Land degradation Essay Example

Land degradation Essay Example Land degradation Paper Land degradation Paper It thus covers the various forms of soil degradation, adverse human impacts on water resources, deforestation, ND lowering of the productive capacity of rangelands. This study takes the degradation Of soil resources as its focus. This includes soil erosion by water and wind, deterioration in soil physical, chemical and biological properties, water logging, and the build-up of toxicities, particularly salts, in the soil. Since soil productivity is intimately connected with water availability, lowering of the groundwater table is also noted. Since deforestation is being treated in detail in a current FAA study, it is here considered primarily as a cause of soil degradation, particularly erosion. Land degradation has both on-site and off- tie effects. On-site effects are the lowering of the productive capacity of the land, causing either reduced outputs (crop yields, livestock yields) or the need for increased inputs. Off-site effects of water erosion occur through changes in the water regime, including decline in river water quality, and sedimentation of river beds and reservoirs. The main off-site effect Of wind erosion is over blowing, or sand deposition. Types of land degradation in Ghana Water Pollution: water pollution is the contamination Of water bodies. Air Pollution: Air pollution is the process by which poisonous gases are leased into the atmosphere. Land Degradation: Land degradation is the gradual depletion of the quantity and quality of the land. Other types Of land degradation in Ghana. Overgrazing It is the act of putting a lot of animals (herbivores) on a small piece of land to feed. Over cropping It is act of growing too many crops on a small piece of land. Bush fires A bushfire is an uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. [l Other names such as brush fire, wildfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, eat fire, vegetation fire, and vilified may be used to describe the same phenomenon depending on the type of vegetation being burned. Natural events (disaster) A natural disaster IS a major adverse event resulting from natural processes of the Earth; examples include floods, severe weather, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and other geologic processes. Types of land degradation assessed For the purpose of this study, the many and varied processes of land degradation have been grouped into six classes: water erosion, wind erosion, soil fertility decline, Stabilization, water logging, and lowering of the water able. Water erosion covers all forms of soil erosion by water, including sheet and rill erosion and gulling. Human-induced intensification Of land sliding, caused by vegetation clearance, road construction, etc. , is also included. Wind erosion refers to loss of soil by wind, occurring primarily in dry regions. Soil fertility decline is used as a short term to refer to what is more precisely described as deterioration in soil physical, chemical and biological properties. Whilst decline in fertility is indeed a major effect of erosion, the term is used here of cover effects of processes other than erosion. The main processes involved are: lowering of soil organic master, with associated decline in soil biological activity; degradation of soil physical properties (structure, aeration, water holding capacity), as brought about by reduced organic master; adverse changes in soil nutrient resources, including reduction in availability of the major nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium), onset of encountering deficiencies, and development of nutrient imbalances. Buildup of toxicities, primarily acidification through incorrect fertilizer use. Water logging is the lowering in land productivity through the rise in roundtable close to the soil surface. Also included under this heading is the severe form, termed pending where the water table rises above the surface. Water logging is linked with Stabilization, both being brought about by incorrect irrigation management. Stabilization is used in its broad sense, to refer to all types of soil degradation brought about by the increase of salts in the soil. It thus covers both Sterilizations in its strict sense, the buildup of free salts; and codification (also called legalization), and the development of dominance of the exchange complex by sodium. As human-induced processes, these occur mainly through incorrect planning and management of irrigation schemes. Also covered is saline intrusion, the incursion of sea water into coastal soils arising from over-abstraction of groundwater. Lowering of the water table is a self-explanatory form of land degradation, brought about through tubercle pumping of groundwater for irrigation exceeding the natural recharge capacity. This occurs in areas of non-saline (sweet) groundwater. Pumping for urban and industrial use is a further cause. Desertification The term desertification originated with a specific meaning, as or example in the 1977 World map of desertification (UNEVEN, 1977). It was subsequently widely used and misused in a broader sense. These wider meanings have sometimes been extended to almost all forms of land degradation, for example soil erosion in the humid tropics (Young, 1985). The recent World atlas of desertification (UNEVEN, AAA) includes all the six groups of land degradation covered in the present study thus implicitly, from its title, using the term in the broader sense. Following agreement at a recent UNEVEN conference, the term has been defined with a more restricted meaning: Desertification is land degradation in aria, semi-arid and dry sub humid areas resulting from adverse human impact (LESSEN, Bibb). This is the meaning in which the term is employed in the ESCAPE network on desertification (ESCAPE, 1983, 1 991 b). In this study, therefore, desertification is equivalent to land degradation in the dry zone, and need not be separately assessed as a type of degradation. Other types Of degradation included Other types of land degradation are treated briefly, treated as causes, or excluded from this review. This is because they are localized or of small extent on a regional scale, or because they are more fully treated elsewhere. Four further classes are recognized as types of land degradation, and as having considerable importance in the region. One case, deforestation, has been treated by reference to an external review. The two other types are considered in more generalized terms. Deforestation The occurrence of deforestation is widespread and extremely serious in the region. It is not independently assessed here, in view of more detailed treatment in the current FAA Forest resources assessment 1990 project. Deforestation is also issued as a cause of erosion. Forest degradation This is the reduction of biotic resources and lowering of productive capacity of forests through human activities. It is under review in a current survey (Bannered and Grimes, in preparation). Rangeland degradation This is the lowering of the productive capacity of rangelands. It is considered in generalized terms, but no quantitative data have been identified. Types of degradation excluded from the study Other types of degradation are excluded from this study, either because they are of small extent on a regional scale, or they are more fully treated elsewhere. These are: Acid sulfate formation, a serious but localized form of degradation, which may occur on drainage of coastal swamps. Soil pollution, from industrial or mining effluents, to the atmosphere, rivers or groundwater. This is an important concern in the region, but is strongly localized. Soil destruction through mining and quarrying activities, the failure to restore soil after extraction. The same remarks apply as for soil pollution. Urban and industrial encroachment onto agricultural land. With the projected increase in arbitration, this will continue to be a substantial cause of loss of agricultural land, but it is a different problem from land degradation. Effects of war. Land degradation on a substantial scale through effects of war has been reported from Iran (western borderlands) and Afghanistan, in the latter case including the destruction of irrigation schemes. Potential effects of global climatic change. It is beyond question that the composition of the worlds atmosphere is being substantially altered as a result of human activities. A small but significant global warming has already been observed and is projected to continue. It is possible that this may lead o modifications to the general atmospheric circulation with consequent changes in rainfall. These changes could be beneficial or adverse to land productivity or human welfare: specifically, in semi-arid regions, rainfall might become higher or longer, more reliable or less, or with longer or higher incidence of droughts. There is, however, no firm evidence of what such changes may tee. If adverse changes occur in some areas, then these will certainly constitute a most serious form of human-induced degradation of natural resources. It is accepted that, for a range of reasons, action should be oaken to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. However, until there is clearer evidence, its potential effects upon climate must remain a master of research, and these will not be further considered. Problems of the natural environment Aridity and drought Aridity and drought are referred to in the COSEC resolution on which this study is based. These, however, are problems of the natural environment in semi-arid and aria areas. In the subsequent amplifications of the terms of reference it is clear that degradation, namely human-induced adverse environmental changes, is the intended focus. Therefore aridity and drought would only properly be included if it could be shown that rainfall had been reduced, or drought spells made more frequent, as a result of mans activities. This has not been established. Problem soils. Soils which present special difficulties for agriculture may be called problem soils. They include saline soils, sandy soils, cracking clays, strongly acid soils, shallow soils, and soils on steeply sloping or poorly drained land. A comprehensive review for Asia and the Pacific is given in FAA/ ARPA (1990) and a map of problem soils is in preparation. To the extent that these are problems of the natural environment, problem soils do not constitute land degradation. However, land degradation frequently leads to an increase in the extent or severity of problem soils, for example, erosion causes shallow soils. A clear case is that of saline soils: these occur naturally, in which case they are problem soils, but their extent has been greatly increased by human-induced Stabilization. Reversible degradation and land reclamation The effects of water and wind erosion are largely irreversible. Although plant nutrients and soil organic master may be replaced, to replace the actual loss f soil material would require taking the soil out of use for many thousands of years, an impractical course of action. In other cases, land degradation is reversible: soils with reduced organic master can be restored by additions Of plant residues, degraded pastures may recover under improved range management. Stabilized soils can be restored to productive use, although at a high cost, through salinity control and reclamation projects.

International Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

International Marketing - Essay Example This is the reason why companies take aggressive selling efforts to stiffly compete with other firms offering similar product lines. Territorial and product line expansion are the two major strategies generally employed by firms to enhance sustainable economic growth. Goodwill Rapidly changing modern marketing trends are switching the business focus from profitability to goodwill believing that the market stature would automatically contribute to profit maximisation. According to Kamaruddin, Ibrahim, and Zain (2004), this concept helps firms aim to create an address for their products and attain a dominant position in the market. Modern marketers strongly believe that reputation would greatly assist the firm to survive the intense market competition. Standard of living By offering quality products and services at affordable rates, modern marketers also aim at the improving people’s standard of living which in turn may add value to their firms’ good will. Nowadays, firms include a wide variety of corporate responsibility programmes in their marketing plan so as to improve the living standards of people and hence to achieve customer loyalty. Global marketing is defined as â€Å"marketing on a worldwide scale reconciling or taking commercial advantage of global operational differences, similarities and opportunities in order to meet global objectives† (Strategic: Web Marketing Group, 2010) . Hence, the above identified marketing goals are relevant to global marketing. While dealing with global marketing, the only difference is that a firm operates on a global scale instead of focusing on a niche market. Therefore, the basic goals of marketing remain the same no... This essay focuses on the marketing goals and strategies that can be simply defined as the predetermined statements of desired or anticipated outcomes, which are expected from a firm’s marketing plan. Generally, every firm sets broader goals that represent simple statements of what will be attained within the stipulated period of time. The marketing goal works as a strategic tool to manage the development of objectives and to suggest the direction regarding the decisions on resource allocation. This essay describes the basic goals of marketing and explores two distinct global marketing strategies that are available today for companies. The marketing goals greatly assist a seller to identify potential market segments where people are most likely to express interests in his products or services. Some of the basic goals of marketing are described in the essay by the researcher. Then, the essay describes how every firm chooses and implements a specific global marketing strategy by taking into account a range of factors including its nature, size, and vision. There are mainly two types of global marketing strategies available to companies and analyzed in the essay - multi-domestic strategy and global strategy. Evidently, the process of marketing involves an array of well defined fundamental goals, which assist a seller to plan his day to day operations systematically. These fundamental goals of marketing and multi-domestic approach and global strategies are relevant for today's global marketing.

Take home exam. 3 cases not to be more then 6 total pages Essay

Take home exam. 3 cases not to be more then 6 total pages - Essay Example 10 (par. 1)2, of the Constitution.3 The Court’s majority opinion (delivered by Chief Justice Taney) found for the defendants (Warren Bridge proprietors). After first citing the relevant language in Court’s prior holding in Satterlee v. Matthewson (27 U.S. 380, 1829)—â€Å"If the State law is said to be retrospective, be it so. But retrospective laws which do not impair the obligation of contracts or partake of the character of ex post facto laws are not condemned or forbidden by any part of the instrument [Constitution of the United States] (Id., at 413)†Ã¢â‚¬â€and admitting quite candidly that the free passage character of the Warren Bridge had rendered the Charles River Bridge franchise of no value, stated that nonetheless the complainants’ saw â€Å"None of the faculties or franchises granted to that corporation †¦ revoked by the Legislature, and its right to take tolls granted by the charter remains unaltered [36 U.S. 430, at 549].† Of greater import than the specifics of the case in question was the thinking of the Court on the implications of a decision in favor of the complainants. Chief Justice Taney addressed these in a series of rhetorical questions and answers. â€Å"And what would be the fruits of this doctrine of implied contracts on the part of the states and of property in a line of travel by a corporation if it were now sanctioned by the Court? To what results would it lead us to? If it is to be found in the charter to this bridge, the same process of reasoning must discover it in the various acts which have been passed within the last forty years for turnpike companies. And what is to be the extent of the privileges of exclusion on the different sides of the road†¦ The millions of property which have been invested in railroads and canals upon lines of travel will be put in jeopardy [Id., at 552].† Justice Story argued in dissent. While he detailed a number of points at

Sugar in the 19th Hundreds, Problems Essay Example for Free

Sugar in the 19th Hundreds, Problems Essay What is the reason for the abandonment of sugar plantations in the British West Indies in the 19th century? I am going to analyze and asses the reasons why sugar plantations were being abandoned by plantation owners in the 19th century? The main causes and the main effects. The abandonment of the Sugar plantations in the Caribbean leads to major changes and had a great effect on West Indian countries. So what caused sugar, a once thriving industry, to be abandoned? And what was the impact it had? ata collected will assessed and analyzed to understand these effects, the causes and how they pertain to life in this century. Chapter 1 Introduction. Sugar cane was the main cash crop grown on numerous British, French and Spanish owned islands. Sugar was in high demand and was very profitable. But this industry needed labor and lots of it thus slavery was the cheapest and best source of labor they had. Plantation owners would buy slaves brought from Africa to work on their plantations. Plantation life in the 19th century was very hard, grueling labor, severe punishment and extensive exhaustion. Slaves worked for long periods of time in fields harvesting sugar, in factories producing sugar and the main house as workers (maids, butlers, and cooks ). The abandonment of sugar production was imminent to failure because of the ill treatment and over working. The United States was also a major factor in sugar abandonment, along with the feuded between British and the Spanish which lead to more problems. In my S. B. A I will asses these problems and the effects they had on both the economy and on the society. Chapter 2 Reasons for abandonment The abandonment of sugar plantations in the 19th century was caused by not only one factor but, it was caused by a collection of factors or a chain of events happening one after the other. Reasons for the abandoning of the sugar plantations started with the Emancipation of slaves, then from that event, multiple amounts of other events caused the sugar estates to close. Emancipation was the greatest cause of Sugar estates being abandoned. The Emancipation Act was passed in 1830 in May and an ex and it stated that â€Å"All men were equal and slavery was to be abolished. This in turn means that former slaves were free. These free† men now had rights. So plantation owner had to pay slaves, this was a great change from the former system they had. Work time for slaves had to be cut; there were no long excessive amount of work hours, now it had to be a limited amount of time. Slaves could not be abused anymore and they could have refused to do the work. These factors caused a great stress on the plantation owners. They were losing more of their profit to pay wages, less hours of work were being done, and less sugar was being produced, in turn less profit. After Emancipation plantation owners taught that sugar production would have decreased, it did, for some countries. Smaller Islands production went up such as Barbados and Puerto Rico. These places, relatively all the land was used for estate purposes, so freed slaves had no other choice but to go back and work on the plantations. But in larger countries such as Jamaica where slaves hated plantation life and there was land untainted by settlement sugar production took a massive lost in profit. Everything changed by the end of the 19th Century. Slavery had been abolished, and Europes beet sugar had preempted Caribbean cane. Depressed market prices could not offset the production and transportation costs for an island crop, and sugar plantations soon were abandoned. Abolition of slavery was difficult for the colonies, which had to adjust to having a majority of new citizens who could not be denied the civil rights already grudgingly extended to the few. Extending those civil rights, then as now, was neither easily nor gracefully achieved because the political systems had existed for centuries as the narrow instruments of the small, white, landed elite, largely absentee, whose members were threatened by the removal of their special trade preferences. Above all, there were economic difficulties. Sugar prices were falling, and West Indian producers were facing severe competition not only from other producers in the British Empiresuch as India, South Africa, and Australiaand non-imperial cane sugar producerssuch as Cuba and Brazilbut also from beet sugar producers in Europe and the United States. Falling prices coincided with rising labor costs, complicated by the urgent need to regard the ex-slaves as wage laborers able and willing to bargain for their pay. Acts passed by the government. Acts passed by the Government in the 19th century contributed to the abandoning of plantations greatly. They were one of the most influential factors. If it was not for these Acts, in my option the sugar industry would have survived. Such as The Sugar Equalization Act,1846 this law was passed because persons wanted cheap raw materials but the price of these items was very high. Politicians of the Manchester school convinced the British that duties were keeping the price at a high rate. Thus duties were removed from corn and sugar. Some farmer’sprophesied this was the end for sugar and along with â€Å"The Encumbered Estates Act, 1854 the sugar industry looked grim. The Encumbered Estates Act stated that the government could seize plantations that were abandoned and could be sold with their debt and the new owner had to pay off this debt. The act was very short sighted and gave away to long term effects that prove to be disastrous Labor problems. To mitigate labor difficulties, the local assemblies were encouraged to import nominally free laborers from India, China, and Africa under contracts of indenture. Apart from the condition that they had a legally defined term of service and were guaranteed a set wage, these Asian indentured laborers were treated like the African slaves they partially replaced in the fields and factories. Between 1838 and 1917, nearly half a million East Indians (from British India) came to work on the British West Indian sugar plantations, the majority going to the new sugar producers with fertile lands. Trinidad imported 145,000; Jamaica, 21,500; Grenada, 2,570; St. Vincent, 1,820; and St.  Lucia, 1,550. Between 1853 and 1879, British Guiana imported more than 14,000 Chinese workers, with a few going to some of the other colonies. Between 1841 and 1867, about 32,000 indentured Africans arrived in the British West Indies, with the greater number going to Jamaica and British Guiana. With important British politicians such as Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone (1809-98) owning sugar estates in British Guiana, that colony, directly administered by the crown, assumed great importance in the Caribbean. Chapter 3 Effects of Sugar abandonment in the Caribbean. Indentured labor did not resolve the problems of the plantations and the local governments in the Caribbean during the nineteenth century, but it enabled the sugar plantations to weather the difficulties of the transition from slave labor. The new immigrants further pluralized the culture, the economy, and the societies. The East Indians introduced rice and boosted the local production of cacao (the bean from which cocoa is derived) and ground provisions (tubers, fruits, and vegetables). Although some East Indians eventually converted to Christianity and intermarried with other ethnic groups, the majority remained faithful to their original Hindu and Muslim beliefs, adding temples and mosques to the religious architecture of the territories. The Chinese moved into local commerce, and, by the beginning of the twentieth century, the corner Chinese grocery store and the Chinese restaurant had become commonplace in all the colonies. Emancipation of the slaves provided the catalyst for the rise of an energetic, dynamic peasantry throughout the Caribbean. A large proportion of the ex-slaves settled in free villages, often forming cooperatives to buy bankrupt or abandoned sugar estates. Where they lacked the capital, they simply squatted on vacant lands and continued the cultivation of many of the food crops that the planters and the colonial government had exported during the days of slavery. The villages, although largely independent, provided a potential labor pool that could be attracted to the plantations. The growth of these free villages immediately after the emancipation of the slaves was astonishing. In Jamaica, black freeholders increased from 2,014 in 1838 to more than 7,800 in 1840 and more than 50,000 in 1859. In Barbados, where land was scarcer and prices higher, freeholders of less than 2 hectares each increased from 1,110 in 1844 to 3,537 in 1859. In St.  Vincent, about 8,209 persons built their own homes and bought and brought under cultivation over 5,000 hectares between 1838 and 1857. In Antigua, 67 free villages with 5,187 houses and 15,644 inhabitants were established between 1833 and 1858. The free villages produced new crops such as coconuts, rice, bananas, arrowroot, honey, and beeswax, as well as the familiar plantation crops of sugarcane, tobacco, coffee, cacao, citrus limes, and ground provisions. Which lead to the integration of a wide variety of agricultural products?

Loneliness in The Seafarer by Bradley and The Wifes Lament by Stanford :: essays research papers

When exiled from society, loneliness becomes apparent within a person. The poems The Seafarer translated by S.A.J. Bradley and The Wife?s Lament translated by Ann Stanford have a mournful and forlorn mood. Throughout each poem exists immense passion and emotion. In the two elegiac poems there is hardship, loneliness and uncertainty for each character to live with. The Wife?s Lament speaks movingly about loneliness, due to the speaker projecting the lonesomeness of the women who was exiled from society. The woman in the poem has been exiled from her husband and everything she loves, all she has is a single oak-tree to be comforted by. As she has been banished from all she loves, the tone becomes gloomy and depressing. The speaker uses expressions such as joyless and dark to create a sorrowful mood for the poem. As well as the expressions used in this poem, the setting also creates loneliness. The setting generates a darkened and desolate place which makes the woman feel exiled from society. The Seafarer is about an old sailor, and the loneliness and struggle of being out at sea. The speaker uses his loneliness out at sea along with his struggles such as the cold and hunger he faces. The speaker puts emphasis on his loneliness by saying, ?my heart wanders away, my soul roams with sea?. This adds to the imagery that the sailor is attached to his life at sea, his love for sailing yet adds the isolation that comes with his life. Both poems where written in the Anglo-Saxton era in Old English and later translated into English. As well as both poems being written in the same time period, they are both elegiac poems, meaning they are poignant and mournful.

A Comparison of Vietnamese and American Writing-Pedagogy Essay

A Comparison of Vietnamese and American Writing-Pedagogy As an international student and educator from Vietnam, I see a lot of differences in the educational systems of the United States and my own country. In order to illuminate the differences between teaching writing in Vietnam and teaching writing in America, I would like to give a brief introduction to teaching writing in Vietnam and what I have learned from a writing class here at Eastern Illinois University. In my discussion of pedagogy in Vietnam, I would like to highlight two things: how Vietnamese people study Vietnamese, and how Vietnamese study English. Though I need to read more about American writing pedagogy, I see some basic similarities between the two countries. As in the United States, mathematics and language arts are important subjects in Vietnam. In Vietnam, however, writing isn’t a subject per se, and students develop their writing skills through the study of literature. In primary school, the teacher begins by asking the student to write simple and short para graphs about what happens in his/her daily life. Popular writing topics include â€Å"the person you love best,† â€Å"pets,† and so on. When grading, the teacher pays attention to spelling, clarity, and the way students use words. In secondary school, a student begins to write longer and more difficult essays, including plot summaries, movie reviews, character- and other kinds of literary analysis. Students continue to study writing up to graduation, when they are required to demonstrate their mastery of writing skills in an exam. Students who want to go on to university must pass an additional exam. The different is, however, university students do not take courses devoted to writing. They devote their time to their majors. Form is an important element of essay-writing in both countries. As in English, an essay in Vietnam includes three parts: the introduction, the body and the conclusion. There is a major difference, however: In America, the college essay derives from classical rhetoric. Ultimately, Aristotle and the syllogism provide the basis of a linear and logical structure. Milton’s â€Å"Of Education† and his political writings would be examples here. In Vietnam, the classical model derives from the Chinese/Confucian tradition. That tradition emphasizes the elaboration of or commentary upon a classical text or phrase. The Western essay is very linear and à ¢â‚¬Å"thesis-driven,† and compared to it the Vietnamese essay can seem circular. To Vietnamese, it is organic. Models for this form can be found in Zhuang Tzu’s, Meng Tzu’s â€Å"Doctrine of the Mean† or Literati prose. Even though these two classical models have been changed and developed considerably in modern writing, their original ideas have great influence on writing customs between the two countries. Western essay strictly follows the thesis statement and topic sentence. All sentences are coherent and support to topics sentences. Vietnamese essay, however, is circular. Students don’t go directly to their topic but approach to indirectly. The reader knows what the student is doing and tries to enjoy the essay. The approach isn’t as analytical. In Vietnam, academic essays can be of different types: description (van ta), commentary (binh luan), proof-and-explanation (chung minh va giai thich), analysis (phan tich), and critique (binh giang). In the introduction to an essay describing a landscape, a student gives general information about the place, time and setting, and the reason he/she is writing. An analysis or a proof essay is a little different. Most importantly, here a student has to give information about the author, setting and social background of the story. In the body, he/she takes up the selected text and discusses its general characteristics, outstanding f eatures, details and logic. Connections between commentary and text should be clear. The conclusion, in general, offers a brief summary of the main idea and a personal or â€Å"felt† response to the subject. The most important differences between English and Vietnamese writing are linguistic and cultural. English grammar is demanding and prescriptive with regard to such matters as tense, agreement, singular and plural forms, etc. In Vietnamese, however, word-building is very complex, and students devote their attention to morphology rather than syntax. Vietnamese (again like Chinese) has classifiers, a linguistic item unknown to English. Lexical items are variously â€Å"classified† in countless ways, including â€Å"animate† (con), inanimate (cai), â€Å"book-like† (quyen), â€Å"picture† (buc), â€Å"photographic† (tam), â€Å"food or medicine† (thuc). The classifiers can be baffling to non-native speakers of Vietnamese. Student-writers have to know how to use classifiers correctly, however, so they have to master word building skills that English students don’t. Finally, there are pronouns. â€Å"He,† to give only one example, ca n variously be any of the following in Vietnamese: no, anh, anh ay, anh ta, ga, y, ong ay, and ong ta. Knowing  these dedicated differences and using them correctly in each context is very important in writing. These linguistic features perhaps help to account for the Vietnamese love of word- play and elegant variation in many contexts where they would be unusual in English. The beautiful is important. This notion of elegance even carries over into the technology of Vietnamese writing. Computers haven’t reached most VN classrooms, and the technology of penmanship still matters. Because enthusiasm in writing comes from the beauty of nature and internal sensation, sitting with teacher and friends in a writing class is believed to be better than with technology devices. Third, I would like to introduce what a good essay is. A good essay is the combination of good grammar, language and knowledge. When grading, the instructor usually pays attention to the content: accord with the topic, clear form and organization, proportionality between introduction, body and conclusion, cohesive transition, logical phrases and sentences, correct spelling, clarity, neat presentation†¦ The instructo r often would underline obscure sentences or redundancies, cross out sentences that may be incohesive, contradictory and write his/her comments at the beginning of these sentences. Now we come to another question: how is a writing class organized? Because a writing class is in fact a literature class, the teacher lectures most of the time. Sometimes, he/she stops to ask students some questions related to his/her lecture or ask them to give their own opinion about some things. The class is not divided into groups for students to discuss or write collaboratively. Students listen to their teacher and write on their own. After students submit their tests, the teacher grades and comments. Normally, the teacher chooses interesting and good essays to read aloud and points out how they are interesting, what is good about them. Then teacher mentions those essays that are not very good, points out the common errors and teaches students how to avoid these errors in later tests. Since writing an essay in Vietnamese usually means writing about literature, the reader may wonder how a student writes essays on other subjects, such as history or geography. Invention is not stressed as much in Vietnam as here. Students listen to the teacher’s lecture and takes note carefully. Sometimes, professors simply dictate their notes to students. Before exams, teachers often give students a list of questions to prepare at home. Students find the answers in the teacher’ s textbooks or  notes, and then try to get them down by heart. The teacher chooses one or two topics for student to write at the exams. There are no take home exams. Students do their research the same way as here. The teacher gives student topics to write about, and the student then chooses a topic and writes a proposal. The teacher will offer suggestions or advice. After that, the student collects material from books, newspapers and the Internet and starts to write. Thesis topics are often very broad. Therefore, the student needs to convince his/her readers using reasonable and logical arguments. The way Vietnamese learn how to write in their own language is of course different from the way they learn to write in English, which is a foreign language. In the following paragraph, I’m going to point out what the differences are. In theory, a student is supposed to learn every step as a native speaker does. The purpose is to learn how to write good essays. However, a writing class in Vietnam is usually more like an ESL class than an American writing class. Freshman and sophomore students learn to write sentences and short paragraphs. The topics are often very simple, for example: write abo ut the first day at school, an unforgettable memory. The teacher focuses on grammar, and the way of using words. Juniors and seniors learn to write essays, but what they learn is basically the theory; they don’t practice writing essays very often. A student is only required to write essays in final tests or graduate exams. The essay is usually about 1-2 pages in length. A 4-page essay is the longest. The topics are about what happens in daily life. In these essays, a student writes his/her own opinion, what he/she sees and thinks. Because their English is limited, students rarely do research in the language or make many quotations. Students aren’t usually acquainted with MLA/APA styles, and teachers focus mostly on grammar errors. In order for students to practice writing, the teacher gives writing assignments for them to write at home. Then the teacher will ask a student to write the assigned essay on the chalkboard. The whole class discusses the ideas and grammar in this essay and participates in the writing process. We have seen that writing customs vary from one country to another, especially between the cultures of East and West. Differences in writing pedagogy reflect cultural and linguistic differences. Being aware of those differences would be of importance to anyone teaching in a diverse classroom. Appreciating those differences can lead to a richer sense of the possibilities of language for all peoples.

Important People in Ancient African History