Music In My Life Presenation Essay Example for Free

Music In My Life Presenation Essay MUSIC Music is an influence in everyone’s life. The type of music you listen to can shape the person you become and how you act in different situations. The first instrument I learned how to play was the piano. I only played for about a year or so, then I moved on to the violin. I was a big fan of the violin and recall playing in several recitals with my instructor. I found the recitals to be both exciting and nerve racking at the same time, but in the end it was an unforgettable experience I could not live without. During my high school years I became a fan of the guitar. I started playing the acoustic guitar and I enjoyed it more than every other instrument I ever played growing up. Upon my high school graduation, I purchased my own electric guitar. From that day on I tried to play it as often as I could, but now I do not have the time for it like I used to which is a shame and depressing. MY DREAMS One of my fears in life is not having enough time to achieve all of my dreams. I would love to go on a cruise to the Caribbean. While growing up, vacations with my family were a big part of my life and continuing that lifestyle is of utmost importance to me. I am an adventurous type of person and would enjoy doing a few â€Å"extreme† activities in my life. These activities would consist of skydiving and bungee jumping. Another dream of mine is to visit every state in the United States, as well as travel around the world. Later on in life, I would like to complete my career goals by obtaining my PhD to further my career. One of my biggest dreams I hope to achieve someday would be to go to Germany and visit the town named after my family. In Germany, my family was considered Dukes and we eventually had a town named after us. This would be an ideal vacation and it is one the most amazing things I hope to do at some point in my life.

Code-switching as a Resource in Content and Language Integrated Learnin

Introduction Currently, teaching content in foreign language and second language, for example, content and language integrated learning (CLIL) or bilingual teaching approach has become a trend in education world. Some countries such as Malaysia, Africa, and European countries have adopted this model of learning in their education system. There are some reasons behind adopting CLIL or bilingual teaching approach in their education system, for example, to improve cross countries (cross language) traffic, and as a respond to the important of English language as a dominant language in the world (Samala, 2009). Cummins stated that there is a minimal level of language proficiency (treshold), that students should reach in order to be able to learn the task effectively (1981, cited in Lim & Presmeg, 2010). As students in bilingual or CLIL classroom do not learn the content of the lesson in their mother tongue, code-switching is often occurred in their classroom. The teacher in the classroom would switch classroom discourse from the target language to students first language when he find that the students difficult to understand the concept of the lesson in the target language. Code-switching in the classroom should not be considered as a failure to teach in the target language, but it should be considered as a resource in the classroom. In this essay, I will discuss both advantages and disadvantages of code-switching in classroom. Definition of Code-switching According to Baker, code-switching is a situation where an individual switched from one to another language in one utterance, and the switching is done deliberately (1993, cited in Lim & Presmeg, 2010). In general, Setati (1998) defined that code-switching is â€Å"the ... ...might feel neglected by the application of code-switching in their classroom (Cook, 2002, Sert 2005, both cited in Stephen-Kalong, 2008). Therefore, she suggested that, code-switching only can be applied effectively in the classroom where all students have the same main language. According to Sert, Code-switching in teacher instruction might lead students to feel bored and lost their attention to the previous instruction in the target language (2005, cited in Stephen-Kalong, 2008). It happen because, the teachers often repeat their instructions in students main language. Conclusion Overall, considering a lot of benefits that teachers and students might obtain from applying code-switching in the classroom, we should consider it as a resource in the classroom. However, Code-switching only can be fully understood in the actual context in which it takes place.

Central African Republic Essay

Darfur is an area in Sudan which lies in the western part of Sudan and boarders Libya, the Central African Republic and Chad. It has an approximate residence of six million people who are among the poorest people in Africa and only rely on nomadic herding and subsistence farming. Genocide in Darfur has taken place only ten years after the genocide in Rwanda which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. In Darfur, thousands of people have been killed and almost double the amount has been displaced from their home areas. Many of the people have become refugees in their homeland and are currently living in a network of internally displaced people (IDP) camps which completely rely on the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations help for their most basic needs for living. Others have fled to the neighboring countries such as Chad which has also been affected by the Darfur genocide. Others who are still in the villages are under constant threat of bombing, murder, rape, raids and torture and their only help for safety is from undermanned and underfunded African Union (AU) peacekeeping force whose personnel compared to the situation on the ground. However, this force which is referred to as the ‘AMIS’ force larks civilian protection and has no adequate means to stop the violence. Due to its anemic capacity, the only thing which it now does is to monitor and give reports on ceasefire violations. The current crisis which are experienced in Darfur are as a result of neglect of people by the government and the entire world, cases of drought which has persisted for many years, oppression of the residents and the poor by the government and the affluent people and conflicts between the people and tribes in the northern in Sudan. The Sudanese Liberation Army/ Movement (SLAM) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) are the two main rebel groups in Sudan. These groups represent the agrarian farmers who most of them are non Arabs African Muslims from different tribes. They mounted a challenge and pressure to the Sudan’s president Omar al-Bashir whose response was very brutal. The government increased arms and support to the militias and the local tribes known as the Janjaweed for the main purpose of seeking to defeat the rebel movement. Entire villages have been wiped, food and water supplies have been destroyed and livestock killed by the government supported groups. No part of the entire Darfur civilian population has not experienced the murder, rapes and torture by the government armed groups. The government military has painted their attack aircrafts white, the same color which the United Nations humanitarian aircraft which a violation of the international humanitarian law. This move by the government is to confuse the villagers so that when they approach the villages, the people will confuse them for the United Nations aircraft which have come for their help but in the real sense their mission is to kill and bomb them. The current humanitarian situation on the ground in Darfur is constantly deteriorating to worrying levels. There has been increased attacks which has increased the number of IDPs and refugees. Visitors of the camps who includes the Save Darfur Coalition have reported worrying and dire conditions the people undergo and its a pity they have survived under the conditions for such a long time and there seems to be no hope of remarkable improvement. The only help which seems to be forth coming is from the United Nations and the non-governmental humanitarian relief agencies who have introduced some refugee camps and provided several thousands of of aid workers who despite the relief agencies support work under logistical and difficult conditions due to constant harassment the Sudanese government and the red tape. These humanitarian operations and their workers are increasingly being targeted by the fragmenting rebel movement elements and the government. Their vehicles are being robbed and hijacked constantly, the aid workers are intimidated and assaulted when performing their duties and their offices are being looted and broken into making their work more harder. In the wake of 2007, reports from the United Nations showed that more that 80,000 Darfurians joined the already over populated IDP camps due to the continuing violence. The humanitarian bodies and United Nations as a result of the government harassments and the worsening security problems have given warning of their growing inability to support and sustain their operations. They say that any interruption of the flow of the humanitarian aid is likely to cause more deaths than the ones already experienced and per month death rates could raise up to 100,000 in case the humanitarian support system collapses. Civilians in Darfur have suffered deliberate and indiscriminate attacks violating their human rights such as rapes, pillage and torture. The government of Sudan has continued to protect the people accused of violation of human rights. In the cases of Ahmad Harum and Ali Kushayb who were arrested and charged with 51 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity such as murder, prosecutions, torture, rape and forcible displacements in 2003 and 2004, the government has refused to hand over the two suspects but instead they have given one of them a prominent post in the public positions and the other was promoted to the state as the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs. This responsibility was towards the well being of the very victims of the crimes he was alleged to have committed and is currently the key liaison to the United Nations-African Union peace keeping force who are in charge of the victims protection. He was also appointed in late 2007 to a committee in charge of hearing complaints on human rights abuse in Sudan and Ali Kushayb was released from the Sudanese in October 2007 for lack of evidence. (Draklich &Wagner p167). Sexual violence against women and the girl child have been featured mostly in the government and militia attacks with the main aim of terrorizing the population and gain control over them and their displacement mission. The worrying issue is that even after the displacement, the militia groups have set their camps near the IDP camps and therefore continued to sexually harass the women. (Human Rights Watch, p 5-7) Rape and many forms of sexual violence have remained endemic and have threatened the safety of women and girl children reflecting the current dynamics of law and order breakdown. Women and girls are not ready to admit their sexual abuse by the militia for fear of social stigmatization and have no trust that the government will take any action. Most of the authorities refuse to acknowledge the problem which is experienced by women and instead, they accuse the victims of giving false information to the international social aid workers of their fate for the purpose of political gains. Some of the local Sudanese authorities have even gone a step ahead to stifle the humanitarian agencies who are working on the issue and due to this, agencies which are running women’s health clinics in the largest IDP camps are constantly subjected to harassment and obstruction by government officials and decline to publicize their duties. As the conflicts increases, so do the sexual perpetrators who now include the military, militia, rebels, police and criminal gangs who attack civilians in IDPs, towns and rural areas near the military bases and areas under rebel control. On February 2008, the government groups performed ground and air attacks in the towns of Sirba, Silea and Abu Suruj. This led to more than 1000 deaths, property destruction, massive displacement and several cases of women and girls rape cases and sexual assaults by the government officials. In 2006, sexual violences cases were reported during the government and militia attacks in Abu Sakin regions where women and girls were abducted, brutally raped and forced to walk back to the camps while naked and to date, the military has declined to give information of the suspects. Other rape cases reported by the human rights officers during government attacks were in Deribat, Kabkabiya, Zamzam IDP camp, Kalma IDP camp in South Darfur among others. (Human Rights Council , p. 26-30).

What Is the Contact Hypothesis in Psychology

The contact hypothesis is a theory in psychology which suggests that prejudice and conflict between groups can be reduced if members of the groups interact with each other. Key Takeaways: Contact Hypothesis The contact hypothesis suggests that interpersonal contact between groups can reduce prejudice.According to Gordon Allport, who first proposed the theory, four conditions are necessary to reduce prejudice: equal status, common goals, cooperation, and institutional support.While the contact hypothesis has been studied most often in the context of racial prejudice, researchers have found that contact was able to reduce prejudice against members of a variety of marginalized groups. Historical Background The contact hypothesis was developed in the middle of the 20th century by researchers who were interested in understanding how conflict and prejudice could be reduced. Studies in the 1940s and 1950s, for example, found that contact with members of other groups was related to lower levels of prejudice. In one study from 1951, researchers looked at how living in segregated or desegregated housing units was related to prejudice and found that, in New York (where housing was desegregated), white study participants reported lower prejudice than white participants in Newark (where housing was still segregated). One of the key early theorists studying the contact hypothesis was Harvard psychologist Gordon Allport, who published the influential book The Nature of Prejudice in 1954. In his book, Allport reviewed previous research on intergroup contact and prejudice. He found that contact reduced prejudice in some instances, but it wasn’t a panacea—there were also cases where intergroup contact made prejudice and conflict worse. In order to account for this, Allport sought to figure out when contact worked to reduce prejudice successfully, and he developed four conditions that have been studied by later researchers. Allport’s Four Conditions According to Allport, contact between groups is most likely to reduce prejudice if the following four conditions are met: The members of the two groups have equal status. Allport believed that contact in which members of one group are treated as subordinate wouldn’t reduce prejudice—and could actually make things worse.The members of the two groups have common goals.The members of the two groups work cooperatively. Allport wrote, â€Å"Only the type of contact that leads people to do things together is likely to result in changed attitudes.†There is institutional support for the contact (for example, if group leaders or other authority figures support the contact between groups). Evaluating the Contact Hypothesis In the years since Allport published his original study, researchers have sought to test out empirically whether contact with other groups can reduce prejudice. In a 2006 paper, Thomas Pettigrew and Linda Tropp conducted a meta-analysis: they reviewed the results of over 500 previous studies—with approximately 250,000 research participants—and found support for the contact hypothesis. Moreover, they found that these results were not due to self-selection (i.e. people who were less prejudiced choosing to have contact with other groups, and people who were more prejudiced choosing to avoid contact), because contact had a beneficial effect even when participants hadn’t chosen whether or not to have contact with members of other groups. While the contact hypothesis has been studied most often in the context of racial prejudice, the researchers found that contact was able to reduce prejudice against members of a variety of marginalized groups. For example, contact was able to reduce prejudice based on sexual orientation and prejudice against people with disabilities. The researchers also found that contact with members of one group not only reduced prejudice towards that particular group, but reduced prejudice towards members of other groups as well. What about Allport’s four conditions? The researchers found a larger effect on prejudice reduction when at least one of Allport’s conditions was met. However, even in studies that didn’t meet Allport’s conditions, prejudice was still reduced—suggesting that Allport’s conditions may improve relationships between groups, but they aren’t strictly necessary. Why Does Contact Reduce Prejudice? Researchers have suggested that contact between groups can reduce prejudice because it reduces feelings of anxiety (people may be anxious about interacting with members of a group they have had little contact with). Contact may also reduce prejudice because it increases empathy and helps people to see things from the other group’s perspective. According to psychologist Thomas Pettigrew and his colleagues, contact with another group allows people â€Å"to sense how outgroup members feel and view the world.† Psychologist John Dovidio and his colleagues suggested that contact may reduce prejudice because it changes how we categorize others. One effect of contact can be decategorization, which involves seeing someone as an individual, rather than as only a member of their group. Another outcome of contact can be recategorization, in which people no longer see someone as part of a group that they’re in conflict with, but rather as a member of a larger, shared group. Another reason why contact is beneficial is because it fosters the formation of friendships across group lines. Limitations and New Research Directions Researchers have acknowledged that intergroup contact can backfire, especially if the situation is stressful, negative, or threatening, and the group members did not choose to have contact with the other group. In his 2019 book The Power of Human, psychology researcher Adam Waytz suggested that power dynamics may complicate intergroup contact situations, and that attempts to reconcile groups that are in conflict need to consider whether there is a power imbalance between the groups. For example, he suggested that, in situations where there is a power imbalance, interactions between group members may be more likely to be productive if the less powerful group is given the opportunity to express what their experiences have been, and if the more powerful group is encouraged to practice empathy and seeing things from the less powerful group’s perspective. Can Contact Promote Allyship? One especially promising possibility is that contact between groups might encourage more powerful majority group members to work as allies—that is, to work to end oppression and systematic injustices. For example, Dovidio and his colleagues suggested that â€Å"contact also provides a potentially powerful opportunity for majority-group members to foster political solidarity with the minority group.† Similarly, Tropp—one of the co-authors of the meta-analysis on contact and prejudice—tells New York Magazine’s The Cut that â€Å"there’s also the potential for contact to change the future behavior of historically advantaged groups to benefit the disadvantaged.† While contact between groups isn’t a panacea, it’s a powerful tool to reduce conflict and prejudice—and it may even encourage members of more powerful groups to become allies who advocate for the rights of members of marginalized groups. Sources and Additional Reading: Allport, G. W. The Nature of Prejudice. Oxford, England: Addison-Wesley, 1954. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1954-07324-000Dovidio, John F., et al. â€Å"Reducing Intergroup Bias Through Intergroup Contact: Twenty Years of Progress and Future Directions.†Ã‚  Group Processes Intergroup Relations, vol. 20, no. 5, 2017, pp. 606-620. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430217712052Pettigrew, Thomas F., et al. â€Å"Recent Advances in Intergroup Contact Theory.†Ã‚  International Journal of Intercultural Relations,  vol. 35 no. 3, 2011, pp. 271-280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.03.001Pettigrew, Thomas F., and Linda R. Tropp. â€Å"A Meta-Analytic Test of Intergroup Contact Theory.†Ã‚  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol.  90, no. 5, 2006, pp. 751-783. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.90.5.751Singal, Jesse. â€Å"The Contact Hypothesis Offers Hope for the World.† New York Magazine: The Cut, 10 Feb. 2017. https://www.thecut.com/2017/02/th e-contact-hypothesis-offers-hope-for-the-world.htmlWaytz, Adam. The Power of Human: How Our Shared Humanity Can Help Us Create a Better World. W.W. Norton, 2019.