Individual Learner Difference In Second Language Acquisition Education Essay

Individual Learner Difference In Second Language Acquisition Education Essay SLA (Second language acquisition) is a process through which an individual learns a second language as an additional language after having learned a native language already. SLA involves broad research and is considered a branch of applied linguistics. The concept is also related to education, neuroscience sociolinguistics, and psychology. Learning a second language is not an easy task, this is a practice that involves commitment, study, dedication, patient as well as time in order to develop. People who learn a second language do not do it because is just a compulsory subject at school, but because they feel encouraged to learn it , considering factors such us, communication with foreigners, academic studies and better opportunities to find a good job. Research has shown that there are differences among second language learners that significantly affect language learning success. As a result, the study of individual differences (IDs) especially in language learning motivation and language aptitude has been attributed to researches on L2 studies dating back to the 1960s. Motivation is what guides people to accomplish and be successful in all areas of life. Regarding the classroom environment, this term is the basis of how enthusiastic or unwilling students are to learn and the guidance force to maintain the extensive and sometimes tiresome learning process. Both the degree of motivation and educational success frequently seem to go hand in hand, which can be clearly observed throughout the teaching practice. This essay seeks to explore and discuss in detail one individual learner difference in second language acquisition, which is motivation. Apart from defining the term, regarding different authors, the essay will also include the analysis of the various types of motivation, as well as, the role motivation plays in second language classrooms. And finally, ways of fostering motivation will be proposed. The term Motivation in SLA One of the individual learner differences in SLA is motivation, which is a term difficult to define, since its meaning could depend on the individuals and their cultures. DÃ ¶rnyei (2002: 1) says that motivation is best seen as a broad umbrella term that covers a variety of meanings, but simultaneously this author also describes motivation as the factor in charge of determining why individuals decide to carry out an action, the amount of effort people invest in the tasks as well as the rate of perseverance people put when completing various activities. Alike DÃ ¶rnyei, Passer and Smith (2004: 327) perceive motivation as a process that influences the direction, persistence and vigour of goal-directed behaviour. According to Gardner (1985), motivation is what makes people to act towards a given situation. Taking into consideration all these definitions which state what the term of motivation is, it can be deduced that the concept refer to some type of energy that guides individuals t o undertake a task in their lives. The motivated language learner Lightbown and Spada (2002) point out that motivation is a factor that plays an important role in language learning success. In the context of language learning is what pushes a pupil to gain knowledge of the English language. The importance of motivation in relation to achieving the goals of learning English as a Second Language according to Naiman et al, (1978) is that it gives the learner the ability to tolerate ambiguity; a need for achievement; a positive orientation towards the task; high aspirations; ego involvement; perseverance and goal orientation. Therefore, a motivated language student is a person who has positive attitudes towards the target language. These attitudes are shown when the second language learner makes efforts to acquire the language and has a consistent desire of studying and discovering new and additional material. Moreover, looking for opportunities and ways where he or she will be able to put in practice the target language. An additional way of defining a motivated learner is when learning the second language is a comfortable situation for the apprentice, taking pleasure in the tasks involved. Furthermore, a pupil that experience a high level of motivation will doubtless feel pleased about learning the language. Researchers have arisen several explanations of what encourages learners to study a foreign language; they have found that motivational factors are fundamental at the time of speaking about second language success. Types of motivation As it was mentioned before, there are diverse meanings for motivation in SLA, regardless of the words they basically refer to the same notion. Also, there are different factors which somewhat vary depending on the authors points of view. I will refer in this essay to the different types of motivation, taking into consideration different authors. Extrinsic and Intrinsic motivation: The words extrinsic and intrinsic are to some extent complicated, given that both terms do not seem to have a clear definition in the field of second language acquisition. Passer and Smith (2004) cite extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, even though Noels (2002) uses the terms extrinsic and intrinsic orientations. For these authors, Passer and Smith and Noel, extrinsic signifies that people carry out an action to accomplish an external goal or evade punishment, while by intrinsic motivation the authors altogether mean that students do activities, due to the satisfaction they get from the tasks themselves. Activities that motivate students intrinsically are likened to enjoyable activities, fun, or things that students do out of their own choice. Some of the conducted studies assert that intrinsically motivating activities lead to improved learning by the students. The difference between Passer Smith (2004) and Noels (2002) is just the notion motivation and orientations, in view of the fact that both terms involved different approaches of motivation. The initial term proposes that the motivation itself comes from outside or within; while the term orientation suggests that it is rather the different triggers of motivation that comes from outside or within. Although, Glasser (1996) does not use the terms intrinsic and extrinsic, he provides a third route to see where motivation comes from. He states that motivation is produced trying to satisfied the essential desires which all human beings own. For instance, the need of entertainment. He points out that even if a person is influenced by the environment, all motivation still comes from inside the individual, because it is he or she who really choose whether or not and how to carry out an activity. Though I concur with Glasser that just the individuals are the ones who make their own decisions, I think that what motivates people, are factors which can be both external and internal. Alternatively, Garden and Lambet (1972) coined the following terms to classify motivation. Integrative Motivation Garden and Lambet (1972) describe this term as the desire that the learners have to familiarize themselves with the culture of the ethnic group that speaks the language they intend to learn. Gardner (2002) himself perceives Integrativeness as one of the factors that conduct to motivation for second language learning, and by this he suggests that whether learners have the hope to come nearer the L2 community they will have real desire in learning and studying the second language. Besides, the term also refers to the degree at which the learner desires to understand the target community. Essentially, integrative motivation refers to a learners desire to expand their association with the community that they are targeting. Saville Troike, (2005) affirm that the main triggers of this type of motivation are emotions or affective factors. For instance, a Chilean boy who come to live in London for a time, meet an English girl and fall in love with her. He will have the desire and motivation to learn English in order to communicate with his girlfriend and integrate into the new culture and become part of the community. As Chile is mainly a monocultural society, chances to utilize the second language in daily conversations are fairly limited. Therefore, learners do not feel motivated to learn the second language to become part of the community, since they just need their first language to interact. It can be discussed that integrative motivation is an intrinsic factor, because it implies that learning a second language is more a final aim itself rather than a mean to accomplish a final goal, due to the authentic desire on the learning tasks (Noels (2002). Instrumental Motivation: One more term that Gardner and Lambert made up is instrumental motivation which Lightbown Spada (2002: 56) introduce as language learning for more immediate or practical goals. Very similar to integrative motivation, instrumental motivation also sees language learning as an instrument to accomplish a goal rather than the satisfaction in the action itself. However, what distinguishes both terms is the final aim, which in integrative motivation is the interaction in the L2 community while in instrumental motivation the ultimate goal is more practical, for instance, obtaining a better job, career developmental or passing exams. For most Chilean learners of English instrumental motivation is the key element at the time to learn English as a second language. For Lightbown Spada (2002) both types of motivation are important , they say that whether the students feel the necessity to interact in the second language in various social situations or to accomplish academic and professional aspirations, the communicative value of the foreign language will be perceived and therefore, they will feel encouraged to get proficiency in the language. I agree with the authors that both types of motivation are important to acquire a second language, However for Chilean people integrative motivation is far to be seen as a reason to study the second language due to the fact that Chile , as I mentioned earlier, is a monocultural and monolingual society. Classroom Learning Motivation vs. Language Learning Motivation When considering second language acquisition and motivation, it is important to put two motivational constructs into consideration. Research has shown that there are two categories of motivation that should be put into account when discussing SLA. This mainly deals with the difference that exists between classroom learning motivation and language learning motivation. Language learning motivation refers to the desire to learn a second language. Language learning motivation includes evaluated second language acquisition, socio-educational representation (Gardner, 1985), the preparedness to converse model (Clement, Dornyei, MacIntyre Noels, 1998) among others. It is the universal type of motivation that applies to any context of learning a language. The universal attributes of the learner relate to the need to learn the language. Clements (1980) social context model, Gardners (1985) SLA social-education model among others, agree that the motivation or desire to learn a second language is a characteristic that has considerable effects on the individual although they are different when it comes to assessment, correlates and antecedents. The other type of motivation is the learning motivation in a classroom. According to Heckhausen and Kuhl (1985), classroom-learning motivation is the general educational psychology as described by Dornyeis model of post-actional, actional, and pre-actional motivation model. Although it is seen to be an important part to motivation as a whole, the SLA socio-educational model by Gardner, (1985), characterizes it. The main focus is the persons view on the mission to be achieved and to a large extent, it is state oriented. This means that a number of issues that are related to the language class will affect the individuals perception. As a result, the atmosphere in the class, the teacher, the contents of the course, facilities and materials combined with the students personal attributes will affect the persons motivation when it comes to classroom learning. It is hard to differentiate between the two categories of motivation because they control the individual at any particular time. Therefore, it is important to consider both classes of motivation operative. Just as hard as it is to define motivation, it is equally difficult to give an explanation to the meaning of learning a second language. According to Gardner, the motivational strength can only be estimated from questionnaires based on an individuals attitude and is considered to be a hidden psychometric characteristic. Other educational practices have applied the use of indicators that have been observed from individuals behavior in response to a given task. This depends on the persons selection of tasks, which is determined by the level of difficulty, the persistency of the learner to tackle the problem at hand, the extent at which an individual participates in a group or class activities, the span of attention and focus, or the qualitative information available on spoken reports of self-regulation and self-monitoring. The new research program by Crookes and Schmidt (1991) includes the advancements made in the universal educational, which has narrowed to the field of language learning motivation. This directs its focus on individuals, the approaches that the learner might implement in the learning process, the learning contexts, and the observable conduct of class members. Following the inception of the new outline, the areas of interest have shifted to the learner as an individual. In Covingtons self-worthy theory (1998), the importance of the learners ideas were emphasized, their own beliefs, the strategy they use, and the level of their desire to deal with the task at hand. The self- efficacy concept by Bandura (1997) is a very important related characteristic which assesses the level at which learners gauge their potential and their own management. Individuals who have this ability come up with an efficient motivational thinking strategy and are able to reduce the risk of failure and increase t heir chances of success while depending less on outside obligatory measures and strategies. Motivation: Individual Learner Difference in Chilean Culture Clement and Noels (1996) indicate that the cultural settings present different language learning and individual learner differences. In the Chilean cultural setting, the motivation to learn the English language offer some challenges to the learners due to most of the students who attend Chilean public schools are in social risk. In addition, many of the learners may be discouraged to put personal effort in learning the language because of the fact that they may not find the language useful outside the educational setting. Others may be of the opinion that their chances of travelling to a country where English is spoken as a native language are rather minimal. Furthermore, challenges that come with teaching a class that has many students may affect the effectiveness of the teachers and the quality of the lesson. This together with the little interest towards learning the English language may influence negatively the motivation to teach as well as the motivation to learn. Fostering Motivation The best ways to foster motivation is to create a good environment, which is beneficial for second language learning. This can be done by reducing the number of students per class to ensure that the instruction given by the English teachers is of good quality. The teachers should also come up with plans that apply to both slow learners and fast learners so as to ensure that those who do not grasp quickly are not left far behind because this may demotivate them to continue learning. The schools may consider initiating exchange programs with schools where English is the native language. This would give students the feeling that studying English is not an effort in vain but a step in the right direction since it would help them in securing jobs and touring other parts of the world. Moreover, teachers should come up with a timetable that gives us enough time to prepare for our classes by getting the necessary materials as well as reflecting on the success of the program. This would help us in coming up with a better plan to teach hence improving our teaching methodology. It would also help teachers find ways of motivating their own students. With the relevant authorities ensuring that, schools are well equipped to teach English as a second language, students will be motivated to learn and teachers will be motivated to teach. Conclusion The above discussion has provided an analysis of motivation as an individual learner difference. There have been numerous research studies exploring individual learner differences, which have indicated that the main reason why many L2 students fail while others succeed effortlessly is the presence of different student characteristics such as language aptitude, motivation, or personality traits. The motivation of the student is very important in the learning process and is regarded as the key factor that contributes to the success of SLA. Research has revealed that intrinsic motivation is more successful than external or extrinsic motivation over the long term. Some students learning rate is higher as compared to others. Some learners are able to grasp quickly and they go on to the level of reaching near-native competence while slow learners experience difficulties in the early stages of the learning process. Recently conducted research has shown that this disparity is caused by the p articular strategy adopted by the learner, motivation, anxiety, personality, as well as societal and social influences. Research has clearly shown that the intensity of the students motivation to its highest level, including the cognitive, affective, and behavioral components are the most important aspects towards success in SLA. Since the integrative motive incorporates the aspect of being open to cultural identification as part of the process, it tries to imply that integration may be more connected to achieving highest level of achievement as compared to other types of motivation that do not have this component. Classroom learning motivation seems to be a system that encourages individuals to acquire specific language elements but for the students to be masters of the language, more is needed. In my opinion, the integrative motivation provides the students with a better platform for SLA. A teachers role in the process of learning a second language is rather complicated but very important. It surpasses the provision of reward since the whole experience is dependent on the self-efficacy of the student. The teachers role entails providing challenging yet supportive environment to allow the students to learn and explore their potential. The teachers are also supposed to help their students to develop their own motivational thinking by discovering their original orientation. The most challenging aspect in all of this is trying to avoid anything that may de-motivate the students. Although it is very much possible to imagine other forms of motivation, the type of motivation does not matter very much. The difference that emerges between instrumental and integrative motivation, or between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation does very little in helping us to understand the role that motivation plays in second language acquisition.

Physical and Cognitive Development in Adolescence Essay

Adolescence is a developmental phase with issues that have repercussions throughout adult life. It is a period of vast change, more aptly described as a series of phases that mark the transition from childhood to adulthood. It is also a period of life in which several forms of sociopathy and psychopathology often appears. Adolescence is both a biological process and a social-cultural transition. The juvenile organism undergoes a process of growth and maturation as it moves toward adult size and functional capacity, and, more or less concurrently, the individual must pass through a transition from the status and conduct of a child to the responsibilities of the adult. The suitable adjustment of these processes, each to the other, and the appropriate direction and timing of the demands made by adults upon the developing adolescent are important factors in the ease and adequacy of growing up in our culture. Physical Development in Adolescence The normal human life span may be considered as divisible roughly into three epochs: the first, which extends from conception until past the age of twenty, is the time required to attain adulthood; the second is the variable, but usually very brief, period during which the individual enjoys the peak of his physical efficiency; and the third is the period of physical deterioration, a process which begins insidiously as early as the late twenties and, gathering speed as the years go by, effects his eventual senility and dissolution. Thus, the first twenty-odd years of life are spent in achieving physical maturity and a degree of physiologic equilibrium which is lost, at least in part, almost as soon as it is attained. If this seems an exaggerated statement, one need only recall that the baseball player is usually past the peak of his physical efficiency at thirty and that the pugilist’s legs have already begun to slow him down some years earlier. Viewed in this way, it is, perhaps, not too much to say that man has scarcely begun to live when he begins to die. Adolescence begins early in the second decade and is usually considered as ending at about the twenty-second or twenty-third year in boys and somewhat earlier in girls. It covers, therefore, approximately the last ten years of what was just referred to as the first epoch of life, the period extending from conception to adulthood. The physical changes which occur during this early period of life include both growth and development: growth, in the sense of an increase in mass, volume, and external dimensions, and development, in the sense of becoming progressively more complex. These two processes, growth and development, do not proceed at the same absolute rate or at the same relative rate throughout this early period of life. There are intervals during which the body is increasing in size more rapidly than it is growing in complexity, and them are other times at which this relationship is reversed. Some of the developmental changes which occur during adolescence are, perhaps, best appreciated when viewed in the light of some events which have preceded them. When we speak of things which are determined by heredity in the human body, such traits as eye color, hair color, hair form, skin color, or such defects as hemophilia, red-green color blindness, etc. , suggest themselves. We are likely to lose sight of the fact that, in addition to determining a vast number of what may more or less properly be called â€Å"unit characters† such as those which were just enumerated, there is also in the germ plasm some mechanism which controls larger aspects of development and which insures, for example, that human beings give rise only to other human beings and that elephants continue to produce only elephants. The genetic constitution of man, like that of other forms, controls another important aspect of development. It not only determines within rather narrow limits what the end product of development will be, but it also prescribes quite definitely the stages to be followed in attaining that end. (Blos, P, 1967). It has become increasingly evident that the growth and development of the child is a more or less orderly sequence or process which, for convenience, we classify into various arbitrary steps or periods. It is also clear that each individual child moves through this sequence at his or her own rate of progress and attains dimensions of structure, function, and behavior that are idiomatic to the individual. Thus, while we observe a certain order and regularity of process, we may also note a wide diversity of products, as exhibited by groups of individuals who differ in size, shape, and capacity, although of the same chronological age. As a result of these pronounced differences in rates of growth and maturation, the number of years a person has lived is in many situations of less significance than the level of physiological and social maturity he has attained. Differences in the time of maturing are sometimes of great importance to the individual. The early-maturing child has a shorter period of prepuberal development than the late-maturing child. Conversely, the child with early puberty may have a prolonged period in which to make adolescent social adjustments, while the late maturing may have to compress these adjustments into a shorter interval before reaching adulthood. Preceding and accompanying sexual maturation the child undergoes a transformation in size and body form of greater or Im degree, with a lengthening of the legs that sometimes producesan almost sudden change in height. Some rapidly growing boys and girls may â€Å"shoot up† and within a brief period of eighteen months or two years attain nearly their full adult stature. Others may grow slowly but continuously over a longer period. It has become evident that puberty is merely an early stage in adolescent development. It may be two or three years after the first menstruation before the girls will ovulate and attain full sex maturation and the capacity for procreation. Less is known about the male, and at present it is not possible to say when spermatogenesis or production of motile, functionally potent sperm does occur. At this point we should also note that recent studies show that every individual is bi-sexual, with the power of producing both male and female sex hormones. These male and female hormones have been found in the urine of boys and girls as early as five or six years of age; they increase in quantity as children approach puberty. Initially, the female sex hormones (estrogens) are more significant for puberal development even in the male, who develops only somewhat later a characteristic preponderance of male hormones (androgens). This balance of male and female hormones directs or controls the sex maturation of the boy and girl and the appearance of the secondary sex characteristics–breasts, pubic and axillary hair, beard, voice changes, etc. Esman, A. H, 1975). One important aspect of adolescent development is that the growth of other dimensions and of the several organ systems may lag behind growth in stature. The very tall boy of fifteen or sixteen may still have juvenile, undeveloped gonads, while his heart and circulatory system, the respiratory system, and the gastrointestinal tract may still be relatively immature and progressing only slowly toward the size and functional capacity appropriate to his stature. Conversely, the boy or girl who reaches puberty at an earlier age apparently grows and develops more as a whole, with fewer biological discrepancies and organic imbalances. But this earlier puberty has its disadvantages as well as advantages, especially in view of the social consequences of â€Å"outgrowing† former friends and associates. A simple analogy may serve to illustrate this. We can imagine a hundred boys and a hundred girls starting from New York to California. A small number of them will travel by airplane, arriving there quickly. Another and larger group will travel by fast limited express trains and arrive soon after the first group. A still larger group will travel by trains operating on the usual time-schedules; some will go by bus, others by hitch-hiking, and a very few will attempt to trudge across the continent on foot. Not all of the two hundred will reach their destination, for some will be lost en route. Those who do arrive will bear the evidence of how they traveled-including the discomforts and dangers of each mode of travel. Similarly, in the course of child development, each mode of travel, each pattern of growth and maturation, involves its peculiar biological and personality risks. Just because the whole organism is changing, in organ systems and functions as well as in external size and shape, impairment often occurs in the ability to maintain homeostasis, or physiological stability. Especially during the period when various parts of the organism are showing their maximum discrepancies in rates of growth, we may find that some functional sotivities are imperfectly integrated. If these interacting functions become seriously out of balance, as may sometimes happen as a result of neglect, overstrain, inadequate nutrition, or other adverse factors, it in possible that the residual effects of this adolescent disturbance will be carried over to influence, when they emerge, the physiological patterns and homeostatic capacity of the adult. (Freud, A, 1958). Boys or girls who complete their growth within a relatively short time may experience only a brief period of instability and may therefore be able to go forward to adult status with less internal incongruity. On the other hand, a brief period of growth may entail disturbances of various kinds merely because of the sudden, unexpected increase in size. During this brief period the adolescent must revise his image of the body and try to become accustomed to a new body size and form. Moreover, many of the eye-hand co-ordinations and other patterns of muscular co-ordination built up over the years of childhood may be rendered obsolete by these changes, so that the individual may find himself clumsy and painfully incapable of even simple activities. Cognitive Development in Adolescence Adolescence is a time in which cognitive process is ever expanding, reminiscent of the child’s shift from being a nonreader to being a reader. Suddenly, the world opens up to that child. What once appeared as jumbles of letters now appears as words: messages, directions, communications of all kinds. For adolescents, it is the abstract world that is now open: the world of ideas and concepts. Adolescents can think about thinking, think through hypotheses, think ahead. This is what allows them to use the defense of intellectualization, which A. Freud (1958) identified in â€Å"Adolescence. Adolescents can think instead of taking action as a way to discharge energy and reduce conflict. With the development of the capacity for abstract thinking, adolescents can think beyond the present; they can conceptualize a past. This is how they can leave â€Å"childhood,† an abstraction, behind while they live in the present and, eventually, begin to contemplate a future. In her 1937 article, Katan described â€Å"object removal† as a process that involves a directional change for adolescents wherein they leave old ways of looking at important people behind. This takes place in the context of an adolescent’s ability to conceptualize a â€Å"past. When analytic thinking develops, the social, political, aesthetic, and religious spheres open up for the adolescent’s exploration. Adolescents develop theories about how these spheres should be and then try to validate their theories by looking at the world around them. According to Inhelder and Piaget (1958), this represents an important change in the direction of thinking: Children look at the world and develop hypotheses to explain what they see; adolescents think about what is possible and then look out to see whether they are correct. Reality is secondary to possibility. This is described as the change from concrete to formal operations. In Piagetian theory, adolescence marks the transition from the concrete operational thinking characteristics of school aged children to formal logical operations. Formal operations include the ability to manipulate abstraction such as algebraic expressions, to reason from known principal, to way many points of view according to varying criteria, and to think about the process of thinking itself. Some early adolescence demonstrates formal thinking, others acquire the capability later, and others don’t acquire at all. Young adolescents may be able to apply formal operations to school work but to not to personal dilemmas. When the emotional stakes are high, magical thinking, such as the conviction of invulnerability, may interfere with higher order cognition. The ability to treat possibilities as real entities may affect critical decision, such as whether or not to have unprotected intercourse or engage in other risk taking behavior. Some theorists argue that the transition from concrete to formal operations follows from quantitative increases in knowledge, experience, and cognitive efficiency rather than a qualitative recognition of thinking. Consistent with this view are data showing a steady rise in cognitive processing speed from late childhood through early adulthood, associated with a reduction in synaptic number (pruning of less used path ways) and progressive maturation of electroinsephalographis results. It is unclear whether or not the hormonal changes of puberty directly affect cognitive development. The development of moral thinking roughly parallels general cognitive development. Mostly adolescents perceive right and wrong as absolute and unquestionable. Taking a loaf of bread to feed are starving child is wrong because it is â€Å"Stealing†. Adolescents often question received morality, embracing the behavior standards of the peer group. Group membership may allow them to displays guilt feelings for perceived moral infractions from themselves to the group. With the transition to formal operational thought, middle adolescents question and analyze extensively. Questioning of moral conventions fosters the development of personal codes of ethics. Such codes often appear design to justify the adolescent’s sexual apatite: â€Å"anything I want is right†. In other cases, adolescents may embrace a code that is more strict than that of there parents, perhaps in response to the anxiety engendered by the weakening of the conventional limits. An adolescent’s new flexibility of thought has pervasive effects on relationships with self and others. In late adolescents sexual experimentation decreases as they adopt more stable sexual identities. Cognition tends to be less self-centered, with increasing thoughts about concepts such as justice, patriotism, and history. Older adolescents are often idealistic but also may be absolutist and intolerant of opposing views. Religious or political groups that promise answers to complex question may hold great appeal. According to Kohlberg and Gilligan (1971) looked at whether the Piagetian stages of cognitive development corresponded to Kohlberg’s six stages of moral development. They found correspondence in childhood and established that it was only with the attainment of formal operations that Kohlberg’s last stages of moral development could be achieved. Adolescents delight especially in consideration of that which is not, a capacity that develops in the move from concrete to formal operations. They show a marked preference for abstraction. This may be what permits adolescents to deidealize their parents, a necessary component of the second individuation process that takes place at this time (Blos, 1967). Early adolescents can see that other parents are different from theirs; by midadolescence, they are able to criticize their parents for things that they have not done or ways that they have not been. Both of these serve the adolescent disengagement process. According to Esman (1975) the state of anomie in which adolescents find themselves once the deidealization of their parents takes place. They go through a mourning process in which they may search for alternative â€Å"gods† in politics, religion, or ideology. This process may also simply serve to motivate a search for values, political and religious beliefs, or ethics. This search often brings the adolescent into contact with different groups. The group involvement diminishes some of the anomie that results from the disengagement from the family of origin. That to which people aspire is denoted as their ego ideal. As people approach this ego ideal, self-esteem rises. Blos posited that there is a maturation of the ego ideal during adolescence given that adolescents develop the capacity and the motivation to formulate values and goals that are different from those of their parents. It is the move toward autonomy that permits goals and values to be examined and reformulated. Adolescents look to the world around them for both people and ideas that may be transiently used to aid them in forming these new goals and values. Thinking about, through, ahead, and beyond are all forms of exercising new potential and gaining mastery over both internal and external reality. These contribute to the adolescent’s achievement of greater competence. An adolescent does not have to look to others for explanations of that which is not immediately comprehensible; hypotheses can be generated and tested. This contributes to the adolescent’s sense of greater autonomy. Researchers on the development of a concept of self during adolescence note that there is more differentiation evident over time. This is seen as a direct result of adolescents’ increasing cognitive ability. The components of their self-concept become more and more complex, both quantitatively and qualitatively. This is very much in keeping with the second individuation theory of Blos (1967), which posits that adolescents have an increased capacity to see and define themselves. In their major study of sex differences, Maccoby and Jacklin (1974) established that the effect of children’s cognitive skill is greater than the influence of their parents’ attitudes and behavior on the development of sex roles. This suggests that it is the greater cognitive skill of adolescents that leads them to be more aware of and responsive to sex differences. A major psychoanalytic characterization of self or identity is that people form mental pictures or representations of themselves. The representations of adolescents must include images of their now more mature bodies. This gives them a sense of ownership of their bodies. It is no longer the caretaker of bodily needs from childhood who is responsible for â€Å"seeing to† the body; it is the adolescent. These mental representations of the body must include images of the genitals as functioning organs for the adolescent to feel identified as male or female, or potential father or mother.

Ap Gov. Chapter Four Study Guide

Civil Liberties and Civil Rights Study Guide A. Chapter 4: a. Terms: i. Civil Liberties: The legal constitutional protections against government. Although our civil liberties are formally set down in the Bill of Rights, the courts, police, and legislatures define their meaning. ii. Bill of Rights: The first 10 amendments to the US Constitution, which define such basic liberties as freedom of religion, speech, and press and guarantee defendants' rights. iii. First Amendment: The constitutional amendment that establishes the four great liberties: freedom of the press, of speech, of religion, and of assembly. v. Fourteenth Amendment: The constitutional amendment adopted after the Civil War that states, No State shall make or enforce and law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection o f the laws. v. Due Process Clause: Part of the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteeing that persons cannot be deprived of life, liberty, or property by the United States or state governments without due process of law. i. Incorporation Doctrine: The legal concept under which the Supreme Court has nationalized the Bill of Rights by making most of its provisions applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. vii. Establishment Clause: Part of the First Amendment stating that, â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. † viii. Free Exercise Clause: A First Amendment provision that prohibits government from interfering with the practice of religion. ix. Prior Restraint: A government preventing material from being published.This is a common method of limiting the press in some nations, but is usually unconstitutional in the United States, according to the First Amendment and as confirmed in the 1931 Supreme Court case of Near v. Minnesota. x. L ibel: The publication of false or malicious statements that damage someone's reputation. xi. Symbolic Speech: Nonverbal communication, such as burning a flag or wearing an armband. The Supreme Court has accorded some symbolic speech protection under the First Amendment. xii.Commercial Speech: Communication in the form of advertising. It can be restricted more than any other types of speech but has been receiving increased protection from the Supreme Court. xiii. Probable Clause: The situation occurring when the police have reason to believe that a person should be arrested. In making the arrest, police are allowed legally to search for and seize incriminating evidence. xiv. Unreasonable Searches and Seizures: Obtaining evidence in haphazard or random manner, a practice prohibited by the Fourth Amendment.Probably cause and/or a search warrant are required for a legal and proper search for an seizure of incriminating evidence. xv. Search Warrant: A written authorization from a court s pecifying the area to be searched and what the police are searching for. xvi. Exclusionary Rule: The rule that evidence, no matter how incriminating, cannot be introduced into a trial if it was not constitutionally obtained. The rule prohibits use of evidence obtained through unreasonable search and seizure. xvii.Fifth Amendment: A constitutional amendment designed to protect the rights of persons accused of crimes, including protection against double jeopardy, self-incrimination, and punishment without due process of law. xviii. Self-Incrimination: The situation occurring when an individual accused of a crime is compelled to be a witness against himself or herself in court. The Fifth Amendment forbids self-incrimination. xix. Sixth Amendment: A constitutional amendment designed to protect individuals accused of crimes. It includes the right to counsel, the right to confront witnesses, and the right to a speedy and public trial. x. Plea Bargaining: A bargain struck between the defen dant's lawyer and the prosecutor to the effect that the defendant will plead guilty to a lesser crime (or fewer crimes) in exchange for the state's promise not to prosecute the defendant for a more serious (or additional) crime. xxi. Eight Amendment: The constitutional amendment that forbids cruel and unusual punishment, although it does not define this phrase. Though the Fourteenth Amendment, this Bill of Rights provision applies to the states. xxii. Cruel and Unusual Punishment: Court sentences prohibited by the Eighth Amendment.Although the Supreme Court has rules that mandatory death sentences for certain offenses are unconstitutional, it has not held that the death penalty itself constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. xxiii. Right to Privacy: The right to a private personal life free from the intrusion of government. xxiv. Marketplace of Ideas: the public forum in which beliefs and ideas are exchanged and compete xxv. Inevitable Discovery: exception to the exclusionary rule that allows the use of illegally obtained evidence at trial if the court determines that the evidence would eventually have been found by legal means xxvi.The Smith Act: required fingerprinting and registering of all aliens in the u. s. and made it a crime to teach or advocate the violent overthrow of the u. s. government xxvii. Hate Crimes: crimes that involve hate against people because of color, race, or ethnic origin xxviii. Obscenity: an offensive or indecent word or phrase xxix. Miranda Warnings: warnings that must be read to suspects prior to questioning. Suspects must be advised that they have the rights of silence and counsel b. Cases: i. Schenck v.US: Speech is not constitutionally protected when the words used under the circumstances present a clear and present danger of bringing about the evil Congress has a right to prevent ii. Gitlow v. New York: State statutes are unconstitutional if they are arbitrary and unreasonable attempts to exercise authority vested in the stat e to protect public interests. iii. Dennis v. US: The First Amendment does not protect the right to free speech when the nature or circumstances are such that the speech creates a clear and present danger of substantial harm to important national interests. v. Yates v. US: v. New York Times v. US vi. US v. O’Brien vii. Tinker v. Des Moines: viii. Mapp v. Ohio ix. US v. Eichman: x. Near v. Minnesota: xi. New York Times v. Sulllivan: xii. Miranda v. Arizona: xiii. Engle v. Vitale: xiv. Reynolds v. US: xv. Brandedneg v. Ohio: xvi. BSA v. Dale: xvii. Lemon v. Kurtzman: xviii. West Virginia v. Barnette: xix. Gideon v. Wainwright: xx. Smith v. Collins: xxi. Wallace v. Jaffree: xxii. Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier: xxiii. Santa Fe School Dist. V. Doe: xxiv. Boy Scouts of America v. Dale: c. Questions: i.Protections of the First Amendment were not originally extended to the states because every state had it’s own bill of rights. But if a state passes a law violating one of the rights protected by the Bill of rights and the states constitution doesn’t prohibit this then nothing happens. This is determined from the Barron v. Baltimore case that said it only restrains governments, not states and cities. Later though, it was changed by the ruling of Gitlow v. New York that said that states had to respect to some First Amendment rights. ii.Freedom of speech is the right to express opinions without censorship or restraint. There are many types of speech: 1. Libel: The publication of false or malicious statements that damage someone's reputation. 2. Symbolic Speech: Nonverbal communication, such as burning a flag or wearing an armband. The Supreme Court has accorded some symbolic speech protection under the First Amendment. 3. Commercial Speech: Communication in the form of advertising. It can be restricted more than any other types of speech but has been receiving increased protection from the Supreme Court. iii.Basic restrictions on speech include: prior restr aint, government preventing material from being published; obscenity, inappropriate speech; libel, false statements being published; slander. The government can limit symbolic speech if the act was to intimidate. iv. Brief Explanations: 1. Search and Seizure: must have probable cause to search personal affects; can only take what they went into search for 2. Privilege Against Self-Incrimination: this fifth amendment right protects a defendant from being forced to testify against him or herself; it protects against compelled testimonial evidence 3.Right to Due Process: if people believe their rights are being violated, they have the right to a fair and impartial hearing 4. Right to Counsel: individual right found in the sixth amendment of the constitution that requires criminal defendants to have access to legal representation v. The three basics tests the courts use to determine the constitutionality of a law is the Lemon Test. It states that: 1. the statute must have a secular legi slative purpose 2. its principal or primary effect must be one that neither advances nor inhibits religion 3. the statute must not foster â€Å"an excessive government entanglement with religion. â€Å"

Using Data Analysis For Mixed Methods - 2029 Words

There are many general guidelines that can help researchers in mixed methods designs to conduct an effective data analysis. Data analysis strategy depends on the type of mixed methods design. Creswell (2007) suggested number of essential considerations should be in account when conducting mixed methods data analysis: 1. The analysis strategy should be used in order to answer the research question(s) being asked. The questions are different according to the research design as discussed earlier in this paper. 2. Data analysis approach will relate to either concurrent data analysis (Triangulation and embedded designs) or sequential data analysis (Explanatory, exploratory, and embedded designs). As discussed before, data may be merged or embedded in concurrent approach and connected or embedded in sequential approach. 3. In the concurrent approach, the analyses of quantitative and qualitative date are done separately, while in sequential approach the analysis of the first step of the stu dy is used to inform the second step. For example, in sequential approach, if the first phase is qualitative design, then data analysis and the findings will guide data collection in the second phase (e.g., quantitative phase). 4. Due to lack of available software for concurrent or sequential approaches, matrix or discussion can be useful for comparing the results from qualitative and quantitative data in concurrent approach. 5. There is some software available to export qualitative data intoShow MoreRelatedResearch Methodology Used For Research1207 Words   |  5 PagesResearch Methodology Introduction This chapter discusses the methodology used for this research. Describing type of methodology in research study and define the chosen method and approach for this research. Then, the outline of research strategy used, framework this research conducted and data sources collected to obtain valid and reliable research as the objective determined. Review of Research of Methodology Broadly speaking, there are several purpose of research. It depends on the objectiveRead MoreResearch Methodology And Methods Of Research1033 Words   |  5 Pagesvarious methods of research which can be implored in carrying out a study. Research method is very important because the use of different methods gives different results. This chapter explains and justifies the materials and the methods used in the research. The selection of method used for the research is based on the research problem, aim and objectives of the study to be achieved. This chapter therefore fully explains the research design; strategies; methods of data collection; data analysis, samplingRead MoreA Research Study On Research Design874 Words   |  4 Pagesresearch is conducted for a variety or purposes, including gathering preliminary information, to help define a scientific problem, describing a structure or phenomenon, develop new scientific methods or tools, testing a scientific theory, and to evaluate the effectiveness of a policy or program. Many methods are used for conducting scientific research. However, research can only be considered valid and â€Å"good† if it is conducted ethically. A sound research design must be aligned to its researchRead MoreWhat Research Design Requires A Quantitative Methodology?904 Words   |  4 Pagesexperimental design. When using these types of research methods, it is helpful to understand how these design types are organized for the data analysis and components of the research plan. A survey design relates to a numeric representation of â€Å"trends, attitudes, or opinions of a population† (Creswell, p. 155, 2014). In the method section, the researcher needs to define the purpose, the reason for the chosen method, and the way the information will be assembled. During the data analysis, the research findingsRead MoreTypes Of Quantitative Data Collection And Five Types For Qualitative Data1637 Words   |  7 PagesData Analysis As noted in Table 1, there were four types of quantitative data collection and five types for qualitative data. Quantitative. The quantitative data from the population-sourcing databases was used to define the demographics and subgroups being studied. The PCA performed on the teacher questionnaires resulted in a list of effective teaching factors, which was divided by the subgroup and demographic data, though this list was not included in the study. The PCA results from the studentRead MoreSummary Of A Framework For Design By Creswell1536 Words   |  7 Pagesfor research approaches. Author recommends that a general framework be adopted to provide guidance for all stages of research. Using still existing framework also allows researchers formulate ideas recognized by audiences who support proposals for research. This chapter introduces the reader to the three approaches to research quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches. To understand them Creswell considers three framework elements: The type of assumptions which we have to make beforeRead MoreApplying A Mixed Methods For C hoosing Text And Data Collection932 Words   |  4 Pagesthe main implications of applying a mixed-methods approach in re-search design and a brief description of the different ways of designing mixed-methods re-search in 3.2. In the second section, I discuss the use of corpus linguistics as a research method, that is, the quantitative part represented by the application of corpus linguistic tools and the choice of the reference corpus that is compatible with the Obama corpus. The pro-cedures for choosing text and data collection are provided in 3.6, inRead MoreWorkplace Violence in Corporate America Essay1547 Words   |  7 Pagesis an examination of workplace violence in Corporate America. As a growing concern in all industries, preventive measures need to be explored. Three types of research methods will be compared and contrasted in relation to the proposed research. The methods to be analyzed are quantitative designs, qualitative designs, and mixed methods designs. The appr opriateness of each design will be examined as they relate to the topic. Workplace violence is a serious problem that deserves to be explored dueRead MoreClinical Log 2 : Clinical Assessment1655 Words   |  7 Pagesresearch process by inputting data to an excel spreadsheet. The data was collected from the cancer patients and their family members using a questioner after the participation of education session of radiation therapy. The purpose of questioner was to obtain the participants perspective on the usefulness of the education session and exploration of other possible ways of helping the patients and their family members getting through the tough time. The study used the mixed method, which incorporates bothRead MoreQualitative Research And Quantitative Research1675 Words   |  7 Pagesresearch is a method used in different academic disciplines, generally in social science, but also in research and further contexts. Qualitative researchers aim to attain detailed unders tanding of human behavior rand the reasons that govern such behavior. The qualitative method investigates the why and how of decision making, not just what, where, when. Hence, smaller but focused mainly on samples are more often used than large samples. In the conventional view, qualitative methods produce information