact with and respond to children and young people English: Speaking, listening and communication A1 Interacting with children and young people to establish relationships Task 1 of this activity asks learners to discuss how they establish relationships with children and young people in their work setting; they then complete a fill-the-gaps exercise. Task 2 asks learners to answer two questions about disagreements and adapting communication depending on the situation. A2 Own behaviourThis activity requires learners to complete two spider diagrams by giving examples of how their own behaviour can promote interactions with children and young people or impact negatively upon them. 2 Know how to interact with and respond to adults A3 Interacti ons with adults In this activity, learners are asked to consider how they establish professional relationships with other adults and why these relationships are important as role models for children and young people. They then summarise their thoughts by completing a table, using a list of provided statements. Know how to communicate with children, young people and adults A4 Communication This activity asks learners to consider how different age groups communicate. They are required to complete a table by selecting statements from a provided list. ICT: Developing, presenting and communicating information English: Speaking, listening and communication TDA 2. 3 Communication and professional relationships with children, young people and adults Level 2 Certificate in Supporting Teaching & Learning in Schools  © The TA College 2010 under licence to Pearson Education Limited. Printing and photocopying permitted. A5Adapting communication Task 1 of this activity requires learners to matc h different communication difficulties with the correct descriptions. In Task 2, learners are asked to consider two scenarios about disagreements and explain how they will deal with them. 4 Know about current legislation, policies and procedures for confidentiality and sharing information, including data protection A6 Legislation This linking lines activity asks learners to match legislation, policies and procedures with the correct descriptions. 1 Continued overleaf Overview of resources continued Resources English: Writing Delivery notesLink to Functional Skills Link to textbook A7 Sharing Information Task 1 of this activity is a fill-the-gaps exercise about the importance of reassuring children, young people and adults of the confidentiality of shared information. For Task 2, learners discuss in groups the types of situation when confidentiality protocol must be breached; they must then write down two examples of such situations. Electronic resources PowerPoint P1 Maintaining rel ationships The PowerPoint presentation for this unit looks at how to communicate effectively with different age groups and the importance of confidentiality, including data protection.It is best used by looking at the relevant slides in each session of the scheme of work, but can be worked through in its entirety at the end of session 4 for learners to reflect on their learning. TDA 2. 3 Communication and professional relationships with children, young people and adults Level 2 Certificate in Supporting Teaching & Learning in Schools  © The TA College 2010 under licence to Pearson Education Limited. Printing and photocopying permitted. Knowledge check Interactive quiz covering learning from TDA 2. 3 for revision purposes, designed to be completed individually by learners (e. g. via a VLE) or as a group in a group session. Continued overleaf Scheme of work continued Scheme of work: TDA 2. 3 Communication and professional relationships with children, young people and adults Activiti es and resources You may like to begin this session with a discussion about how to interact with children and young people. Then split the group into smaller groups to complete Activity A1. PowerPoint P1 slides 2, 3 and 4 support this session. This can lead to small-group work in which learners discuss, compare and complete Activity A2 on how their own behaviour promotes effective interactions or negatively impacts children and young people. Session numberLearning outcomes/Assessment criteria Functional Skills English: Speaking, listening and communication 1 Learners will know how to interact with and respond to children and young people. They will know how to establish respectful, professional relationships with children and young people and will be able to describe, with examples, how to behave appropriately for a child or young person’s stage of development. Learners will also be able to describe how to deal with disagreements between children and young people and how thei r own behaviour can promote effective interactions with children and young people or impact negatively upon them. 1. 1, 1. 2, 1. 3, 1. 4) You may like to have a class discussion about establishing positive relationships with adults and why these are important for children and young people to witness. PowerPoint P1 slides 5 and 6 support this session, as does Activity A3. 2 Learners will know how to interact with and respond to adults. They will be able to describe how to establish respectful, professional relationships with adults and the importance of these relationships as role models for children and young people. (2. 1, 2. ) You may like to begin this session by looking again at PowerPoint P1 slide 2 and instigating a discussion about adapting communication to suit a person’s stage of development. You may then like to follow this with Activity A4. You can consolidate the activity sheet by pairing learners and giving each pair a different age range and then encouraging the m to communicate in a way more suited to that age. For Activity A5, learners can work independently and research or use reflection to complete the tasks. PowerPoint P1 slide 7 supports this activity.See the Further resources section for suggested websites to help learners with their research for this session. ICT, Developing, presenting and communicating information English: Speaking, listening and communication TDA 2. 3 Communication and professional relationships with children, young people and adults Level 2 Certificate in Supporting Teaching & Learning in Schools  © The TA College 2010 under licence to Pearson Education Limited. Printing and photocopying permitted. 3 Learners will know how to communicate with children, young people and adults.They will be able to describe how communication with children and young people differs across different age ranges and stages of development, as well as the main differences between communicating with adults and communicating with childre n and young people. Learners will be able to identify examples of communication difficulties that may exist and describe how to adapt communication to meet different needs. They will also be able to describe how to deal with disagreements between the practitioner and children and young people, or between the practitioner and other adults. (3. 1, 3. 2, 3. 3, 3. 4, 3. 5) 1 Continued overleafScheme of work continued Session number Activities and resources You may like to begin this session with a discussion or research opportunity looking at the legislation that covers confidentiality and data protection. Activity A6 and PowerPoint P1 slide 8 will support this. For Activity A7, ask the learners to work in small groups to discuss and consider the importance of reassuring children, young people and adults of the limits of confidentiality. If there is an opportunity near the end of the session, go through the whole of PowerPoint P1, giving learners time to consider and answer the reflecti ve questions on the last slide.As a group, or on an individual basis, ask the learners to complete the Interactive Knowledge Check to finish the unit. English: Writing Learning outcomes/Assessment criteria Functional Skills 4 Learners will know about and be able to identify current legislation, policies and procedures for confidentiality and sharing information, including data protection. They will be able to describe the importance of reassuring children, young people and adults about the confidentially of shared information and the limits of this.They will also know the kinds of situations when confidentiality protocols must be breached. TDA 2. 3 Communication and professional relationships with children, young people and adults Level 2 Certificate in Supporting Teaching & Learning in Schools  © The TA College 2010 under licence to Pearson Education Limited. Printing and photocopying permitted. (4. 1, 4. 2, 4. 3) 2 Continued overleaf Unit 2. 3 Communication and professional rela tionships with children, young people and adults AC: 1. 1, 1. 2, 1. 3 FS: English: Speaking, Listening and communication 2. A1: Interacting with children and young people to establish relationships Task 1 In small groups, discuss how you establish respectful and professional relationships with children and young people. Then, fill in the gaps in the following paragraph using the words from the box below. When working with children or young people, it is important to earn their to enable a positive Hold to develop. This can usually be done by and fair at all times. values and attitudes, and ensure that you have ensuring that your behaviour is professional, of the pupils that you support.Adapt the way in which you to suit the age or stage of development that a pupil is currently at. communicate high expectations positive relationship honest trust Task 2 In groups, consider the following questions and write your answers in the spaces below. 1 How do you deal with disagreements between children and young people? Include an example from your work setting when you have had to this (please do not include any names of pupils or the school). 2 How would you have adapted the way that you behaved in the above situation if the child or young person was in reception class or in Year 6?Functional Skills English: Reading – You could use the text book to help you find the information you need to match the expected stage of development to the reason why the child may not have reached it. 1  © The TA College 2010 under licence to Pearson Education Limited. Printing and photocopying permitted. TDA 2. 3 Communication and professional relationships with children, young people and adults AC: 1. 4 2. 3 A2: Own behaviour In small groups, discuss how your own behaviour can promote effective interactions with children and young people or impact negatively upon them.Write your answers on the spider diagrams below. Showing an open, friendly approach How your own behaviour can pr omote interactions Upsetting people with your body language How your own behaviour can impact negatively upon interactions 1  © The TA College 2010 under licence to Pearson Education Limited. Printing and photocopying permitted. TDA 2. 3 Communication and professional relationships with children, young people and adults AC: 2. 1, 2. 2 2. 3 A3: Interactions with adults Consider how you establish professional relationships with other adults.Think about why these adult relationships are important as role models for children and young people. Complete the table below using the statements in the boxes. How to establish professional relationships with adults How positive relationships with other adults can provide important role models for children and young people Demonstrate positive relationships Demonstrate mutual respect Be committed to cooperative working Consider the views of others Approach and respond politely Model effective communication 1  © The TA College 2010 under licen ce to Pearson Education Limited. Printing and photocopying permitted. TDA 2. Communication and professional relationships with children, young people and adults AC: 3. 1, 3. 2 2. 3 A4: Communication FS: ICT: Developing, presenting and communicating information The way that we communicate will differ depending on the age of the person we are communicating with. Complete the table below, using the statements in the boxes, to show how communication differs across age ranges. Age range Younger than 2 years How communication differs 2–3 years 3–4 years 4–8 years 8–16 years Adults Developing discussion and negotiation skills. More confident and using more complex language. Vocabulary is limited.Communicating mainly through body language and by reading facial expressions. Starting to string words together and may be using questions. Can communicate using complex language. Able to use verbal and nonverbal vommunication. Using language to build relationships. Deve loping reading and writing skills. Starting to copy adults, learning more words and gaining confidence. Functional Skills English: Speaking, listening and communication – You could complete this activity in pairs verbally in the form of an interview. Take it in turns to play the role of the interviewer and then the person being interviewed.This is a good way of developing your speaking, listening and communication skills. 1  © The TA College 2010 under licence to Pearson Education Limited. Printing and photocopying permitted. TDA 2. 3 Communication and professional relationships with children, young people and adults AC: 3. 3, 3. 4, 3. 5 2. 3 A5: Adapting communication FS: English: Speaking, listening and communication Occasionally, communication difficulties can occur. In such situations, it is important to continue to behave in a respectful and professional manner. Draw a line to match each possible communication difficulty to the correct description.Everyone is different and sometimes, despite the best efforts, certain individuals just cannot get along. Not passing on information and failing to agree as a team can cause problems within school. People may interpret things differently and have a different concept of what everyone should be doing. Different ideas Poor communication Different personalities Task 2 Read the following scenarios and record your answers in the spaces below. Scenario A There is a disagreement between one of your colleagues and a pupil and the situation is getting worse. What will you do and how will you adapt the way you communicate with them?Scenario B There is a disagreement between two of your colleagues and the situation is getting worse. What will you do? Functional Skills ICT: Developing, presenting and communicating information – You could complete this table on the computer. Add an extra column on the right with the heading ‘How I would support these transitions’ and write how you would support a child with these transitions. 1  © The TA College 2010 under licence to Pearson Education Limited. Printing and photocopying permitted. TDA 2. 3 Communication and professional relationships with children, young people and adults AC: 4. 2. 3 A6: Legislation It is important to know the legislation, policies and procedures that cover data protection, confidentiality and the sharing of information. Draw a line to match each legislation or school procedure to the correct description. Safeguarding all pupil information and ensuring that the people you are sharing information with are authorised to receive it Data Protection Act (1998) Confidentiality Legislation that ensures pupils’ personal information is locked away or password-protected if stored on computers Disclosing informationWhen information has to be shared with outside agencies, for example, when neglect or abuse is suspected 1  © The TA College 2010 under licence to Pearson Education Limited. Printing and photocopyi ng permitted. TDA 2. 3 Communication and professional relationships with children, young people and adults AC: 4. 2, 4. 3 2. 3 A7: Sharing information Task 1 FS: English: Writing In small groups, discuss the importance of reassuring children, young people and adults that you will keep shared information confidential and the limits of this. Then fill in the gaps in the following paragraph using the words from the box below.As a learning support practitioner, you will come into regular contact with information. You may need to reassure parents and other adults that the information that you are confidential. Pupil records that hold their of birth, home address and to know will be kept information, date details are important for you to have access to in an emergency, but they must remain locked away otherwise. You may need to know other information about the pupil, such as their current assessment level or if they have any This information must remain confidential and can only be betwee n authorised authorised personal members. onfidential medical shared special staff educational needs. Task 2 As a group, consider situations when the rules about confidentiality must be broken. Write two examples of these situations in the spaces below. 1 2 Functional Skills English: Reading – You could develop your reading skills by using your textbook to select the relevant information you need to help you to answer these questions. 1  © The TA College 2010 under licence to Pearson Education Limited. Printing and photocopying permitted. Communication and Professional Relationships with Children and Young Adults Communication and professional relationships with children. Outcome 2: Know how to interact and respond to adults Outcome 3: Know how to communicate with children, young people and adults 2. 12. 23. 23. 33. 4| Whether at work, home, in education or in social environments, respectful relationships with other humans are at the heart of good communications. We all learn from example and experience, so it is extremely important that adults working with young people develop and display respect for each other as well as for the young people in their care.A good baseline for a professional and respectful attitude is to acknowledge and accept that everyone is different. By understanding and valuing these differences, rather than assuming that we all share the same values and opinions, we demonstrate that we are aware of our colleagues as individuals with different personalities, teaching styles, cultural practices, experiences and backgrounds. All adults and learners should be valued for thi s. We should recognise the competence and experience of all people we work with and expect ours to be acknowledged too.If we can offer help to less experienced colleagues or seek help from more experienced or better qualified members of staff, we will be expressing respect for each other. Differences of opinion and working styles are bound to occur but communicating honestly and seeking peer feedback will help minimise misunderstandings and conflict. We should endeavor to support each other to develop a working and learning environment that promotes self-esteem and growth and allows challenges and conflicts to be resolved by negotiation and compromise.Young people will have a number of significant adults in their life – some may impact negatively, some positively, on their ability to communicate effectively with adults in different settings. In an educational establishment therefore, if we display consistent, respectful and professional communications with each other, with th e learners themselves and with parents, carers and members of the public, we are offering them positive role models. We develop our language and communication skills from birth and discover different ways of dealing with others by example and experience.If young people see and hear adults supporting each other, resolving conflict, discussing, laughing, giving opinions, listening and responding in positive ways they can use these interactions to reinforce or challenge their own experiences of the world. For example, simply using good manners and respectful language with each other in front of the young people can offer them a reference for successful interactions in other settings. If a young person’s experience of social skills does not include the tools for resolving conflict by calm, reasonable discussion – we can model it.If they do not have the tools to express their feelings positively – we can model it. By doing so, we establish a safe, nurturing and consi stent environment where positive, respectful interactions are the norm. There are of course, differences between communicating with adults and communicating with children and young people. The main difference is the actual vocabulary used. Children start to develop communication skills from birth going through a developmental cycle of language and communication to equip them with the language and strategies to deal with adult life.However, children will develop at different rates and a 16 year old may not have the language and communication skills expected of a child from the 8 – 12 year group or visa versa, and we should be aware of this when communicating verbally or in written form with our learners. We should use words they are familiar with and understand readily, but also be careful not to talk down and be patronising. More complex vocabulary should not necessarily be avoided however, and can be incorporated with explanation as a learning opportunity.Also we should be a ware of the subject matters that we cover. Material discussed between adults may not appropriate to discuss with some learners due to their developmental age. Discussions around sensitive issues such as gender, culture and relationships will be approached differently with younger people who may not have the language or experience of an adult and we can support them when investigating these subjects with appropriate vocabulary and examples. The majority of young people communicate with peers using phrases and words which are specific to their age and friendship groups.They may also write in text or abbreviated form used to communicate via mobiles and social media. It will seem ‘odd’ or patronising for an adult to use this language with young people but gaining an understanding of meaning and context is useful in avoiding miscommunication. Difficulties in communication may also occur when a person’s body language does not mirror the spoken word. A positive and â₠¬Ëœwarm’ voice may clash with fierce eyes in the classroom. You need to mean what you say! Giving mixed messages with your body language may confuse learners.We need to be aware of the different needs of each student and not assume that all learners have the same level of communication development. Some learners may find it incredibly difficult to communicate with adults. They avoid eye-contact, will rarely participate in class activities or respond to direct questioning. We can help these learners by involving them in small groups, using non-threatening questioning techniques such as mini-whiteboards and quizzes and continually modeling safe communications with other learners.Using age appropriate vocabulary and keeping teacher talk to a minimum with short (no more than three steps), clear and precise instructions can benefit learners with dyslexia and attention problems. We can also adapt our resources and delivery styles to accommodate different needs. Student’s who se first language is not English, may need vocabulary crib sheets and simplified texts, learners with hearing or sight impairments may benefit from being seated in the room.In conclusion, to establish effective communication with young people, we need to be aware of their different developmental stages and their specific individual needs. We need to acknowledge that they may not yet have the skills to allow them to communicate with adults and with each other successfully and that we assist in their development by modeling respectful and professional relationships with our colleagues and with them at all times. |

Knowing Your Audience

Running head: KNOWING YOUR AUDIENCE Knowing Your Audience Name BCOM/275 Teacher Knowing Your Audience On August 5, 2010, a small copper mine located in Chile suffered a cave-in which left 33 workers trapped underground. With workers being trapped 300 meters below ground with limited food, water, and oxygen, nobody knew for sure how long they would survive. After four days of being trapped, there was still no idea if any of the miners were even alive. Never before have so many workers survived being trapped underground for so long (Yang, 2010).Fortunately, in this case, tears turned to amazement as all 33 miners were located and rescued without any lives lost. Nobody really ever expects to encounter a situation like this until it happens. What does the employer tell the families of those who are trapped in the mine? What does the employer tell its employees? These are questions that many people do not prepare themselves for. These types of communications must be handled delicately and with the audience in mind. What are some considerations to remember given the different roles and people in the audience?This paper will discuss some of the potential needs of the families of the miners in receiving a message about this incident. It will also discuss the potential needs of the company’s employees when receiving a message about this incident. Finally, this paper will talk about what actions a person must take before and after the message is delivered to ensure that it was received as intended. As mentioned earlier, there are some considerations a person has to remember when communicating with the families of the victims and employees in this matter because of the different roles and people in the audience.If the audience is not taken into consideration when conveying a message, the communication could be lost, misunderstood, or incomplete. This could leave the audience misinformed and angry. When communicating with the families, there should be a sense of emp athy and sympathy directed toward them. Communication to the families should be prompt so that they do not have to hear about what happened to their loved ones on the news. The families of the victims would probably like to know how this could have happened and what is being done to get them out.The families don’t know as much about mining as the employees do so they would probably like an explanation of what went wrong. These types of situations are tough because the company wants to keep the families informed, but sometimes the sender knows as much about the incident as the families do. Communicating to the employees about the incident would be a little different. People that work in the mining field know about the dangers of cave-ins already. So there would be no need to go into detail about the incident. The communication should reiterate the importance of safety on-the-job.The communication should also let the employees know that everything possible is being done to resc ue the trapped workers. Keeping in mind that the employees could have friends who are trapped, the communication should also mention to employees that if they are not in the â€Å"right state of mind† to work, they should take time off for their own safety. Before a message of any kind is delivered to the audience it should be proofread and double-checked for grammatical errors and misspelled words. The sender should also find out if there are going to be any language barriers when communicating with the audience.If the method of communication is a phone call, it is a good idea to have a prewritten script to read off of to ensure that the communication is clear and concise. At the end of the message, the sender should ask the audience if they have any questions regarding the message or the situation. This will make sure that the message was delivered clearly and accurately. Depending on the circumstances, a follow-up communication may be made necessary to keep the families an d employees up-to-date on the situation. Conclusion All communications must be designed with the audience in mind.The communication will vary, depending on the circumstances and needs of the audience. If the needs of the audience are not considered before conveying a message, there is a good chance the communication could be incomplete, inaccurate, or unsuitable for the audience. In a situation like what occurred in the Chilean mine collapse, extra care needs to be taken when reaching out to the families of the victims. References Weik, J. (2010). Over 30 workers trapped after chilean mine collapse. Manuscript submitted for publication, Library, University of Phoenix, Phoenix, Arizona. Retrieved from http://web. ebscohost. com. ezproxy. apollolibrary. om/ehost/detail? sid=84e3b3de-0140- Yang, J. (2010). From collapse to rescue: inside the chile mine. The Star, Retrieved from http://www. thestar. com/news/world/chile/article/873382 Communication 1 (Phone call to families of trapped m iners) This is Mike Miller, operations supervisor at San Jose mine. One of our mines suffered a cave-in today leaving 33 of our employees, including your husband, trapped underground for the time being. We have no information as to their physical condition or how long it will be before we can reach them. We have everyone possible working on the situation and we are hoping to have them out very soon.I just want to let you know that my prayers are with your family. If you have any questions at all don’t hesitate to call. As soon as we hear anything you will be the first to know. Communication 2 (Memo to employees) To: San Jose Mine Employees One of our mines suffered a cave-in today leaving 33 of our employees trapped underground. We are currently working on the situation and are doing everything we can to reach them. This situation should remind us how careful we need to be when we are working in the mines. As soon as we have any information on the situation we will let you kn ow. Human Resources Knowing Your Audience Running head: KNOWING YOUR AUDIENCE Knowing Your Audience Name BCOM/275 Teacher Knowing Your Audience On August 5, 2010, a small copper mine located in Chile suffered a cave-in which left 33 workers trapped underground. With workers being trapped 300 meters below ground with limited food, water, and oxygen, nobody knew for sure how long they would survive. After four days of being trapped, there was still no idea if any of the miners were even alive. Never before have so many workers survived being trapped underground for so long (Yang, 2010).Fortunately, in this case, tears turned to amazement as all 33 miners were located and rescued without any lives lost. Nobody really ever expects to encounter a situation like this until it happens. What does the employer tell the families of those who are trapped in the mine? What does the employer tell its employees? These are questions that many people do not prepare themselves for. These types of communications must be handled delicately and with the audience in mind. What are some considerations to remember given the different roles and people in the audience?This paper will discuss some of the potential needs of the families of the miners in receiving a message about this incident. It will also discuss the potential needs of the company’s employees when receiving a message about this incident. Finally, this paper will talk about what actions a person must take before and after the message is delivered to ensure that it was received as intended. As mentioned earlier, there are some considerations a person has to remember when communicating with the families of the victims and employees in this matter because of the different roles and people in the audience.If the audience is not taken into consideration when conveying a message, the communication could be lost, misunderstood, or incomplete. This could leave the audience misinformed and angry. When communicating with the families, there should be a sense of emp athy and sympathy directed toward them. Communication to the families should be prompt so that they do not have to hear about what happened to their loved ones on the news. The families of the victims would probably like to know how this could have happened and what is being done to get them out.The families don’t know as much about mining as the employees do so they would probably like an explanation of what went wrong. These types of situations are tough because the company wants to keep the families informed, but sometimes the sender knows as much about the incident as the families do. Communicating to the employees about the incident would be a little different. People that work in the mining field know about the dangers of cave-ins already. So there would be no need to go into detail about the incident. The communication should reiterate the importance of safety on-the-job.The communication should also let the employees know that everything possible is being done to resc ue the trapped workers. Keeping in mind that the employees could have friends who are trapped, the communication should also mention to employees that if they are not in the â€Å"right state of mind† to work, they should take time off for their own safety. Before a message of any kind is delivered to the audience it should be proofread and double-checked for grammatical errors and misspelled words. The sender should also find out if there are going to be any language barriers when communicating with the audience.If the method of communication is a phone call, it is a good idea to have a prewritten script to read off of to ensure that the communication is clear and concise. At the end of the message, the sender should ask the audience if they have any questions regarding the message or the situation. This will make sure that the message was delivered clearly and accurately. Depending on the circumstances, a follow-up communication may be made necessary to keep the families an d employees up-to-date on the situation. Conclusion All communications must be designed with the audience in mind.The communication will vary, depending on the circumstances and needs of the audience. If the needs of the audience are not considered before conveying a message, there is a good chance the communication could be incomplete, inaccurate, or unsuitable for the audience. In a situation like what occurred in the Chilean mine collapse, extra care needs to be taken when reaching out to the families of the victims. References Weik, J. (2010). Over 30 workers trapped after chilean mine collapse. Manuscript submitted for publication, Library, University of Phoenix, Phoenix, Arizona. Retrieved from http://web. ebscohost. com. ezproxy. apollolibrary. om/ehost/detail? sid=84e3b3de-0140- Yang, J. (2010). From collapse to rescue: inside the chile mine. The Star, Retrieved from http://www. thestar. com/news/world/chile/article/873382 Communication 1 (Phone call to families of trapped m iners) This is Mike Miller, operations supervisor at San Jose mine. One of our mines suffered a cave-in today leaving 33 of our employees, including your husband, trapped underground for the time being. We have no information as to their physical condition or how long it will be before we can reach them. We have everyone possible working on the situation and we are hoping to have them out very soon.I just want to let you know that my prayers are with your family. If you have any questions at all don’t hesitate to call. As soon as we hear anything you will be the first to know. Communication 2 (Memo to employees) To: San Jose Mine Employees One of our mines suffered a cave-in today leaving 33 of our employees trapped underground. We are currently working on the situation and are doing everything we can to reach them. This situation should remind us how careful we need to be when we are working in the mines. As soon as we have any information on the situation we will let you kn ow. Human Resources

Citizen of the United States Essay

I would define a citizen as someone, who was born in, or to a certain place, who is guaranteed certain rights in the place that they were born in. Citizenship in the United States means that a person is a legally recognized member of the nation. Each citizen has equal rights under the law. All citizens have certain rights, privileges, and responsibilities. Americans who are not citizens have many of the same rights, privileges, and responsibilities of citizens. However, they do not have such important rights as the right to vote in elections, serve on juries, or hold elected office. Means that a person is recognized as a legal member of the nation  gives each person certain rights and privileges, e.g., the right to vote and to hold public office  means each person has certain responsibilities, e.g., respecting the law, voting, paying taxes, serving on juries  explain that citizens owe allegiance or loyalty to the United States; in turn they receive protection and other services from the government Nothing is more important to America than citizenship; there is more assurance of our future in the individual character of our citizens than in any proposal I, and all the wise advisers I can gather, can ever put into effect in Washington. Warren G. Harding (1920) Rights of individuals. Citizens have rights.  personal rights, e.g., to associate with whomever one pleases, live where one  chooses, practice the religion of one’s choice, travel freely and return to the United States, emigrate  political rights, e.g., to vote, speak freely and criticize the government, join organizations that try to influence government policies, join a political party, seek and hold public office  economic rights, e.g., to own property, choose one’s work, change employment, join a labor union, establish a business  Citizens not only must be aware of their rights, they must also exercise them responsibly and they must fulfill those responsibilities necessary to a self-governing, free, and just society. No governmental action, no economic doctrine, no economic plan or project can replace that God-imposed responsibility of the individual man and woman to their neighbors. Herbert Hoover (1931) Citizens have rights. personal responsibilities, e.g., taking care of themselves, accepting responsibility for the consequences of their actions, taking advantage of the opportunity to be educated, supporting their families civic responsibilities, e.g., obeying the law, respecting the rights of others, being informed and attentive to the needs of their community, paying attention to how well their elected leaders are doing their jobs, communicating with their representatives in their school, local, state, and national governments, voting, paying taxes, serving on juries, serving in the armed forces

Developing leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Developing leadership - Essay Example With the field of information technology changing rapidly, it is going to necessitate organizations to increase their reliance in technology in the future. This can be done through strategy although it is clear that the changing technologies shall compel organizations to change. Organizations have to invest in cutting edge technology for them to remain relevant. Organizational analysts have been using their domain knowledge to develop business models (Hesselbein & Goldsmith 2009). These models are made up of individual, departmental tasks. With growing information technology, architects shall be forced to assemble services and use workflow to automate executions at a faster rate in the coming years. The current trends show that resultant businesses in organizations shall be automated to a large extent. All the organizational employees and workers shall be compelled to use common vocabulary to collaborate and describe most of the organizational processes due to the impact of the comin g technologies. Forecast shows that it shall be a vital requirement for organizational workers to have more than the basic information technology skills (Yadav & Prabhu 2007). Going by the current trend, it shall be decisive for employees to have professional information technology skills in their own organizational portfolios (Rasmus & Salkowitz 2009). The chief executive offices have to use specialized software, which is customized, for the organization and equipped to monitor all the processes in the organizations. Information technology experts shall have to dwell much on developing software and hardware that can deliver (Prasad 2010). They shall also be involved in monitoring various aspects of the functionality of their product once it is deployed. The information technology firms shall be interested in improving these installations (Rasmus & Salkowitz 2009). Organizational processes shall need software and expertise for future survival. This shall constitute the concept of organizational proc esses management. Future corporate leaders: The leadership of organizations shall have to build on top of information technology basics. The future challenge of organizational leaders is to acknowledge that organizations will be run through linking individual, business tasks to develop a valuable product (Hesselbein & Goldsmith 2009). This will not necessarily take thousands of employees. It is likely that some future organizations shall outsource professional information technology services to improve quality and speed. Outsourcing is not a new concept in running of organizations (Buchen 2011). However, the need for specialized information technology skills to give multinationals a competitive advantage is set to rise. A telling example is sum sang group of companies. In South Korea, the elderly are adored according to corporate culture. However, the outgoing chief executive officer of Samsung group of companies has recommended a young successor. In a statement, he thought that, fo r the company to remain competitive in the dynamic market, it has to give room to leaders who are able to understand technology. Indeed age and gender prejudice has been associated with organizational leadership for decades (Chandna & Krishnan 2009). The youths have been kept out of leadership until the rise of the technological phenomenon. Organizations in the future shall have to depend on information techn

Function of Bile in Fat Digestion and Absorption Essay

Function of Bile in Fat Digestion and Absorption - Essay Example The nature of bile acids enables them to emulsify lipid aggregates in a detergent like action. The fats, which are hydrophobic, tend to join together with other fat droplets to form large molecules. However, the bile hinders this from happening. In the ileum, the hydrophobic section of the bile is absorbed in the fat droplet leaving a tail like hydrophilic end which repels other fat molecules. The emulsification increases the surface area of the fats hence increasing the rate of digestion by enzymatic lipases. The bile acids further solubilize the lipids by forming micelles and aid in their transport through aqueous environments. The micelles are acted up on by lipases and broken down into fatty acids and mono glycerides. These broken down units are small enough to penetrate through the walls of the small intestine through the process of absorption. They then enter the epithelial cells of the intestinal walls where the mono glycerides and fatty acids are converted into triglycerides with a protein coating. The newly formed water soluble chylomicrons enter into the lymphatic system and are transported through the bloodstream to various organs of the body for usage. In conclusion, almost 90 percent of used bile salts are recycled via enterohepatic circulation. The cycle is repeated about fifteen times before the bile salts are discarded in the feces. Nevertheless, there is constant secretion of bile salts in small amounts by the liver to replace those salts that are not recycled.

Describe the period of Globalization in international economic Essay

Describe the period of Globalization in international economic management - Essay Example International Monetary System was formed to overcome the imbalances in economies arising from globalization. The new system took into account the international trade imbalances, investment, finance, and exchange markets. The international monetary system also took into account the imbalances in international payments which as a result of globalization were settled through financing, changing domestic economic policies, rationing exchange controls, and changes in currency exchange rate. The management of International Monetary System was difficult because it needed full international cooperation which was politically impossible. For the management of the system, the economies agreed on using a set of policies. For instance, mix of adjustment mechanisms were developed such as floating exchange rates or linking currencies to dollar under fixed exchange rate. Many political and economic crises arose in the midst of globalization. Reformation of International Monetary System was required. Many countries relaxed controls, opened domestic markets and removed regulatory barriers. As a result, financial markets became integrated into one global market influencing floating exchange rate system making it the central part of the new monetary system. Such an exchange rate could provide effective account adjustments by increasing exports and lowering imports and thus creating a trade balance. Many new treaties and pacts were made within countries as well as amongst others. For instance, the United States-Japan Enhanced Initiative on Deregulation and Competition Policy for Framework was signed to reduce trade deficits between US and Japan. The European Union introduced a single currency known as Euro under the Economic and Monetary Union had significant impact on the currency exchange transactions. In addition, almost all countries set up private banks, made the more central banks more independent, liberalized their financial systems and also joined the IMF

Analysis of Globel Warming Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Analysis of Globel Warming - Essay Example It forms an invisible umbrella that reflects back radiation onto the earth instead of radiating it out into space. This causes gradual warming of the planet, as the consequence of‘greenhouse warming’ or ‘global warming’ indicates. Starting in the late 19th century, this journey towards increasing climatic crises and ecological imbalances started. The average temperature of the planet has increased. Sea levels have increased due to arctic glacier melting. Every year the sea level rises by millimeters and the trend seems exponential, posing a threat to all coastal cities. The chief cause of behind the menace of greenhouse gasses is the compound ‘chlorofluorocarbon’. This is the compound used for cooling purposes in domestic and industrial refrigerators and massive coolers. It is used in most of the cooling solutions like cold storages, ACs etc. These gasses break up the ozone layer. Similarly, other agents like vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide contribute to the greenhouse effect. The causes of rising in greenhouse gases are due to industrialization, agriculture, deforestation, incineration of several materials including waste and natural decomposition. Since the industrial revolution in the early 1900s, the rate of industrialization increased 40 fold and with it multiplied the emission of greenhouse gasses. ...the temperature of the earth, rise in sea level due to glacial melting and ozone hole What effect is predicted if greenhouse gas levels continue to increase at the present rate? If greenhouse gas levels are allowed to increase at their present rate it might initiate several natural catastrophes. The most fatal consequences for the earth and all forms of life on it would be an increase of sea levels, flooding of islands and coastal destinations. A dramatic effect could be submersion of entire coastal cities. The argument that Al Gore makes in the documentary ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ is not s ubstantial and I completely disagree with i. He says that the increase in greenhouses gas levels in the atmosphere due to an increase in carbon dioxide level is behind rising in the surface temperature of the earth. This is causing abnormal glacier melting every year, resulting in the disintegration of polar habitats of animals like polar bear, arctic seal, penguins, sea-lions, walruses etc. The truth, however, is that this is a natural cycle of warming up and cooling down of the earth’s temperature. The earth’s temperature, in truth, is ever-changing, always dynamic and either going up or down in a span of weeks, months or years. The very base of Al Gore’s argument that the earth’s surface temperature changing is detrimental to the environment and ecology is faulty. The world has witnessed an Ice Age when the temperature was below freezing point. Greenhouse gasses have nothing to do or a very small role to play in what we perceive as global warming. The earth is going through a warming up phase. For instance, Green Land was in its prime green phase in pre-history and its name sounds quite inappropriate in the present day.

Three men who have played othello Research Paper

Three men who have played othello - Research Paper Example One of the major differences that have been seen in the character of Othello has been his race. Scholars have always had controversy over Moor’s origin. Some think that he is Arabic others think that he is black. However, before the blacks got into acting, Othello’s role has been played by white actors wearing blackfaces. However, this has slowly been black actors with the white actors being quite rare today (Shakespeare, 135). In this article we are going to discuss how Orson Welles, Ira Aldridge and Tommaso Salvini have represented the character of Othello. Orson Welles was a white actor who takes the role of Othello. He applies a lot of makeup in order to appear black. He was generally able to bring out the best of the character Othello. For instance, despite the fact that he stood out of the crown not only because he was tall but he that he was very courageous and would challenge anyone. Welles Othello is a flawless lover who finds himself in caught between honesty and intrigue. He is a vulnerable hero with two personalities. At some point he is brutal and baseless and at other times he is sensitive and noble. He does not realize that his wife has been faithful and devoted all the way until it is too late and at this point he decides to commit suicide. Unlike other Othello’s who were either black or which actors who wore a blackface, Welles Othello had a brown skin and black hair. He however wore a white cap at the scenes in the beginning of the play. Iran Aldridge was the first black actor to take up the role of Othello. This was after two hundred years of white actors taking up this role. He played several other Shakespeare roles. His acting as Othello was quite spectacular and left the audience earning for more. However, since he lived in an era when racism was very ripe, he was not welcomed by the conservatives who believed that the place of black people was just being slaves. The Times once commenting on one of his performances in Covent Garden said that it was objectionable for Desdemona to be pawned upon by a black man on stage London was the hub of racism and he was not allowed to perform in London theatre. He however performed in several other cities where he got a better reception. A Russian critic commented that Iran performances â€Å"were undoubtedly the best that I have ever spent in the theatre’ (Lindfors, 64). He acted under the directions of Dowling who followed the structure of the original play closely with the lines being quite the same. He used an accent that revealed an African dialect. This was a better portray of Othello considering that he was believed to be black in the original play. Tommaso Salvini is another actor who played the role of Othello. This man had won an international reputation of performing the roles of the Shakespeare tragic heroes. He performed in various countries starting with America Europe and his home country Italy. He was a not English speaker the use of bi lingualism on stage gave this actor a unique appeal. He would say his lines in Italian alongside and English speaking Lago. He had an imposing figure giving the Othello character Intensity and passion. Some critics are of the view that he was too passionate at times. In fact, it was said that he played the last scene aggressively than was intended in the book. Rumors said that some actors would refuse to be his Desdemona for this reason. Salvini also made other

Que Onda Urban Youth Culture and Border Identity Essay

Que Onda Urban Youth Culture and Border Identity - Essay Example Politics of Identity along the Mexican Border In her book, Bejarano makes a strong case for the evolution and synthesis of a unique border identity that manifests itself along the long border that Mexico shares with the USA. In fact, hardly a day passes when we do not hear of something happening on this porous piece of land that separates the two nations. Living along the border has given Latino/as and Chicano/as a unique sense of identity- they either choose to remain true to their roots or create an altered culture and identity that is a hybrid of both American and local values. Using customs, styles, music and language, they create a new subculture that is an expression of their bi-national and bi-cultural experience. The socio-political landscape that they find themselves in while in adolescence helps create a culture that represents, defines and explains their unique identity (Bejarano, 88). For teens, adolescence represents a unique time in their lives when they are reaching ou t to the wider community through establishing friendships and communal bonds in their neighborhoods and localities. It is surprising that even Latino/as and Chicano/as want to be at a certain distance from each other in this respect due to their unique language, music and cultural differences. Each of these groups either adopts their own style of alternative culture, or blends in with the American culture to create a unique American-Latino or American-Chicano style. The unique identifiers are still music, clothing, videos and celebrity watchers and emulators of what they include in their reference groups (Bejarano, 95). Factors Influencing Identity Development along the Border Region There are a myriad number of factors that influence and infringe upon identity development along the border region that separates Mexico and the USA. They could choose to remain true to their roots or alternatively create a culture and identity that is a hybrid of both American and local values. They mi ght well be confused, because even as part of the American population chooses to follow and emulate Chicano and Mexican values in dress, dance and music, most Latinos and Chicanos would still view this with distaste and ridicule. They would resent any effort to popularize and commercialize their values and identity in the name of farcical popular culture, when they see on the other hand that there is still hatred for the Mexican immigrant that crossed the border to earn a better standard of living for his or her family. Indeed the botched up effort to present guayaberas as a Mexican shirt was so ill-fated that it has served as a symbol of shamefulness to Mexicans as a misrepresentation of their culture- in true American style- and has led to retaliatory efforts in schools to create youth’s own ‘Chicanismo’ hybrid style which reflects their experiences in the school setting (Bejarano, 97). It is indeed not surprising that the author found that Chicano/as at Altami ra High School chose to create a distinct sub-cultural identity for themselves as expressed in fashions, music and language, as well as interest in car shows and looking ‘ghetto fabulous’. Meanwhile, it is also clear that Mexicans and Chicanos differ in a number of ways regarding certain values and customs. The Mexicanas find that the major part of even their weekend is consumed by

Ancient Civilizations Governance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ancient Civilizations Governance - Essay Example The period of the Pharaohs started when the Lower and Upper Egypt were unified under the same state. Same us Mesopotamia the Nile was the only source of livelihood in Egypt as were Tigris and Euphrates. There were royal governors appointed to national administrative centers by the pharaoh who were worshiped as the god. During this period of the fourth dynasty it was strong than ever and it's when the pyramids were built to bury the pharaohs (Clare, 1906). They had a centralized form of government to organize the vast kingdom and hold on together, where they used slave labor from around Egypt. They are also known to be the cradle of civilization as their counterparts in Mesopotamia, who also had specialist in writing, stone cutters for pyramid construction as well as mathematicians and painters. The kingdom came to for fall during the fifth dynasty when civil wars arose and the regional governors revolted against the royal family which undermined the unity of the government (Alcock, 2001). Ancient Hebrews of Israel and Judah Israelites are traced in the book of genesis, with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as their leaders in the beginning, where Abraham lived a nomadic lifestyle and bore the royal family of Israel that was later led by his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob. The history of Israelites and Judah is mostly found in the Bible conceptualization in the Old Testament, dedicated to the Bronze Age. After living in the desert, they conquered cities in Canaan such as Jericho, Hazor and Ai. The structures of Israelites were conforming to those of Canaanites states in their monarchial government, religion, economy and social structures, where they improved on these structures to establish a strong kingdom (Collingwood, 1946). The Israelite Kingdom... Ancient Civilizations Governance The habitants of Mesopotamia had a polytheistic religion, with same belief that the world was surrounded everywhere by water and it was a flat disc. As a region they had the same beliefs on the universe but they differed from one city state to another, where they refer to different gods and goddesses. The city states of the Sumerian people thrived independently of each other, where the larger cities would try and conquer the whole region to unify it under the latter's rule, where this was met with great resistance breaking down the empire most of the times (Clare, 1906). The Mesopotamian's believed that the authority of their rulers ( kings and queens) were anointed by their Gods, giving them total control over the populace as it was legitimized by the religion of the land. Other rulers were believed to be as gods being more than two-thirds gods and lesser human. The empire was divided into the city states which were known as provinces and were headed by a governor who made sure that people paid their taxes, gathered soldiers for war, supplied workers for building temples and was entirely in responsible for law enforcement in his state. Some of the early city states were Samaria, Damascus, and Nineveh and later there was Babylon which expanded much during the times of Hammurabi's rule. Growth and prosperity in this period was stagnant as a series of plagues and famines had reduced the populace almost by half leading to peasant revolts and social unrest. This also threatened the Catholic Church’s unity.

Importance of Risk Assessment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Importance of Risk Assessment - Research Paper Example Effective risk assessment is quite crucial to the success of every organization or business activity.Risk assessment requires consistently applying and defining an approach that is tailored to the organization. Any assessment activity begins with the outlay of a plan and scope considering objectives, timing, input, output and responsibility requirements (Wenyuan 21). These responsibilities are assigned to parties that can provide a meaningful perspective on relevant risks. In implementing these responsibilities, one requires input sources which are determined by the information available such as prior assessments, lessons learned and loss data. On the other hand, output requirements are determined based on specific requirements of sponsors and stakeholders. The execution of the assessment process is done once the planning and scoping have been determined. Â  There are several important steps required in carrying out a risk assessment.The first step involves the identification of relevant organization objectives. Identifying relevant objectives provides a basis for ascertaining the potential risks that may have an impact on the achievement of certain objectives. It further ensures relevance of consequential risk assessment and management plan to important organizational objectives. These objectives are usually defined as a number of organizational levels and it is necessary to comprehend how they are formulated. (Vose 12). Moreover, well-formulated objectives are analyzed by considering the weaknesses, opportunities, threats, and strengths.

Investigatory Project Essay Example for Free

Investigatory Project Essay This investigatory project is to be conducted to study the feasibility of Kalamansi (Citrus Microcarpa Bunge), Oregano leaves (Coleus aromaticus Benth.) and Kakawate leaves (Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Steud.) as mosquito repellant lotion. As of today it is not only dengue virus, there is a new disease called chikungunya virus that is anarthropod-borne virus, of the genus Alphavirus, that is transmitted to humans by virus-carrying Aedes mosquitoes. There have been recent breakouts of chikungunya associated with severe illness. It can cause death for many people. We all need a repel to protect ourselves from mosquitoes so this study is conducted to help people prevent these mosquitoes and its viruses by simply using Kalamansi, Oregano leaves and Kakawate leaves mosquito repelling lotion. Kakawate’s insecticidal study showed nematicidal activity against Meloidogyne incognita nematode with 60% mortality; mosquito repellent activity against Aedes aegypti with maximum 78% repellency (http://www.stuartxchange.com/Kakawati.html) Kalamansi have linalool that is used as insecticide (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linalool) in Oregano, the oil was insecticidal to white termites It was more active than synthetic insecticides, (http://www.stuartxchange.com/Oregano.html) Mosquitoes can carry deadly diseases that cause thousands of illnesses and deaths each year. With the increase in international travel, no one is immune to mosquito-borne diseases. (http://www.mosquitomagnet.com/advice/mosquito-info/mosquito-borne-diseases) The researcher wants to prove that Kalamansi (Citrus Microcarpa Bunge), Oregano leaves (Coleus aromaticus Benth.) and Kakawate leaves (Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Steud.) can be used as lotion in repelling mosquitoes.

Site Examination of Soil for Jubilee Line Extension

Site Examination of Soil for Jubilee Line Extension This is an interpretative geotechnical report of the Jubilee Line Extension which describes the extension from Green Park to Stratford running through South and East London. A site examination was undertaken by Soil Mechanics Ltd in 1990 for London Underground which was done as per the 1987 specifications for Ground Examination published by the Department of Transport (Attewell, 1995, p. 39).      Ã‚   This included Package 2 of the proposed Jubilee Line Extension, involving 20 boreholes out of which 18 boreholes were drilled using Cable Percussive and Rotary method was used to drill the remaining 2 boreholes situated in the Bermondsey region of London. Drilling works finished on the 14th November 1990. The main objective of the investigation was to examine the ground conditions of the soil above and beneath the site preceding the proposed tunneling in the Bermondsey region. The site shows the acquired borehole information of Package 2 and takes after the proposed tunneling course of the extension works southeast of London Bridge Station in Bermondsey, eastwards towards Canada Water in Rotherhithe. The site range in Eastings and Northings is linear, running from 533343, 179834 (BH401) in the east to 535222, 179445 (BH417) in the west. This principally takes after the River Thames at an interval of roughly 400m from the south bank over the linear run. The passage runs through the overland train line southeast of Tower Bridge Station towards South Bermondsey Station for around 600m before curving eastwards and east-north-eastwards underneath Jamaica Road to the recently proposed Bermondsey Tube Station. The tunnel route proceeds eastwards underneath Southwark Park and ends at the edge of Neptune Road and Moodkee Street on the Canada Estate. Over the site the street levels are moderately flat, going from 1.9mOD in the western, to 3.6mOD in the east. The site is situated on various strong and drifts stores at ground level as indicated in BGS solid and drift 1:50,000 maps (256 North London; 270 South London). The geological units which are probably going to be experienced over the site ranges from shallow to solid geological units are portrayed as follows from the youngest to oldest. As its name implies, Made Ground according to BGS are areas where the pre-existing ground surface have been massively altered by man-made activities such as excavation. The thickness of the made ground ranges from 0.30m to 5.00m consisting of a mix of concrete, rubble, brick and refuse intermingled with gravel and sands frequently within a matrix of silt or clay. Studying this man-made geological unit also helps to get information of the past land because it is often associated with unstable ground, unpredictable engineering conditions and contaminated materials (Ford,Kessler, Cooper, Price Humpage, 2010). These deposits are as a result of the urbanization and industrial development (Burland et al. 2001, p62). The deposits are around the River Thames, basically lying unconformably upon River Terrace Gravels (Ellison, 2004). The Alluvium is mainly comprised of silty clay and clayey silt, with beds of fine-to-coarse-grained sand with thickness of 1m to 15 m. Inter-bedded peat is known to happen eastwards of Southwark and Westminster, with the broadest deposits extending west to the Rotherhithe tunnel (Ellison, 2004). The River Terrace Gravels are comprised of variable quantities of sand and rock, deposited in a braided river system roughly 5km wide over the River Thames floodplain (Ellison, 2004). The deposits in this area of London are illustrative of the Terrace Gravel Formation, lying unconformably upon the solid geology of the region. The London Clay Formation is mainly argillaceous in its upper part, with the greater part of the development involving overconsolidated intensely bioturbated, fissured bluish-grey slightly calcareous, silty to extremely silty clay (Ellison, 2004) usually containing pyrite and carbonate solidifications (claystone) of ferroan calcite (Huggett, 1994 in Ellison, 2004). This upper part is frequently oxidized and weathered to a brown colouration colouration, while the basal unit is remarkably sandier and siltier than the upper horizons (Burland et al, 2001). Beneath the London Clay, this stratum is basically less than 1m thick (Burland et al 2001), and generally consist of sands, rock and stone beds (Hight et al. 2004; Ellison, 2004). The Lambeth Group is made up of the Reading formation, Woolwich formation and Upnor formation (Ellison Woods, 2004) and is divided into different lithological units. Recognized primarily inside cores in central and eastern London, this stratum comprises mainly of mottled clay, silty clay and sediments with hues including pale brown, pale grey-blue, dark brown, light green, red-brown and dark-red, based upon the oxidation condition of the constituents (Ellison, 2004). At the base of this unit overlaid sand and silt with minor tunneling and local ripple overlays are apparent (Hight et al, 2004). When compared to the Upper Mottled Clay there is no much difference, this lower horizon also includes purple to the list of potential colourations (Ellison, 2004). Moreover, it is also noted to contain carbonate nodules up to 0.5m in diameter, particularly in the top parts in east London these appear to have coalesced to form a limestone up to 1.6m thick (Hight et al, 2004) Circulated mostly in south London amongst Westminster and Bermondsey (Ellison et al,2004; Height et al, 2004), this strata have a maximum thickness of 3m, including grey shelly clay thinly inter-bedded with grey-brown and fine sand (Height et al, 2004). Generally, there is a feebly established shell bed up to 0.43m thick, while amongst Bermondsey and Lewisham a consistent grey limestone bed (the Paludina Limestone) can be distinguished, with a thickness of 0.1-1.83m (Ellison, 2004). Principally lying comformably on the Lower Shelly Clay, it is basically comprised of thinly interbedded and laminated fine- to medium-grained sands, silts and clays with scattered shells (Ellison, 2004). There is deposit of sand of thicknesses up to 4m likely covered channels are known to occur especially around the Lambeth and Bermondsey regions and contain pale olive to pale brown medium-grained very much sorted sands (Hight et at, 2004). Thickening from central London towards the south-east, this rests disconformably on the Lower Mottled Clay of the Reading Formation whilst the top of the unit is generally sharp with the Laminated Beds or the Upper Mottled Clay (Ellison, 2004). Dark grey to black clay is the dominant lithology with abundant shell fragments (Hight et al, 2004). A few beds are totally shaped of weakly cemented shells, while less regularly brownish-grey clay beds, slightly solidified with siderite (Ellison, 2004) are identifiable through this exceedingly variable stratum. An oyster-rich bed occurs close to the base (Hight et al, 2004).       The pebble bed is identifiable as a different substratum from the lower Glauconitic Sand in the London region (Ellison, 1991 in Hight et al, 2004). In this region, the strata have thickness about 3m and typically consist of well-rounded flint pebbles, basically less than 30mm in diameter, however can be recognized as huge as 200mm (Hight et al, 2004; Ellison, 2004). Mainly fine-to-medium-grained sand and clayey sands with variable amounts of glauconite grains of fine to medium sands grey to greenish grey when fresh, weathering to pale grey-brown and yellow brown (Hight et al, 2004).Carbonate concretions have developed either as hard sporadic masses or powdery patches up to 0.5m in diameter (Ellison,2004). Irregular beds of well-rounded flint pebbles (Hight et al, 2004) occur throughout this unit, as do clay dominated units of up to 0.3m thickness (Ellison, 2004). Basically comprising of a coarsening-upwards series of fine-grained intensely bioturbated grey sands (Ellison, 2004), these beds have a maximum thickness of around 30m inside the London Basin (Royse et al, 2008). The lower beds are clayey and silty, while bioturbation structures are identifiable by wisps of dark grey clay and silty clay (Ellison, 2004). Denoting the base of the Thanet Sand Formation, this bed is thought to be a basal conglomerate, comprising of irregular rounded black flint pebbles (Royse et al, 2008) set inside a dark greenish grey, clayey fine-to-coarse grained sandy matrix with glauconite pellets (Ellison, 2004). Basically a fine-grained white Limestone, this formation mainly comprises of coccoliths made almost completely out of calcium carbonate as low magnesian calcite with sporadic flint bands (Ellison, 2004). In the London region the lower parts of this formation is mapped as the Lewes Chalk or the Lewes Nodular Chalk, which is best characterized as a hard to very hard nodular Chalk with interbedded soft to hard gritty Chalks and regular flint bands (Bristow et al, 1997). The motivation behind ground examination was to assemble data about the physical and designing properties of soils and subsoils in the study territory to recognize whether the site is appropriate for the proposed work. The excavations started on 24th September, 1990 and completed on 14th November 1990 and a total sum of 20 boreholes finished over the site. A sum total of twenty boreholes were drilled over the site to examine the nature and condition of the soil underneath the site. This program of works started on the 24th September, 1990 and finished on the fourteenth November, 1990. Drilling depths range from -24.93 mOD (27.60 mbgl) in BH 413P to -49.84 mOD (53.05 mbgl) in BH404T with the majority of excavations being completed to a depth of 30.00 to 40.00 mbgl. Chiseling of harder strata was attempted where necessary. Hand-dug starter pits were burrowed at all locations to a depth of between 0.60 mbgl (meters subterranean level) and 1.20 mbgl so as to check for utilities before boring was initiated. Fourteen of these boreholes were finished utilizing Cable Percussive method in shell diameters between 150mm and 250mm relying upon the number of decrement required per borehole. A further two boreholes were excavated utilizing open hole drilling (404T, 407T) utilizing a tricone rock bit, followed by Rotary drilling to the base of the boreholes. Also, two boreholes (410T and 415T) were started utilizing Cable Percussive techniques, followed by Rotary boring strategies to the base of the boreholes. In every one of the four boreholes Rotary penetrating utilized polymer mud flush and SK6L wireline 100mm coring tool. The last two boreholes (403P and 413P) were drilled utilizing Cable Percussive tool together with Self-Boring Pressuremeter (SBP) tests), utilized principally to bore and test the London Clay Formation and Upper Mottled Clays and where pertinent, the Thanet Sand Formation. A more detailed of each borehole is outlined out in Table 1 Trial pits also known as shallow boreholes were dug in order to check gas, water and electricity pipelines due to the level of urbanization of the site location before actual excavation works commenced. The sensitivity of the locations means there is high risk of damaging existing infrastructures. The depth of the trial pits ranges from 0.6m to 1.2m as shown in table 1 above. Ten hand-dug inspection trial pits were drilled to a depth of 1.2m below ground level and these trial pits were: BH401, BH402, BH405, BH406, BH408, BH412, BH413, BH414, BH416, BH418, and BH419. After the drilling process, laboratory test were undertaken on specific samples so as to give in-depth understanding of the site. The tests performed were as follows; Index Properties, to classify samples accordingly to the Liquid Plastic Limits, Plasticity Index, Moisture content and Bulk density. Undrained Triaxial Tests, to calculate the undrained shear strength (Cu) values of the samples. Chemical Tests, testing the pH for soil and water for chemical contamination analysis (which was carried out on some water samples, undisturbed and disturbed samples). In addition, some chemical testing was carried out on some samples from boreholes to determine pH, pAH, organic content, heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, mercury, nickel, zinc, lead, coal tars, mineral oils, phenols, solvent extracts, sulphide and sulphates which may indicate contamination in the site. X-ray Diffraction Analysis was also carried out in order to ascertain the presence of minerals. From the ground investigations, it can be affirmed that the stratigraphy of the site relatively varies from northwest to southeast that is, from London Clay Formations to Chalk Formation. Table 2 gives a vivid summary of the succession of soil underlying the site. As presented in Table 2, there is decrease in London Clay Formation thickness from boreholes 401 to 410. With the Chalk Formation depth, it appears from 36m beneath ground level from boreholes 407 to 418. Moreover, it can be seen that Woolwich and Reading Formation interbedded beneath the site as upper shelly / mottled clay and lower shelly/ mottled clay. Blackheath bed underlies in upper shelly clay. There is a Bullhead Bed between Thanet Bed and Chalk. Water level monitoring was carried out with piezometers installed in each borehole to aid measurement of groundwater across the site. Recorded measurement for less than three months (between 1st October 1990 to 17th December 1990 with depths of 0.27mBGL (BH401) to 17.53mBGL (BH405) indicates inconsistency along the site. Although there was a piezometer installed in BH403P, no water level was observed whilst 18 boreholes had one piezometer installed in each. Moreover, boreholes 402,403,407T, 410T, 415T and 416 had two piezometers installed in them respectively (upper and lower piezometer). Piezometer readings were observed to form a distinct ground water surface in the Terrace gravels which can be concluded as a permeable bed with water level observed in 8 boreholes. The contamination data given indicates that from the depth ranges of 1.50m (BH419) to 18.30m (BH308), Sulphides and Chromium occur from 0.01 to 5. There was presence of two mainly aquifers zone, the first phreatic zone is located between the permeable Terrace Gravels and the impermeable London Clay Formation in the west of the site (boreholes 401 to 407) extending to the underlying Upper Mottled Clay and Upper Shelly Clay from the Lambeth Group (boreholes 408 to 416) in the east of the site. Its depth goes from 4m to 12m below the ground level. The second phreatic zone is can be found in the permeable Laminated Sand and Silt Strata, between the Upper Mottled Clay and the Lower Shelly Clay (boreholes 407 to 418), at the east of the site with varying depth of 9m to 17m below the ground level Experienced mostly at all ground level within all excavations, the stratum thickness varies across the site, ranging from 0.30m (BH 416) to 5.00m (BH402). Consisting of topsoil (0.10 to 0.20m thick), tarmac (0.05 to 0.15m) and concrete (0.05 to 0.40m) overlying soft to firm brown grey green and black silty sandy Clay with abundant fine to coarse angular to rounded brick, concrete, ash, tile mortar, flint coal and chalk gravels and rare cobbles of tile, chalk, concrete and timber. Made Ground within BH 403 was described as oily whilst being described as having a strong smell in BH414. Chiseling was required within six boreholes whilst SPT N values for this stratum varies from 3 to 24 in accordance with the variability of the soils. Two sulphate and pH tests were also completed indicating a pH of 7.5 to 8.0, a soil sulphate content of 0.05 % and a water sulphate content of 0.09 g/l. It cannot be recommended that such a variable stratum be characterized using limited data. However, thes e results suggest that DS-1 grade concrete may be utilized at this level. Alluvium in experienced in boreholes 401, 403, 404, 405, 406, 410, 411, 412, 413, 418, 415, 416 and 417, and it is situated beneath made ground. Its thickness varies from 0.50 m (borehole 401) to 3.60 m (borehole 405). This stratum can be defined as medium dense greyish yellow clayey fine to coarse sand with some sub-angular to sub-rounded fine to coarse flint gravel, with some presence of firm to stiff brown-green slightly sandy (fine to medium) clay, soft blue-grey very oxidized brown very silty lay with pockets ( This stratum is situated below the Alluvium with thicknesses of 2.70m (BH411) and 6.90m (407T) and is generally described as a medium dense to dense orange brown very sandy medium to coarse sub-angular to sub rounded flint gravel with occasional flint cobbles and pockets of brown silty clay. Chiseling was required at the base of the Terrace Gravels in BH409 (6.90-7.70mbgl for 2hours). SPT N values range from 4 to 79, with the majority of values plotting between 11 and 47 as presented in figure 5. Based on this data a design line of N=23 is proposed for the Terrace Gravels, which shows a drained friction angle of 34 ° (Peck et al, 1974). Due to the sandy and gravelly nature of this stratum, plasticity index, triaxial and moisture content tests were not undertaken since it is perceived that these soils are non-plastic. Nevertheless, 15 water soluble sulphate and pH tests were performed on water samples obtained within the Terrace Gravels. The results of these show a pH range from 7 to 9.7 and a water soluble sulphate level of 0.08 to 0.31 g/l. It was present in 12 boreholes 401, 402, 403, 403P, 404, 405, 406, 407, 408, 410, 412, 413 and it is located below the terrace gravel stratum. It is a combination of weathered (boreholes 401 and 412) and unweathered London Clay. Thicknesses of the London Clay range from 29.65m (BH401) to 0.30m (BH410T). The weathered London Clay can be described as stiff thinly laminated extremely close to fissure brown clay with rare bioturbation fissures randomly oriented whilst unweathered London Clay can be described as very stiff thinly laminated close to fissured grey-brown, grey, brown clay with occasional bioturbation, fissures are randomly orientated with occasional black mottling. The base of this stratum presents occasional pockets of light brown 20 silty fine sand ( With regards to the Index Test, 30 tests were completed and the results were: % LL from 50 to 88, % PL from 19 to 43, and % PI 29 to 58. Then, these results were plotted, as it can be seen from figure 7, the majority of the results are located in the range of high to very high plasticity clays. Just one isolated point is located below the A-line, so it was ignored in this case. The moisture content varies from 8 to 35%. , the natural moisture content is considerably close to the plastic limit, in some cases is less than the plastic limit, which indicates that the soil is in a plastic to semi-solid state. The bulk density of this stratum varies from 1.90 to 2.10 Mg/m3. They were made 46 triaxial tests to determine the undrained shear stress of this stratum and the results were from 46 to 394. Typically, Lambeth Group is comprised of three subgroups namely Woolwich Formation (Upper Shelly Clay, Laminated Beds and Lower Shelly Clays), Reading Formation (Upper Mottled Clay and Lower Mottled Clay) and Upnor Formation (Pebble beds and Glauconitic Sands as shown in table 3. The clays of the Upper Mottled Clay have higher plasticity than those of the Lower Mottled Clay and there are 7 blows of SPT for Lower Mottled Clay and 31 for the former making Upper Mottled Clay a very hard stratum. The SPT values are 45 to 76 and indicate a large distribution in sample strengths and the design line for Glauconitic sand is N = 64 + 22.63z. The Lambeth Group is generally very plastic and has a consistency of between -7 to 185. In BH408 at -17.69m depth, CI is -7 and can be inferred to be in liquid state being extremely soft and has eligible shear strength. The average N60 values (which was calculated from the average N-value) is between 37 to 73 making Lambeth group to fall in the very stiff to hard range. The average N-value is 45 to 76 and the relative density is from dense to very dense. Considerable high values of Undrained Triaxial Test are also indicative of the strength of the Lambeth Group. Thanet sand lies beneath the Glauconitic Sand (Lambeth Group) and is appeared in BH404T to BH419 with thickness ranging between 10.50m (BH 411) to 12.50m (BH 417). Thanet sand strata has very dense grey dotted black slightly fine to medium SAND with rare fine sub rounded rock gravels, which is slightly silty( Chalk formation has maximum thickness of 8.60m occurring in boreholes 407T, 410T, 411, 415T and 418 below Bullhead Bed. The stratum was unproven, characterized by the presence of white slightly to moderate weathered CHALK, weak, fractures closely spaced, infilled up to 9 mm with comminuted chalk. Occasional rounded flint cobbles as angular fine gravel fragments. Chalk recovered as fine gravel sized white very weak with 31 much matrix of with sandy silt sized fragments. It was identified as chalk grade III and IV. Considering the SPT results in figure 5, they were made 7 tests in total using Split Spoon Sampler (S). The N value in this stratum varies from 61 to 85, with an average of 71. According to density index of sands classification by Craig (2004), this soil can be considered as a Very Dense Soil. SPT, index test and moisture content, triaxial test and bulk density test were not applied to Chalk samples. References Digimap.edina.ac.uk,. (2016). Digimap Home Page. Retrieved 6 December 2016, from http://digimap.edina.ac.uk Soil Mechanics Ltd. (1990). Jubilee Line Extension ground investigation Package 2. Ellison, R., Woods, M. (2004). Geology of London. Keyworth, Nottingham: British Geological Survey. Ford, J., Kessler, H., Cooper, A., Price, S., Humpage, A. (2010). An enhanced classification forartificial ground. Hight, D., Ellison, R., Page, D. (2004). Engineering in the Lambeth Group. London: CIRIA. Royse, K., de Freitas, M., Burgess, W., Cosgrove, J., Ghail, R., Gibbard, P. et al. (2012). Bristow,C R, Mortimore,R N, and Wood, C J. 1997. Lithostratigraphy for mapping the chalk of southsea England. Proceedings of the geologists Association, vol.108,293-316. Burland, J B and Hancock, R J R. 1977. Underground car park at the House of Commons, London. Geotechnical aspects. Structural Engeneering. vol 55,87-100. BH Eastings Northings Drilling Method Start date Reduced level Finish date Reduced level Hand dug pit depth (mBGL) Depths (m) 401 533344 179834 Cable Percussive 24/09/1990 2.96 29/09/1990 -36.74 1.2 39.7 402 533435 179831 Cable Percussive 24/09/1990 3.45 03/10/1990 -33.05 1.1 36.5 403 533557 179755 Cable Percussive 22/10/1990 3.4 02/11/1990 -36.6 1.2 40 403P 533551 179737 Cable Percussive/SBP 01/10/1990 3.52 21/10/1990 -34.48 1.2 38 404T 533638 179605 Open Hole/Rotary 24/09/1990 3.21 03/10/1990 -49.84 1.1 53.05 405 533761 179560 Cable Percussive 02/10/1990 3.51 14/10/1990 -36.49 1.2 40 406 533888 179456 Cable Percussive 04/10/1990 3.48 15/10/1990 -33.32 1.2 36.8 407T 534043 179407 Open Hole/Rotary 08/10/1990 3.26 19/10/1990 -47.11 1.1 50.37 408 534223 179348 Cable Percussive 05/10/1990 2.91 12/10/1990 -32.09 0.8 35 409 534389 179384 Cable Percussive 11/10/1990 2.55 18/10/1990 -27.25 0.8 29.8 410T 533406 179414 Cable Percussive/Rotary 17/10/1990 2.79 30/10/1990 -40.71 0.6 43.5 411 534455 179389 Cable Percussive 15/10/1990 2.42 22/10/1990 -37.83 1.2 40.25 412 534478 179436 Cable Percussive 04/10/1990 2.54 15/10/1990 -33.46 1.2 36 413P 534525 179429 Cable Percussive/SBP 30/10/1990 2.67 14/11/1990 -24.93 1 27.6 414 534649 179451 Cable Percussive 15/10/1990 2.89 28/10/1990 -37.06 1.2 39.95 415T 534905 1

Importance of Listening for Learning a Foreign Language

Importance of Listening for Learning a Foreign Language Listening is normal and frequent in daily life. It is one of the five traditional inborn senses of human being. Listening appears from the very beginning day that we were born to be human and it is the first mode of the four skills that a language learner acquires in learning a certain language since the language written form always develops after the spoken form, not the other way out. . Peoples need to listen is as natural as their need to breathe or eat. Thus, listening happens in all aspects of social life. Actually, we listen everywhere: at home, at work, in community, and for many purposes such as for entertainment, obtaining necessary information or for academic purposes. A vast majority of people in the world spend their communicating time mainly for listening. To be a successful listener, people can uncover the deep layer of meaning of language and communication styles. In addition, people may have a feeling of confidence in communicating with others, and it is more likely for them to gain good impression, trust and respect from the interlocutors. Hence, it is undoubtedly that listening is one of mankinds regular and important activities. To the process of learning foreign language, listening is no less crucial than that in everyday life. The learners cannot develop speaking skill unless they develop listening skill as Nunan (1998, p.1) saying that listening is the basic skill in language learning. Without listening skill, learners will never learn to communicate effectively. This can be understandable with ease that language skills are often integrated with each other in language use. Nevertheless, English language students, in fact, often live in a limited situation where they have few chances to expose to natural spoken English; therefore classroom listening practice is needed for them so that they can have good preparation for their later successful communicative ability. More importantly, listening to spoken English provides the learners with necessary input that serves as the basis for the language acquisition and pave them the way to investigate humans knowledge. Though important as stated, listening skill is commonly described in language literature as neglected, overlooked, or taken for granted skill as some people believe that aural competence comes naturally and develops automatically through exposure to the language and through practice of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. As for that, little attention from teachers, book designers and researchers has been paid to listening so far. With nearly ten year experience in working as a teacher of English at a high school, I myself have found that of the four skills, listening comprehension is the students weakest one. Together, most of my students of all three grades always complain that they find it so hard in learning the skill. They fell frightened when they enter listening lesson. While my students are relatively good at written texts such as reading, writing and able to find their own ways to improve those skills, their listening ability has been left behind. This is simply true since English listening is, in deed, the most complex and challenging competence for English as foreign language learners to develop and because it is a skill which involves a set of different sub-skills. With that in mind, on the one hand I would like to fill a small gap in the field of listening research. On the other hand, being an instructor, it is very essential to help students to solve their problems in the language learning process. Thus, this small research project is conducted as an attempt to discover what factors that strongly affect students listening skill. In other words, it is the cause explaining why the students meet so many difficulties when they implement classroom listening tasks. Then, some possible remedies may be given to help them to overcome the dilemma. Hence, a couple of questions guiding across my study is: What are some of the reasons leading to the students difficulties in listening skill? What should solutions be given to help them to defeat the problems and to get improved with their overall outcome of their listening? LITERATURE REVIEW 1. Hearing vs. Listening If you raise a question to a group of people in your community or to a group of your students What is listening?. Some of them would answer without hesitation hearing. In spite of the fact that in some African languages, hearing and listening have the same meaning. Listening and hearing, indeed, are different terms, mean different things and people often use them interchangeably (there is a similar distinction between seeing and looking). We all know that hearing is one of five inborn senses of human being. Hearing is the process that sound waves enter through our ears. At this sense, hearing is physical. Although hearing is scientifically proved to be a complex process, it is an automatic, passive activity Listening is somewhat dissimilar. It is much more than hearing. There have been so many definitions for this term so far. At its simplest, listening can be defined in some English dictionaries as the act of hearing attentively. This means that the listeners pay attention or concentration on the task in spite of surrounding distractions. In this case, they do not merely hear the sound but a purpose is combined in it. People who listen to music or listen to the news on television can be taken as an example. They consciously and deliberately hear the sound for relaxation or to get necessary information. Writers offer different definitions of listening to fit the purposes of their articles or their research projects. Listening, as Howatt and Dakin (1974) define, is the ability to recognize and comprehend what is being delivered by speakers in terms of their accent, pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary as well as the meaning of the message. In this point of view, the act of listening must include both hearing and understanding all aspects of the message delivered. Listening in this definition can be seen as listening comprehension. Forseth Rol, Forseth Carol, Ta Nguyen (1996, p.69) say that listening is decoding sounds and understanding the meaning behind those sound. It is noticeable that there is a similarity in these two definitions in which the authors emphasize listeners comprehension in listening. However, Hasan (2000) differentiates between listening and listening comprehension. He viewed listening as a process where the listeners merely listen to the speech without understanding and responding to it. In contrast, listening comprehension is a process comprising of interactivity and full comprehending of the text. To my perspective, listening in Hasans definition is somewhat similar to hearing. In the view of OMalley Chamot (1990, p.132) listening comprehension entails active and conscious process in which the listener constructs the meaning by using cues from contextual information and from existing knowledge In the opinion of Rubin (1990, p.309), listening consists of processing information which the listener gets from visual and auditory clues in order to define what is going on and what the speakers are trying to express. In fact, listening is a complex skill involving many micro skills; hence Rost (2002) defines listening as a multi-layered process which includes: receiving what that speaker actually says hearing correctly; constructing and representing meaning decoding; creating meaning through involvement and imagination applying prior knowledge of content and community norms, and predicting ahead; negotiating meaning and responding working out an appropriate response. In comparison with all the definitions above, I find the definition given by Rost the most convincing since it covers the nature of listening. 2. Kinds of listening 3. Some learner problems in listening comprehension. Listening comes naturally to human and develop automatically as some people say but it is, actually, not as simple as it seems. Consequently, it causes so many problems for the listeners both in mother tongue and in foreign language. So far, a large number of researches have been done to show common problems in listening. Before discovering various difficulties facing my students in listening comprehension, it is helpful to review the literature relating to this. Cherry (1957) suggest some uncertainties in second and foreign language listening. He uses the term uncertainty in stead to refer to factors leading to difficulty or problem . These uncertainties fall in to several major categories including: firstly, uncertainties in speech sound and patterns; secondly, uncertainties in language and syntax; thirdly, uncertainties in recognition of content; and lastly, uncertainties resulted from environmental noise and disturbance which create gaps in the message. Similarly, Hedge (2000) introduces some uncertainties by subdividing them into seven one. These consist of:1) uncertainties of confidence; 2) uncertainties deriving from the presentation of speech; 3) uncertainties because of gaps in the message; 4)uncertain strategies; 5) uncertainties of language; 6) uncertainties of content; and 7) visual uncertainties. According to Brown and Yule (1983), there are four main groups of factors which strongly prevent leaner from effective listening comprehension. These include 1) the speaker (number of speakers present, how quickly they speak, what kinds of accent they own); 2) the listener (the role of the listener whether they participate in the conversation or they eavesdrop, the level of response required, their interest in the subject); 3) the content ( grammar, vocabulary, information structure, background knowledge assumed); and 4) support (whether there are pictures, diagrams or other visual aids to support the text). Anderson and Lynch (1988) claim that there are a large number of factors leading to the difficulties when student listen and perform the listening tasks. They categorize them into three principal one. These are: 1) the type of language; 2) the purpose in listening; 3) the context in which the listening takes place. The writer also emphasize that we have to consider not only the number of factors involved but also the relationship between them. Anderson and Lynch, by a series of experiment, conclude that the difficulty of listening task is particularly influenced by: the organization of the information: When the information sequence is well and logically organized, it will be easier for the listener. In contrast, it creates so many obstacles for them. the familiarity of the topic: If the topic of the listening passage is familiar to listeners, it will be less harder for them to understand. the explicitness and sufficiency of the information: The information should not only be well organized, but also be clear or unambiguous . Besides, the passage should not contain redundancies. the type of referring expressions used whether the text described static relationships Yayang (1994) indicates that problems in listening resulted from: the message, the speaker, the listener, and physical setting. Problems mentioned above are for both the first language listeners and foreign language listeners in general. In particular, English as foreign language learners have the following problems: Trouble with sound: All the stages in the listening process are likely to take the learners much longer to recognize familiar sound elements as familiar, to see the relationships and transformations among them. The learners themselves fail to identify, discriminate, and understand them correctly. The sounds, stresses, intonations spoken and taught by teachers seem to be different from those said by the native speakers who they are listening to. Have to understand every word: Learners have a tendency to try their best to understand every word from the listening passage, thinking that everything that is said contains equally important information. In fact, there may be a lot of words they fail to recognize from the native speakers speech. If they do not have the ability to select important words from others, they may fail to get anything from it, and then may feel totally disappointed. Unable to understand fast, natural native speech: Most learners of English cannot understand natural spoken language as it seems too fast for them to follow. Normally, learners rarely have a chance to listen to native speech; instead, they only listen to their teachers slow utterances. If they do not understand any sentences from their teacher, they can ask for repeating or clarifying or slowing down. It is not always the case of speakers in listening text. Consequently, the learners are unable to keep up with and store incoming information in natural native speech. Sometime they feel overloaded and scared of it. Need to listen to things more than once: Very few learners can understand the message at the first listening. They often need to listen to it again and again before they can recognize and understand something from it, especially listening to tapes or radio where they do not have a chance of seeing speakers. When the comprehension is not achieved in spite of listener efforts, they will get tired, discouraged and frustrated as a result. In conclusion, there are various certain hindrances for the first language listeners, second language listeners and foreign language listeners. Though factors creating these difficulties might differ from each other in the number of categories divided by the author, they have many things in common and fall into two main group. The first group is internal factors that come from the listeners themselves. The other is external factors which originate from the speakers, the message, the surrounding setting