Saturday, October 5, 2019
Paper assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
Paper - Assignment Example His conformity to the society makes him act in ways that are not ideal for an individual. If he existed in the 21st century, he would probably be accommodative to the societyââ¬â¢s liberal view. Babbitt realizes the hypocrisy and dissatisfaction of his life when it is too late to rebel from it. The story captures the 1920 ban on alcohol by the American government (ONeal 91). However, Babbitt and many other middle-class and wealthy people continued to consume illegal alcohol. American societyââ¬â¢s hypocrisy at the time is partly revealed through the consumption of alcohol by Babbitt and his friends. For example, one of the reasons the prohibition was put in place was because it was morally wrong for Americans to drink and merry while its young men went to war (ONeal 91). From Babbitt, it seems that most Americans in the middle and upper class were too self-indulged to remember the soldiers at war. Additionally, the prohibition was repealed because people were willing to drink a lcohol provided they did not speak (ONeal 92). Babbitt is an example of people that publically rebuked taking alcohol but secretly and constantly took alcohol. He even practiced it publicly at the time when he rebelled. When Verona Babbitt expressed interest in working for charity, her father quickly dismissed her and the idea of charity as a whole (Lewis 24). According to Babbitt, charity was almost an equivalent of socialism. He said that encouraging charity enfeebled a working manââ¬â¢s willpower to fend for and feed his children. Additionally, he claimed that it gave children of the lower class notions above their status. Babbitt represents the selfish and self-indulged nature of the middle-class society at the time. The 1920ââ¬â¢s were spent crashing labor unions and reducing wages (ONeal 71). In fact, Babbitt is one of the people in the 1920ââ¬â¢s that opposed labor Unions. As a business owner, he believed that while radical unions destroyed property and good labor unions were useful in
Friday, October 4, 2019
The Events That Led To the Collapse of the Bank of Credit and Commerce Essay
The Events That Led To the Collapse of the Bank of Credit and Commerce (BCCI) - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) was an international bank founded in 1972 by Agha Hassan Abedi. Agha was a Pakistani financier who had previously set the United Bank of Pakistan in 1959. Before the United Bank was nationalized in 1974, he created another supranational banking entity, the BCCI. The bank was registered in Luxemburg with head offices in Karachi and London and Swaleh Naqvi became the banks chief. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the ruler of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates provided capital that was used to start BCCI. It was structured in a way that no country had overall regulatory supervision over it so as to allow potential growth and expansion of opportunities. It expanded rapidly in the 1970ââ¬â¢s and by 1980; BCCI was reported to have assets of over $4 billion with over 150 branches in 46 countries. The BCCI scandal and criminality included fraud which involved millions of dollars from the customers, money laundering in different continents, support of terrorism, trafficking of arms and sale of nuclear technologies, management of prostitution, commission and facilitation of income tax evasion, smuggling and illegal immigration and illicit purchase of banks and real estate. BCCI was focused on serving Muslims and third world clients and the quadrupling of oil prices in 1973- 1974 led to huge deposits by Arab oil producers. However, its complex registration that involved Luxemburg registration, London headquarters, Middle East shareholders and worldwide operations made it impossible for outsiders to grapple what was going on within the bank. The structure was conceived by Abedi and managed by Naqvi with the specific purpose of evading regulation or any control by governments of the concerned nations. From its earliest days, BCCI was made up of multiplying layers of entities, related to one another through an impermeable series of holding companies, affiliates, subs idiaries, banks within banks, insider dealings and nominee relationships. Activities such as corporate structure, record keeping, regulatory review, and audits were fractured so that they can evade ordinary legal restrictions and movement of capital and goods.
Thursday, October 3, 2019
Control Mechanisms in Management Essay Example for Free
Control Mechanisms in Management Essay The four control standards the team chose to explore in regard to McDonaldââ¬â¢s are performance, performance vs. standards, corrective action, and reinforce successes. The team will compare and contrast these control mechanisms, and determine the effectiveness of each. The team will also examine the positive and negative reactions to the use of these controls. Performance Standards ââ¬Å"A standard is an expected performance for a given goal or target that establishes a desired performance level, motivates performance, and serves as a benchmark against which actual performance is assessedâ⬠(Bateman, 2009, p. 576). Performance standards relate directly to the success of the company. McDonaldââ¬â¢s has set standards for customer service, and customer satisfaction. The standards are communicated to the employees by the store manager and training manager. Management sets attainable goals to motivate employee performance; he or she communicates these goals clearly, and revaluates these goals. Evaluating Performance Companies should evaluate the performance of employees and management to ensure the goals of the company are achieved. In the past McDonaldââ¬â¢s evaluated their own-operators on a regular basis until the mid-1990s. McDonaldââ¬â¢s discontinued evaluation that resulted in lower customer satisfaction. McDonaldââ¬â¢s reinstated performance evaluations in 2001 to improve customer satisfaction. Today regional managers inspect and evaluate franchises on a regular basis. Forms with standard operation procedures enhance the evaluation process, and this information is input in McDonaldââ¬â¢s database for further review. Todayââ¬â¢s managers can input the evaluation from his or her company PDA. Performance vs. Standards ââ¬Å"The managerial principle of exception states, which control is enhanced by concentrating on the exceptions to, or significant deviation from, the expected result or standard (Bateman, 2009, p. 578). Companies compare the performance of employees by evaluating how well the employee followed the standards or guidelines set by the company. Corrective Action and Reinforce Successes During the work process errors happen and managers should address these problems with his or her employees. Errors happen but managers also see the success of employees meeting or exceeding company goals. Companies should reward employees who meet or exceed the goals of the company. Compare and Contrast McDonaldââ¬â¢s main goal is to develop sustainability. The leaders of McDonaldââ¬â¢s have set standards of financial growth, customer service, product quality and safety, and corporate responsibility and conduct to achieve this main goal. Considering McDonaldââ¬â¢s dominance in the fast-food industry, it is safe to say they have been successful at achieving their performance standards. McDonaldââ¬â¢s has been a success because management takes immense care in measuring their performance, comparing their performance to their standards, and taking corrective action to get their performance on the right track. Management analyzes many reports to measure the companyââ¬â¢s performance, such as customer satisfaction surveys, the annual report and corporate responsibility report, and performance audits. Management also observes their operation to measure performance. From analyzing these performance reports and audits, management can compare performance to their standards, past performance, and goals. For instance, the six-year summary in the 2011 Annual Report shows McDonaldââ¬â¢s earned nearly three billion dollars in total revenue growth between 2010 and 2011 (McDonaldââ¬â¢s, 2011). By comparing performance, management can identify deviations from their standards and goals and make corrections. Initiatives such as Employee Value Proposition, Leadership Development Framework and healthier menu items are examples of corrective action taken to improve performance (McDonaldââ¬â¢s, 2009, pgs. 6 -7). McDonaldââ¬â¢s management can execute these four performance controls successfully by having the drive to improve, building a culture of values, and constantly working toward sustainability (McDonaldââ¬â¢s, 2009, pg. 5). McDonaldââ¬â¢s worldwide success for many decades adds credence to managementââ¬â¢s effectiveness in executing all four performance controls. Determine Effectiveness The four control standards the team chose to explore in regard to McDonaldââ¬â¢s work well together, as is evident by the success of the company. The fast-food industry is hard to be successful in unless the company has the right combination of plans and controls. McDonaldââ¬â¢s is a leader in this field because the company uses just the right amount of each. The McDonaldââ¬â¢s control standards do not act well together unless there are people who make the standards work together. There have been times when some of the control standards have been in need of further guidance. During such times corporate management has had to change some of the ways the controls work. This is to ensure McDonaldââ¬â¢s operates to the best of its abilities for effectiveness. Examine Positive and Negative Reactions From examining McDonaldââ¬â¢s awards and recognition, it appears McDonaldââ¬â¢s has received a very positive reaction to how they use these controls. Such awards include Fortune Magazineââ¬â¢s 2012 number 11 ââ¬Å"Most Admired Company in the World,â⬠Forbes Magazine 2010 ââ¬Å"Most Admired Companies,â⬠2010 ââ¬Å"Corporate Awardâ⬠from the Executive Leadership Council (McDonaldââ¬â¢s, 2012). Internally, McDonaldââ¬â¢s has received positive reaction or at least buy-in, considering their performance and employer awards, to their performance controls, more than likely from their efforts in taking care of their people. McDonaldââ¬â¢s has implemented leadership development and employee value proposition programs, and diversity and inclusion and social responsibility initiatives that have promoted employee satisfaction and trust in the company (McDonaldââ¬â¢s, 2012). Also their business relationship model between their employees, suppliers, and owner/operators has developed strong communication throughout its operation. Although McDonaldââ¬â¢s has been widely successful, they have also failed from time to time. In 2001, University of Michigan rated McDonaldââ¬â¢s as one of the poorest-performing retailers from a year-long customer satisfaction study (Zuber, 2001, P. 1). More recently, ConsumerAffairs.com holds hundreds of consumer complaints of McDonaldââ¬â¢s service, showing that even a successful giant like McDonaldââ¬â¢s still has room for improvement. Controls Affect on Functions The four control standards the team chose to explore are performance, performance vs. standards, and corrective action, and reinforce successes. These controls affect the four functions of management in numerous ways. Pakhare (2011), Effective and efficient management leads to success, which is the attainment of objectives and goals, that an organization sets for itself. Of course, for achieving the ultimate goal, management needs to work creatively in problem solving and execute all the four functionsâ⬠(Para. 1-12). Since we have a basic understanding of these functions we can see clearly how they are in direct relationship to the control standards we have chosen. With each control standard we see how they closely work with each function. This particular formula is commonplace in many organizations on a global level. The analysis shows that McDonaldââ¬â¢s has a good plan of control mechanisms in place, and good functions of management to support the corporation. This has been a key factor of the corporationââ¬â¢s long success in a business where many do not last long. The company has many beneficial areas to back up why they are one of the worldââ¬â¢s favorite places to eat and probably will continue to be as successful for many years to come. References McDonalds. (2011). 2011 Annual Report. Retrieved from http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/content/dam/AboutMcDonalds/Investors/Investors%202012/2011%20Annual%20Report%20Final.pdf McDonalds. (2012). Awards and Recognition. Retrieved from http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/awards_and_recognition.html McDonalds. (2012). Our Company. Retrieved from http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/mcdonalds_system.html McDonalds. (2009). Worldwide Corporate Responsibility Online Report: The values we bring to the table. Retrieved from http://www.mcdonalds.at/presse/maps/McDCSR.pdf Pakhare, J. (2011). Management Concepts The Four Functions of Management. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/management-concepts-the-four-functions-of-management.html Zuber, A. (2001). McD restructures to beef up performance. Retrieved from
The Sony Strategy Failure Management Essay
The Sony Strategy Failure Management Essay Sony is the combination of two word sonus and sonny. The both words sonus and sonny is a latin word. The literal meaning of sonus is sound and, sonic and sonny is little son. Easy to pronounce and read in any language, the name Sony, which has a lively ring to it, fits comfortably with the spirit of freedom and open-mindedness. Since, Sony is the combination of two word sonus and sonny, represents a very small group of young people who have the energy and passion towards unlimited creations and innovative ideas. Sony foundation was started in 1946 when Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita worked together with a small team of obsessive and committed group of employees build Tokyo Tsushin Kenkyujo (Totsuko), or Tokyo Telecommunications Research Institute (billion dollar global conglomerate). In 1958 the company was formally adopted Sony Corporation as its corporate name. The main objective of the company is to design and create innovative products which would benefit the people. Sony a marketplace creator and leader After the World War II, Sony became popular after applying applied transistor technology, which was invented byà Texas Instrumentsà (TI). The co-founder of the Sony, Akio Morita was always kept looking for technological advancement and for that the company leadership spent countless hours in innovatively thinking about how to apply these advances to improve lives.à With such a passion for creating new markets, Sony was an early creator, and dominator, of what we now call consumer electronics because of the following reasons as given below: Sony improved solid state transistor radios by making good quality sound and also inexpensive to. Sony developed the solid state television by replacing tubes to make TVs more reliable, better working and use less energy. Sony developed the Triniton television tube, which dramatically improved the quality of color (yes Virginia, once TV was all in black white) and enticed an entire generation to switch.à Sony also expanded the size of Trinitron to make larger sets that better fit larger homes. Sony was an early developer of videotape technology, pioneering the market with Betamax before losing a battle with JVC to be the standard (yes Virginia, we once watched movies on tape). Sony pioneered the development of camcorders, for the first time turning parents and everyone into home movie creators. Sony pioneered the development of independent mobile entertainment by creating the walkman, which allowed for the first time people to take their own recorded music with them, via cassette tapes. Sony pioneered the development of compact discs for music, and developed the walkman CD for portable use. Sony gave us the play station, which went far beyondà Nintendoà in creating the products that excited users and made home gaming a market. Very few companies could ever boast a string of such successful products.à A report said that in Sony executives spent 85% of their time on technology, products and new applications/markets, 10% on human resource issues and 5% on finance.à Mr. Morita said that financial results were just those results of doing a good job developing new products and markets.à The origin and impact of Japan Inc on Sony By the middle 1980s, America was panicked over the absolute domination of companies like Sony in product manufacturing.à Not only consumer electronics, but also in automobiles, motorcycles, kitchen electronics, steel and a growing number of markets.à Politicians referred to Japanese competitors, like the wildly successful Sony, as Japan Inc. and discussed how the powerful Japanese Ministry of Trade and Industry (MITI) effectively shuttled resources around to beat American manufacturers.à Even as rising petroleum costs seemed to cripple U.S. companies, Japanese manufacturers were able to turn innovations (often American) into very successful low-cost products growing sales and profits. What went wrong for Sony? In 1950 W. Edward Deming had convinced Japanese leaders to focus, focus on making things better as well as faster and cheaper.à Taking advantage of Japanese post war dependence on foreign capital, and foreign markets, this U.S. citizen directed Japanese industry into an obsession with industrialization as practiced in the 1940s and was credited for creating the rapid massive military equipment build-up that allowed the U.S. to defeat Japan. Unfortunately, this narrow obsession was left Japanese business leaders, by and large, with little skill set for developing and implementing RD, or innovation, in any other area.à As time passed,à Sony felt victim to developing products for manufacturing, rather than pioneering new markets. Sony had ended up in a cost/price/manufacturing war withà Dell, HP, Lenovo and others to make cheaper PCs rather than the exciting products.à Sonys evolved a distinctly industrial strategy, focused on manufacturing and volume, rather than trying to develop uniquely new products that were head-and-shoulders better than competitors. In mobile phones Sony hooked up with, and eventually acquired,à Ericsson.à Again,à no new technology or effort to make a wildly superior mobile deviceà (like Apple did.)à Instead Sony sought to build volume in order to manufacture more phones and compete on price/features/functions against Nokia, Motorola and Samsung.à Lacking any product or technology advantage, Samsung clobbered Sonys Industrial strategy with lower cost via non-Japanese manufacturing. When Sony updated its competition in home movies by introducing Blu-Ray, the strategy was again an industrial one about how to sell Blu-Ray recorders and players.à Sony didnt sell the Blu-Ray software technology in hopes people would use it.à Instead it kept Blu-Ray proprietary so only Sony could make and sell Blu-Ray products (hardware).à Just as it did in MP3, creating a proprietary version usable only on Sony devices.à In an information economy, this approach didnt fly with consumers, and Blue Ray was a money loser largely irrelevant to the market as was the now-gone Sony MP3 product line. In the case of televisions, Sony was lost the technological advantage it had with Trinitron cathode ray tubes.à In flat screens Sony has applied a predictable, but money losing industrial strategy trying to compete on volume and cost.à Up against competitors sourcing from lower cost labor, and capital, Sony was lost over $10 billion over the last 8 years in televisions.à Sonyà hasnt made a profit in 4 consecutiveà years, just recently announced it will double its expectedà lossà for this year(2012) to$6.4 billion, has only 15% of its capital left as and wasà only worth 1/4 of its value 10 years ago. Sonys Leadership was a keen conspirator to the failed strategy Akio Morita was an innovator and new market creator of Sony.à But, Mr. Morita lived through WWII, and developed his business approach before Deming.à Under Mr. Morita, Sony was used the industrial knowledge Deming and his American peers offered to make Sonys products highly competitive against older technologies.à The products led, with industrial-eraà tacticsà used to lower cost. But after Mr. Morita Sonys other leaders were trained, like American-minted MBAs, to implement industrial strategies.à Their minds put products and new markets, second.à First was a commitment to volume and production regardless of the products or the technology.à The fundamental belief was that if Sony had enough volume, and cut costs low enough, Sony would eventually succeed without any innovation. By 2005 Sony reached the pinnacle of this strategic approach by installing a non-Japanese to run the company.à Sir Howard Stringer made his fame running Sonys American business, where he exemplified industrial strategy by cutting 9,000 of 30,000 U.S. jobs (almost one third.).Mr. Stringer, strategy was not about innovation, technology, products or new markets. Sonys industrial strategy was cost-cut first, products are less meaningful Mr. Stringers industrial strategy was to be obsessive about costs. Where, Mr. Moritas meetings were 85% about innovation and market application. Mr. Stringer brought a modern MBA approach to the Sony business, where numbers especially financial projections came first.à The leadership, and management, at Sony became a model of MBA training post-1960.à Focus on a narrow product set to increase volume, avoid costly development of new technologies in favor of seeking high-volume manufacturing of someone elses technology, reduce product introductions in order to extend product life, tooling amortization and run lengths, and constantly look for new ways to cut costs.à Be zealous about cost cutting, and reward it in meetings and with bonuses. Thus, during his brief tenure in Sony Mr. Stringer will not be known for new products.à Rather, he will be remembered for initiating two waves of layoffs in what was historically a lifetime employment company (and country.)à And now, in a nod to Chairman Stringer the new CEO at Sony has indicated he willà react to ongoing losses by another round of layoffs.à This time estimated to be another 10,000 workers, or 6% of employees.à The new CEO, Mr. Hirai, trained at the hand of Mr. Stringer, demonstrates as he announces ever greater losses that Sony hopes to somehow save its way to prosperity with an Industrial strategy. Since Japanese equity laws are very different that the USA.à Companies often have much higher debt levels.à And companies can even operate with negative equity values which would be technical bankruptcy almost everywhere else.à So it is not likely Sony will fill bankruptcy any time soon, if ever. After 4 years of losses, and entrenched Industrial strategy with MBA-style leadership focused on numbers rather than markets, there was no reason to think the trajectory of sales or profits will change any time soon. As an employee, facing ongoing layoffs why would you wish to work at Sony?à A me too product strategy with little technical innovation that puts all attention on cost reduction would not be a fun place and offers little promotional growth. And for suppliers, it was assured that each and every meeting will be about how to lower price over, and over, and over. Sony was once a company to watch. It was an innovative leader, which pioneered new markets.à Not unlike Apple today.à But with its Industrial strategy and MBA numbers- focused leadership it is now time to say, sayonara.à Sell Sony, there are more interesting companies to watch and more profitable places to invest. Questions: Highlights Sonys industrial strategy? What was the reason for the failure of Blu Ray strategy? What was the threat for employee as well as the supplier? Examine the opinion of both Morita and Stringer?
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Personal Narrative - Hit by a Car Essay -- Injury Disability
The Living Shadow I want a lot, and there's a lot I don't. But I'd rather I not want at all. To want - such a human thing to do! You know, a trait of those organic markers who demarcate and defaceââ¬âthen there are those gray areas. Like an epidemic, the smears spread from one to another.. I apologize. I'm making the murky waters murkier. To elucidate: A yellowing calendar page materializes before my own eyes. As I ponder above the black-and-white chessboard splashed with gray, I glance as an inexplicable draft flattens the page momentarily over a dusty dividing line. The page reads, "August 18, 2008." Immediately, the sheet transmutes into a pane of glass. Nonchalant, I stare as the pane rises up over me, and shatters against my head. The glass pieces disintegrate upon impact, and I stand among showering particles, examining my new environment. The board has become a garden, one partially teeming with life and mixed with utter death and destruction. I reach out and lightly grasp a blurry leaf. Did I touch it? Did I imagine it? As if in answer, I feel itââ¬âand then, it's gone. I went into a coma on that day. At least, thatââ¬â¢s what they say. They say I was crossing a street near my school on the way to my home. I was jay-walking. More correctly, I was breaking the law. Yes, the irony soaks that calendar page. Yes, a car hit me, sending me flying. No, the actual impact wasnââ¬â¢t that damaging. Two fractured clavicles, I think. But obeying the laws of gravity, I fell. Apparently, my head landed on a concrete edge. More correctly, the back of my head collided with stone. Yes, that was damaging. A debilitated cerebellum, I think. Since my brain stem incurred damage, it meant that I would possess a physical disability for... ...I raise my pen and jerk it downward. Paint is a temporal dress at best, right? At the moment before the knife-like tip strikes a knife-like slab, my movement is halted. Flabbergasted, I try again. What else if not the same end that meets me? I relax the utensil. Itââ¬â¢s an unspoken rule: I canââ¬â¢t know some constitutions. A draft inexplicably evinces, and as a reminder, a page materializes: ââ¬ËWhat matters,ââ¬â¢ it states. ââ¬Å"Life matters,â⬠I retort. What I believe is life, is what I seeââ¬âwhat humans seeââ¬âand what they see defines what they choose to do: itââ¬â¢s the human way. I choose to believe what is important. And what a human thing to do! So be it, I am an organic marker. I spread the epidemic. Just an organic marker, scribbling and smearing. The murky waters stay the same, as I run my course. Like an unspoken rule, physical constraints run with me. Itââ¬â¢s the human way.
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Capital in the Market and Economy :: essays research papers
Capital is considered anything that helps enable us to reach our goals, while improving the efficiency of goods and services that we use or produce. Capital is one of the main attributes of improvement. Capital can be almost anything, it can be mental (such as education or training), material (such as a computer or a machine) or it can be money. Capital is invested in a good or service to increase efficiency in production, to increase output and as to increase overall consumer benefit and satisfaction. Capital is a major part of markets and the economy. In order to keep investing capital, there are times where consumption levels need to be decreased in order to collect, or save up, more capital. When you open a savings account, the interest that you earn is actually paid by businesses that have been using your money as capital. You may have given up a monthly shopping spree to save your money. While you are saving, someone is paying interest (your capital) on the money you saved, because they have borrowed it to pay for capital investments such as land, a building, machinery, etc. in order to improve their overall production. If we look at capital in a working environment, we see that when we increase capital goods for workers, they can be more productive. This works up to a point. The law of diminishing returns declares that a general increase in output occurs when capital goods per worker increase, but there comes a point where each increase in capital goods produces a lesser impact on output. At this point, the number of human capital (workers) needs to be increased to utilize the capital goods already in place and continue to improve efficiency. An example of this is the clichà © ââ¬Å"too many cooks in the kitchenâ⬠. If you have too many cooks, you need to increase the pots and ingredients. When you increase the pots and ingredients, the cooks are able to work more efficiently and also produce more. When you get too many pots and ingredients, and the cooks are running back and forth, efficiency is decreased. You may still be getting more produced, but not at the same rate when each cook had th eir own pot and ingredients. At this point, you need to bring in more cooks (human capital) to again increase production efficiency and output. The same holds true for capital markets and the economy.
How Does the Phonology of a One Year Old Differ
How does the phonology of a one year old differ from that of a two-three year old? Describe the main changes to be expected over the first year of word use. A child between one and three years undergoes considerable development in their phonological ability (Ingram, 1986). They adopt specific phonological processes and it will be explored when and how children use these to attain accurate pronunciations and how individual differences affect phonological development. Grunwell (1981) suggests that the first six months of productive language development (0. 9-1. years) is word-based, because of the limited phonetic variants and progressive changes in pronunciation. However, he suggests 1. 6-2. 0 years is the end of the first stage of speech development, which is co-occurrent with the achievement of an active vocabulary of 50 words. Menn & Vihman (2011) suggest that these early words parallel babbling, in that they are characterised by unmarked elements and structures, such as plosives, nasals and glides; simple vowels and CV structures. This stage of development in a childââ¬â¢s inventory may be characterised as a ââ¬Ëproto-systemââ¬â¢, as the child-forms do not resemble adult words (Grunwell, 1981).However, the childââ¬â¢s early phonetic inventory (table 1) suggests that the child has a basic contrastive system and indicates that their phonological system has commenced, which will see an increase in new words and the emergence of two-word utterances (Grunwell, 1981). m| n| p b| t d| w| | Table 1: A phonetic inventory of a child 1. 6-2. 0 years (Grunwell, 1981). Grunwell (1981) presents a ââ¬Ëchronology of phonological processesââ¬â¢ (p175) which reflects a childââ¬â¢s phonological development in terms of the disappearance of simplifying processes between 2. 0-4. years. These processes are summarised in table 2 and show that reduplication and consonant harmony are the only structural simplification processes outgrown by age two, which agree wi th the findings of Vihman & Greenlee (1987). Structural simplification is generally typical of the earlier stage of phonological development (Vihman, 2004). However, phonological processes; final consonant deletion, cluster reduction, fronting, gliding and stopping are regularly used by children until nearly age three, with less consistent use thereafter (Vihman et al, 1986).Vihman (2004) states that half of her three-year-old subjects used gliding and palatal fronting, but the substitution of inter-dental fricatives were regularly used by all subjects and are associated with the highest frequency of errors. Table 2 suggests that velar fronting in particular is the first systemic simplification to be outgrown, at 2. 6 years. Despite this, it shows that obstruents do not occur in a childââ¬â¢s inventory until age three, and that these must be mastered before obstruent and liquid clusters can be produced correctly (Vihman, 2004).Vihman & Greenlee (1987) show that the specific phone tic tendencies found at age one seem to be unrelated to the phonological errors at age three and suggest that phonetic preferences change over time. Vihman (2004) suggests that children with an exploratory approach to phonological development explore a wide range of sounds at age one and were more likely to delete consonants at age three, whereas children with a systematic approach constrain their word selection patterns at age one and are less likely to use whole-word processes at age three (Vihman, 2004).However, Vihman & Greenlee (1987) show that 73% of childrenââ¬â¢s utterances at age three were judged intelligible, which correlates with lower phonological error scores. In conclusion, individual differences are a significant in ones phonological system and problematic in generalising ââ¬Ënormalââ¬â¢ developments. However, a three year old child will have overall relative phonological advance (Vihman & Greenlee, 1987) and the majority of simplifying phonological processe s used at age one will no longer apply regularly (Vihman, 2004). References Grunwell, P. 1981) The development of Phonology: A Desciptive Profile. First Language. 2: 161-191 Ingram, D (1986) Ch10: Phonological Development: Production. In Fletcher, P & Garman, M. Language acquisition pp223-239 CUP: UK 2nd Edition Menn, L. & Vihman, M. M. (2011) Part V: Features in Phonological development: Features in Child Phonology: Inherent, Emergent, or Artefacts of Analysis? In Clements, N. G & Ridouane, R (Ed) Where do Phonological Features Come From? Cognitive, Physical and developmental bases of distinctive speech categories. John Benjamins Publishing Company. p259-303 Vihman, M. M (2004) Ch3: Later Phonological Development. In Bernthal, J. E & Bankson, N. W, Articulation and Phonological Disorders, pp105-138. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. 5th Edition. Vihman, M. M. , Ferguson, A. & Elbert, M (1986) Phonological development from babbling to speech: common tendencies and individual diff erences. Applied Pyscholinguistics, 7: 3-40 Vihman, M. M. & Greenlee, M. (1987) Individual Differences in Phonological Development: Ages one and three years Journal of speech and hearing research. 30: 503-521
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