Westjet Case Anaysis Essay Example

Westjet Case Anaysis Essay Jet Airlines is a Calgary-based discount airline founded in 1996. Starting with only three aircrafts in 1996, the company is now â€Å"Canada’s leading high-value low-fare airline. † The management of WestJet Airlines assumes that the success of the business is anchored in the culture of the corporation and the welcoming service provided to its customers. Beddoe, the president and the CEO of WestJet, is proud of the airlines performance and the customer service it offers. He believes that the corporate culture was the key to success and the company’s attainment. WestJet’s culture is very entertaining, hassle-free, unperturbed, and relaxed. The ratings of the customer satisfaction are higher than those of the other airlines. Top management trusts and values its employees. It is assumed that having content, cheerful personnel results in a first-rate customer service. WestJet is a company that is managed â€Å"from the bottom up. † As Beddoe states, â€Å"We set some standards and expectations, but don’t interfere in how our people do their jobs. Due to the fact that the employees and the management work as a crew, WestJet management saves money on hiring additional human resources. There is no need for supervisors because the employees supervise themselves and work together towards the organization’s goal. The corporation culture is what led WestJet to their â€Å"victory. † With the success, the company came to a decision about expanding its market. With the development strategy, the risk of the culture of the company being vanished draws closer. This is the foremost problem that WestJet might face. We will write a custom essay sample on Westjet Case Anaysis specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Westjet Case Anaysis specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Westjet Case Anaysis specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer In view of the fact that culture is what made the company successful, with it being misplaced, it would be hard for WestJet to accomplish their purpose – customer satisfaction. The involvement culture of WestJet helped it in achieving high employee performance, increasing revenue, and escalating customer service satisfaction. WestJet’s culture is based on trust and respect among all employees. Everyone is treated equally, without exceptions, regardless of the function they perform in the company. The work atmosphere is fun and enjoyable. The culture is the source of the management and the workers happiness, contentment, and what is most important the guests satisfaction. Nevertheless, what brought success to the company, may become a threat when it does not meet the employee needs. With a greater expansion, the management of WestJet would have to hire significantly more people in order to operate the company efficiently and effectively. Some people, like the example of Steve Smith, may be used to different managing style and might find it difficult or impossible to adapt to a new culture. Given that the culture is a main source of WestJet’s success, the weakening of the employees’ performance would benefit other airlines competing with WestJet. Fast expansion indicates less time for new workers to adjust to the corporation values and beliefs. This creates a problem. In order to improve the situation, WestJet would have to get to the bottom of it and implement a reasonable solution. Top management would have to decide whether it should expand the airline or not. One of the alternatives could be offering instruction and coaching the newly hired personnel. Beddoe asserts that their culture is new and hiring people who have no past experience with the airline industry is the preeminent option. While being unfamiliar with what to expect, it is easier for a prospective employee to adapt to the corporate culture and become an efficient member of the workforce. WestJet Airlines already provide coaching to their employees so they would become aware of the consequences of decisions they make. Furthermore, when precedents take place, supplementary training was supplied. Therefore, in order to sustain the corporate culture, while expand the industry, it is important that WestJet Airlines continues making additional training and coaching available to their newly hired staff members. A drawback of this alternative might be the waste of the organization’s time and money. The potential employees may seem to perfectly fit the culture of the company but then after being hired they might decide that this is not the kind of job they want to perform. This would be a sunk cost to WestJet. In addition to that, WestJet Airlines could implement a hiring process through which they could verify if a particular individual is well suited for a specific job. WestJet already endows with a special employment process using practical job previews, job simulations, and behavioral interviews for which the prospective employees cannot prepare due to the fact that such interviews test whether the person is presentable and what characteristics of his or her behavior would benefit and satisfy the needs of the company. While hiring more people needed for a fast growing industry, it is recommended that WestJet pays additional attention to the process of employing. Defining whether an individual is a perfect fit for the company determines the future success of the corporation. This option however has a drawback; during a job simulation people might act different than while performing their job due to additional stress and pressure that arises in demanding situations that come with performing specific job duties. Another alternative would be stopping or slowing the expansion down. Keeping the same size of the company would prevent the culture from being petered out. Nonetheless, different problems might arise, such as higher competition. Other airlines that base their success on various aspects other than culture grow constantly gaining a higher market share. Expansion would bring them higher profits that would allow the airlines offer their customers unbeatable ticket prices, loyalty programs, and other numerous deals. Moreover, without implementing the expansion plan, WestJet would not be able to gain higher revenues. Therefore, the corporation would remain in the same position it is now while losing the market share. With time, the WestJet’s guests might switch to their competitors who would offer them better deals and wider travel destination selection. Taking into consideration the alternatives I proposed, the one that would benefit WestJet the most would be offering coaching and training to new employees. It is a great opportunity for both the company and the employees to have a â€Å"fresh start. † No previous experience, no particular habits and tendencies would make it possible for the new staff members to adjust to the corporate culture faster and easier. Obtaining the most qualified individuals with special mannerism and attributes that meet the required criteria for a position at WestJet should be an imperative part of the hiring process. Picking the right employees would guarantee the WestJet’s culture to continue. The employees and the top management would be happy and that would provide a superior communication process. Great communication process means no missed opportunities, faster and efficient issue solving procedure, and leading the company effectively towards its main goal – customer satisfaction. All things considered, WestJet is a very successful company that has a potential to keep growing yet bigger and enhancing its accomplishment. In order to reach to company’s objective, they need to sustain the most important factor leading to its success – happy employees and happy guests. This can only be achieved if the business protracts its corporate culture. With the purpose of doing so, it is recommended that WestJet implements the training and coaching strategy when hiring new staff members and makes sure that the individuals the hire fit the company’s beliefs and values. As soon as they reach that goal, the process of expansion should not have any effect on the success of the company.

Top 10 SAT Test Prep Tips and Tricks

Top 10 SAT Test Prep Tips and Tricks Taking any test is difficult. Thats a fact. The redesigned  SAT has its own set of rules that you must know in order to score well. Fortunately, the test tips here will maximize your time because they follow the SAT rules. Use Process of Elimination (POE)   Get rid of as many wrong choices as you can before answering a question. Wrong answers are often easier to find. Look for extremes such as never, only, and always in the reading test; look for opposites in the math section, such as a substitution of -1 for 1. Look for words that sound similar in the writing and language test,  such as conjunctive and subjunctive. Answer Every Question You are no longer penalized for incorrect answers. The redesigned SAT has reversed its penalty of 1/4 point for incorrect answers, so guess, guess, guess away after using the process of elimination.  That said, you dont just want to go at the questions willy-nilly. (See the Slow Down section below.) Write in the Test Booklet   Use your pencil to physically scratch out wrong choices, write down formulas and equations, solve math problems, outline, paraphrase, and underline to help you read. No one is going to read what you write in the test booklet, so use it to your advantage. Transfer Your Questions at the End of Each Section Instead of going back and forth between the Scantron answer form and the test booklet, just write your answers in the test booklet and transfer them over at the end of every section or page. Youll make fewer mistakes and save time. There is nothing worse than getting to the end of a section and realizing you dont have an oval to fill in for the last question.   Slow  Down   Its very difficult to finish all the problems and maintain accuracy. Slow down a little bit, and answer fewer questions correctly instead of guessing at the entire lot. You’ll get a better score if you answer 75 percent of the questions on the test and answer them correctly than if you answer all of them and get 50 percent correct. Choose Which Questions to Answer First You do not have to complete the test sections in order. No, you cant jump from math to writing, but you can certainly skip around inside each section. If youre stuck on a difficult question on the reading test, for example, by all means, circle the question in your test booklet and move on to a simpler question. You dont get any extra points for more difficult questions. Get the easy point when you can! Use the Order of Difficulty to Your Advantage in Math Because the SAT Math section is loosely arranged from easiest to most difficult, the seemingly obvious answers to problems toward the beginning of a section may actually be correct. If youre in the final third of a section, though, beware of the obvious answer choices- theyre probably distracters. Do Not Give Your Opinion in the SAT Essay Even though the SAT essay is now optional, youll still probably need to take it. But it isnt like the essay of the past. The redesigned SAT essay asks you to read an argument and critique it. You are no longer be asked to give your opinion; rather, you need to tear someone elses opinion apart. If you spend your 50 minutes writing a persuasive essay, youre going to bomb it. Cross-Check Your Ovals If you have time at the end of a section, cross-check your test-booklet answers with your Scantron ovals. Make sure you didnt miss a question. Dont Second-Guess  Yourself Trust your gut. Statistics prove that your first answer choice is usually correct. Do not go back through the test and change your answers unless youve found evidence that you are absolutely incorrect.

Case Study Analysis Rough Draft

The Situation In early April the 15 candidates were hired to work for the Operations Supervisor by one of the new recruiters. At this time the recruiter had six months experience at this job and no previous recruitments done for the company. The recruiter was not working with another recruiter that had more experience at the time to help with this process. Once the 15 candidates where hired he scheduled a new hire orientation to be held on June 15th as to make sure the new hires would be ready for work in July. A little over a month after the 15 candidates were hired the Operations Supervisor contacted the recruiter about all the information, paperwork and other necessities that needed to be done such as drug test, physicals, etc†¦. The recruiter gave assurance to the Operations Supervisor that everything would be handled by the time the orientation would be held on June 15th. The recruiter waited until after Memorial Day to check the records for the new hires to see if their applications were complete and if they had done the mandatory drug screenings and most had not been done. The recruiter then checked for the paperwork that would need to be given to the new hires in around 20 days and there were only three manuals all of which were missing pages making none of them complete. Once this was all the seen the recruiter went on a walk to clear his head and then returned to the office. He went to check on the scheduling of the conference room where the new hire orientation is to be held since he saw that one of the employees from technology services was setting up computer terminals. The schedule showed that the conference room was booked for the whole month for training seminars on the new database implementation that was going to occur. The recruiter is not sure what to do at this point since everything appears to be going wrong and the new hires would not be able to have orientation on time nor will they be able to start by July. Analysis 1: Correcting the problem At this time the recruiter is not sure what to do in order to fix all the problems that have arisen since there is such little time left to the deadline he had set. The wisest decision would be to separate the problems and then take them on one at a time. As far as the conference room situation goes the recruiter can speak with the person that is going to be holding the seminars to see at what times they are to be held. If there are some gaps in between the seminars it can be seen if the scheduling of the orientation would be affected or not. Also if there is a particular day that the seminars would not be taking place the orientation can be rescheduled for that day. The new hires that have not completed all the necessary paperwork or drug tests would be the next point issue to handle. The files would need to be reviewed to see who is missing what paperwork or tests so that they can be contacted accordingly and be given a deadline to complete it all or they will not be hired. In doing this it allows for the follow to seem more personal since the records are being looked at individually and also puts a sense of urgency in the new hire to get it all done. This would also allow the recruiter to contact the new hires with the date of the orientation if it has changed or just to give a reminder of the date if it has not changed. The final problem of the orientation manuals not being complete is next problem to work on. From the three manuals that the recruiter does have he should review each to see what pages are missing from one and see if they are available in one of the others. If all three manuals together can make one complete manual then copies can be run off of all three accordingly to be pieced together to make one manual. Once there is one complete manual then other copies can be made. If the manuals cannot be pieced together to make one then the recruiter would need to contact his or her supervisor to see how to obtain new manuals and the time frame that it would take to get them in. This would allow him to see if the orientation would need to be rescheduled or not due to the time it will take to get manuals for all the new hires. From this point on continued follow up of all the new hires paperwork and drug tests would need to be done to make sure that they will be done before the orientation is held. Following up of the conference room schedule would also need to be done to make sure that there is nothing else newly scheduled that may have interference with the orientation. The final detail that would need to be followed up on is the status of the operations manuals being ready by the date of the orientation, such as checking with who is making them and if they are running behind or if everything is on schedule. Analysis II Proper Procedure There are many different aspects that would need to be revised in order to make sure that issues like this can be avoided in the future. Proper supervision of procedures is one the major aspects that would need to be looked at first. Since the recruiter was new and it was the first recruitment they had done another more experienced recruiter could have shadowed the process to make sure that everything is done correctly. Shadowing would allow for the new recruiter to put to the test their training and if there are points that are not done right it can be caught early. This makes for better teamwork as well as a confidence building situation for the new recruiter. During the hiring process the new hires should be given deadlines to have all of their applications and other necessary paperwork completed in order to continue processing them as a new hire. The same should also be done with the drug testing, rather than giving them till the orientation date they should have a date within 30 days to complete it so that if they don’t they can be given a little more time or there would still be ample time to hire a replacement if needed. With these deadlines in place it has the employees take the time needed to get the tasks done but also does not give them excess time to procrastinate on the getting them done. As far as the orientation paperwork situation goes the recruiter would need to check how many are available right after hiring the employees to make sure that there would be enough. With this being done early then the recruiter would be able to contact the Operations Supervisor with plenty of time to let them know that they are short on the manuals necessary for the orientation. Checking this also allows the recruiter to stay on top of ordering the manuals so that there will always be some in supply as and would only need to order more to replace the ones that are going to be used. Conclusion The best solution that was presents was from the second analysis. This solution sets the goals of the company to not only train their employees better but also to promote teamwork in order to increase accuracy in the way that jobs are done. With the shadowing being done the more experienced recruiter could have had the newer recruiter set up the deadlines for the new hires, as well as how, where and when to check on the paperwork that is needed for the orientation. The communication on how often to check the scheduling log for the conference rooms could have also been brought up. The better the training and teamwork the better the situation turns out. Case Study Analysis Rough Draft The Situation In early April the 15 candidates were hired to work for the Operations Supervisor by one of the new recruiters. At this time the recruiter had six months experience at this job and no previous recruitments done for the company. The recruiter was not working with another recruiter that had more experience at the time to help with this process. Once the 15 candidates where hired he scheduled a new hire orientation to be held on June 15th as to make sure the new hires would be ready for work in July. A little over a month after the 15 candidates were hired the Operations Supervisor contacted the recruiter about all the information, paperwork and other necessities that needed to be done such as drug test, physicals, etc†¦. The recruiter gave assurance to the Operations Supervisor that everything would be handled by the time the orientation would be held on June 15th. The recruiter waited until after Memorial Day to check the records for the new hires to see if their applications were complete and if they had done the mandatory drug screenings and most had not been done. The recruiter then checked for the paperwork that would need to be given to the new hires in around 20 days and there were only three manuals all of which were missing pages making none of them complete. Once this was all the seen the recruiter went on a walk to clear his head and then returned to the office. He went to check on the scheduling of the conference room where the new hire orientation is to be held since he saw that one of the employees from technology services was setting up computer terminals. The schedule showed that the conference room was booked for the whole month for training seminars on the new database implementation that was going to occur. The recruiter is not sure what to do at this point since everything appears to be going wrong and the new hires would not be able to have orientation on time nor will they be able to start by July. Analysis 1: Correcting the problem At this time the recruiter is not sure what to do in order to fix all the problems that have arisen since there is such little time left to the deadline he had set. The wisest decision would be to separate the problems and then take them on one at a time. As far as the conference room situation goes the recruiter can speak with the person that is going to be holding the seminars to see at what times they are to be held. If there are some gaps in between the seminars it can be seen if the scheduling of the orientation would be affected or not. Also if there is a particular day that the seminars would not be taking place the orientation can be rescheduled for that day. The new hires that have not completed all the necessary paperwork or drug tests would be the next point issue to handle. The files would need to be reviewed to see who is missing what paperwork or tests so that they can be contacted accordingly and be given a deadline to complete it all or they will not be hired. In doing this it allows for the follow to seem more personal since the records are being looked at individually and also puts a sense of urgency in the new hire to get it all done. This would also allow the recruiter to contact the new hires with the date of the orientation if it has changed or just to give a reminder of the date if it has not changed. The final problem of the orientation manuals not being complete is next problem to work on. From the three manuals that the recruiter does have he should review each to see what pages are missing from one and see if they are available in one of the others. If all three manuals together can make one complete manual then copies can be run off of all three accordingly to be pieced together to make one manual. Once there is one complete manual then other copies can be made. If the manuals cannot be pieced together to make one then the recruiter would need to contact his or her supervisor to see how to obtain new manuals and the time frame that it would take to get them in. This would allow him to see if the orientation would need to be rescheduled or not due to the time it will take to get manuals for all the new hires. From this point on continued follow up of all the new hires paperwork and drug tests would need to be done to make sure that they will be done before the orientation is held. Following up of the conference room schedule would also need to be done to make sure that there is nothing else newly scheduled that may have interference with the orientation. The final detail that would need to be followed up on is the status of the operations manuals being ready by the date of the orientation, such as checking with who is making them and if they are running behind or if everything is on schedule. Analysis II Proper Procedure There are many different aspects that would need to be revised in order to make sure that issues like this can be avoided in the future. Proper supervision of procedures is one the major aspects that would need to be looked at first. Since the recruiter was new and it was the first recruitment they had done another more experienced recruiter could have shadowed the process to make sure that everything is done correctly. Shadowing would allow for the new recruiter to put to the test their training and if there are points that are not done right it can be caught early. This makes for better teamwork as well as a confidence building situation for the new recruiter. During the hiring process the new hires should be given deadlines to have all of their applications and other necessary paperwork completed in order to continue processing them as a new hire. The same should also be done with the drug testing, rather than giving them till the orientation date they should have a date within 30 days to complete it so that if they don’t they can be given a little more time or there would still be ample time to hire a replacement if needed. With these deadlines in place it has the employees take the time needed to get the tasks done but also does not give them excess time to procrastinate on the getting them done. As far as the orientation paperwork situation goes the recruiter would need to check how many are available right after hiring the employees to make sure that there would be enough. With this being done early then the recruiter would be able to contact the Operations Supervisor with plenty of time to let them know that they are short on the manuals necessary for the orientation. Checking this also allows the recruiter to stay on top of ordering the manuals so that there will always be some in supply as and would only need to order more to replace the ones that are going to be used. Conclusion The best solution that was presents was from the second analysis. This solution sets the goals of the company to not only train their employees better but also to promote teamwork in order to increase accuracy in the way that jobs are done. With the shadowing being done the more experienced recruiter could have had the newer recruiter set up the deadlines for the new hires, as well as how, where and when to check on the paperwork that is needed for the orientation. The communication on how often to check the scheduling log for the conference rooms could have also been brought up. The better the training and teamwork the better the situation turns out.

What does Campus Safety Mean Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

What does Campus Safety Mean - Essay Example Among the measures that the university has ensured in order to keep students at a school, safe is a network of 24-hour emergency telephones, night transport and escorting services, adequately lighted sidewalks, and limited hostel access by strictly the hostel occupants. Students have been made aware of all these services that the campus offers and most have given feedback of effective measures taken to adhere to all of them. Complaints of shortages of personnel in activities such as night escort have been initially raised by some students and the university took it into an account and promised to improve on the same. Despite the installed measures that the university has enforced in its surroundings, it is also paramount that students take responsibility for their own security by not exposing themselves to scenarios that might promote insecurity. Such measures include using recommended pathways and avoiding trespasses, walking in at least a group of three and above when walking at night, taking into account the university’s measures that promote security such as calling for escort and using the 24-hour emergency phones and knowing self-defense mechanisms. These measures could keep a student off any security threats and help ease the pressure on the university in providing security for the students. In case of attacks, the victims have an opportunity to go through a healing process assisted by the MSU Counseling Center. With regard to this, the MSU Counseling Center has put some procedures and processes that are used to guide the counselors in assisting victims with diverse effects from various insecurity attacks or similar incidences. These include group counseling and testimonies, one-on-one counseling, group therapies, assurance of future security, and advice on actions to partake in case of future incidences.  

Voluntary assumption of liability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Voluntary assumption of liability - Essay Example Nonetheless, such acts fail the English legal system’s interpretation of what constitutes justice, fairness and equity, in contracts. Edwards, Edwards, and Wells (2011) argued that an application of a ‘genuine’ assumption of liability as the premise upon which extra-contractual risks are based can repair the damages resulting from the injustice. Sykes (2012) pointed out that this effectively circumvents the legal challenges arising from the wider interpretation of a binding contract.The second legal hurdle relates to the fairly wide confines within which a binding contract falls (Gruidl, 2008). In Tort, however, Best and Barnes (2007) averred that numerous limitations face the English judicial system. For instance, time constraints in the acquisition of claims, narrowly explained vicarious liability, and the amount of damages may hinder the handling of claims in a fair manner, especially claims stemming from direct business between two parties in cases where a bin ding contract cannot be implied. In such situations, the generous provisions guiding the establishment of contracts do not apply (Horrigan, 2012).Lastly, a party may use the idea of assumption of liability to claim liability for issues that were part of a contract (Sykes, 2012).   In fact, the doctrine of assumption of responsibility was introduced into English law to settle extra-contractual liability arising from â€Å"non-intentional† injury other than physical injury to any individual party. These include; psychological injury, economic damages and nervous shock.... Lastly, a party may use the idea of assumption of liability to claim liability for issues that were part of a contract (Sykes, 2012). In fact, the doctrine of assumption of responsibility was introduced into English law to settle extra-contractual liability arising from â€Å"non-intentional† injury other than physical injury to any individual party. These include; psychological injury, economic damages and nervous shock (Edwards, Edwards, and Wells, 2011; Horrigan, 2012). Difficulty in compensation Best and Barnes (2007) suggested that these kinds of injury are hard to remedy. In effect, the defendant and the wider society would find it hard to withstand the losses. But, the researchers added that a blanket refusal of liability is unacceptable. Therefore, English law was created to provide grounds for a new platform for the application of logical, narrow responsibility in tort, for such damages. Harpwood (2008) contend that such provisions of English law seek means of narrowi ng the application of responsibility in negligence which, hitherto would only be proved by foreseeable injury. In English legal system the concept of assumption of liability is today clearly employed separately within the province the Duty of Care in Negligence (Horrigan, 2012). Additionally, the idea is slowly being outmoded by the three-fold-test under the Duty of Care, and the slow evolution of the key facets of the common law, which focus on expanding liability. Rights of Third Parties Act 1999 Gruidl (2008) noted the significance of the Rights of Third Parties Act 1999, which expanded the infamous narrow understanding of contract and the liabilities that may arise thereof under English law. The new legislation repealed the

The Black Death Plague :: essays research papers

The Black Death Plague   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Black Death plague, also known as the Bubonic plague, attacked Europe in 1347. The Bubonic plague was one of the many pestilences that would attack almost the entire Eastern Hemisphere. The last plague attacked a European city, Marseilles in 1722. On 1347, the name ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ¢â€š ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ…“Black DeathÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ¢â€š ¬Ãƒâ€š?, or the ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ¢â€š ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ…“Bubonic PlagueÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ¢â€š ¬Ãƒâ€š? was not used. During that time, they called the plague the Pestilence, or the Great Mortality. As we can see, the Black Death Plague has been in existence for about 650 years, and many are still unsure of the origin of this deadly plague.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are several explanations on the origins of the Black Death Plague. The first is from medieval writers who believe that it began in China because they considered China to be a land of magical events. Others thought that it originated from earthquakes and fire. However we all know that these explanations are just myths. But many historians agree that the deadly disease originated from infected rodents that migrated from the Middle East to the area between the Black and Caspian seas. The plague was then spread onto merchants traveling the west trade routes (the approximate date given is about 1347). Then the disease passed from the merchants to Italian towns along the Black Sea. The ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ¢â€š ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ…“Black DeathÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ¢â€š ¬Ãƒâ€š? plague moved quickly along other trade routes. However, through quarantine, parts of Europe were saved from the disease.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the 14th and 15th centuries, the Black Death plague was not as bad as the first time it appeared. Doctors and investigators began to notice patterns on when the plague was the most active and when it was ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ¢â€š ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ…“dormantÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ¢â€š ¬Ãƒâ€š?. They found out that the plague was strongest in the summer, absent in the winter. Investigators also noticed that the plague was most popular among the poorest, crowded cities. Therefore the governments set up a system of quarantining and treating people that were infected.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  By the 16 century quarantines were a part of life. Towns began investigating anything suspicious. Travelers were expected to carry certificates of health proving that they have not been exposed to the deadly disease. Toward the end of the 16 century it was impossible to move out of quarantined areas.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Starting in the late17th century, the countries of Europe created a boundary between Europe and the lands where the Black Death plague came from. Anyone who tried to cross the boundary without permission, were shot.

Learning English: A Lesson in Language and Culture

To those outside the educational system, the teaching of language may seem to be a simple communication of skills from one person to another.   For those involved in education, however, language instruction has long been linked to cultural bias and social engineering, leading to debates over the notion of a â€Å"neutral language.†Ã‚   Such a language would facilitate the exchange of objective concepts such as spelling, grammar, and pronunciation without imposing subjective cultural constructs such as beliefs abut class, gender, and religion. As languages originate and develop in response to needs and conditions all too human, and therefore highly emotional, it is unlikely that any truly neutral language exists, and this is particularly evident when we consider the English language. The teaching of English has sociocultural implications that extend far beyond the learning environment, and this is best demonstrated by examining the relationship of Standard English to other varieties of English as well as to other languages being taught. The distinction between standard and vernacular forms of a language is based on the perceived differences between the educated and the uneducated.   The term â€Å"standard,† when used to describe language, generally refers to that form of the language that is used for formal and written applications by those who occupy the highest ranks of society.   Rules governing its usage tend to be rather strict and resistant to change. In contrast, a vernacular is the colloquial language used informally by a group of people, much less rigid in its forms and much more liable to change.   An online version of the Oxford English Dictionary, the recognized authority on the English language, exemplifies this divisiveness in its definition of the noun â€Å"vernacular† as â€Å"the language or dialect spoken by the ordinary people of a country or region.†Ã‚   Aligning the vernacular form with so-called â€Å"ordinary† folks naturally infers a similar association between the standard form and less ordinary people, the literate elite who use it. This lofty status is often justified by reference to the wealth of classical literature, historical documents, and scientific/technical writings that exist in both British and American Standar1d English.   An understanding of Standard English provides access to these canons and to the educational systems that utilize them.   These systems offer the knowledge and expertise necessary for the highest levels of professional and intellectual achievement.   Simply put, a better than average knowledge of Standard English offers a better than average chance at attaining prominence in highly skilled and specialized areas such as education, business, or technology (Brindley 208). Whether this effect is seen as favorable or unfavorable depends, as most things do, on the perspective through which it is viewed.   Any experience that affords people greater personal control over important life issues may seem universally appealing, yet insistence upon teaching only Standard English has evoked considerable controversy (Brindley 205).   Those who advocate the teaching of Standard English writing in a way that emphasizes its reliance on stringent rules and formats have been accused of perpetuating a desired status quo (Brindley 226-227). By learning Standard English, students are carrying on a long tradition of literary scholarship that has yielded many important intellectual gains and brought the western world to the forefront in industry and science.   Detractors see the teaching of Standard English as an imposition of social norms that depend on conformity and narrow-mindedness.   By forcing people to think in constrained ways about language, teachers are hindering both creativity and individuality for the sake of convention (Bourne 243). Such adherence to uniformity often puts the learner in an uncomfortable and confusing situation, as when the home background and the educational environment clash in terms of language.   Katharine Perera describes the difficulties encountered by children being taught Standard English while living in homes and neighborhoods where the vernacular is the mode of expression. For them, a change in their manner of speech represents an invalidation of their customary way of life and may create barriers between them and their peers.   The experience of speaking one way with friends or family who share their idiom, only to then be told by teachers that this language is wrong, forces most children to reluctantly choose one identity at the expense of the other (cited in Brindley 212). Concern over this loss of identity has fueled heated disputes in â€Å"mother-tongue† contexts, where English is taught as a first language and some form of it is used by much of the population as a native language (Brindley 206).   Davis and Watson report that in Australia, post-war migration increased the nation’s multiculturalism while weakening the influence of a common British legacy.   Responding to the resultant search for a national identity, the Australian curriculum acknowledges the relationship between this identity and language yet also recognizes the diversity that exists within â€Å"Australian Standard English† (cited in Brindley 206). The Australian Education Council’s statement on the English curriculum sets Australian English apart from American or British English chiefly by differences in vocabulary and pronunciation, and describes this national variety of English as a combination of the Standard Australian English used in schools and several vernacular forms, any one of which a student may use at home.  Ã‚   The curriculum statement also advises that Standard Australian English should be taught as an extension of local idioms and not as a replacement for them. Although the report further stresses importance of Australian Standard English because of its role in educational structures, professional fields, and spoken communication, it also recognizes the value of vernacular forms and the cultural backgrounds they represent.   Its national plan for teaching English also notes that language changes in respect to context and purposes, and it urges that students be made aware of this fact so they can apply their language skills accordingly.   The Council also officially confers equal status to standard and local forms of English, viewing neither one as inherently superior to the other (cited in Brindley 207) Sue Brindley relates that the issue of the relative worth of different language forms is intensely debated in Britain, where the world’s richest history of English has led to much linguistic diversity.   Standard English is an integral part of the official school curriculum, yet there is no consensus about exactly what constitutes standardized English and how it is connected to a student’s home variety (Brindley 208).   A Department for Education and Welsh Office statement cites strict observance to rules of vocabulary, grammar, spelling, and pronunciation as the distinguishing features of Standard English to be taught in England and Wales, yet this description is too vague to give a precise definition. Although the British policy encourages the use of standardized language for both written and spoken applications, it also recognizes that spoken English is more spontaneous and therefore less apt to conform to the same rigorous criteria used in more carefully planned written applications (cited in Brindley 210).   By associating Standard English with qualities like precision and clear diction, the British curriculum contradicts the viewpoint of many linguists and educators, as well as the sentiments expressed in the Australian English statement, by implying that school-sanctioned standardized forms are linguistically superior to other varieties (Brindley 211).   The obvious counterpart to this attitude is a belief that vernacular forms of English are inferior. Brindley speaks of educators who are concerned that such a prejudicial position will necessarily lead to a gradual erosion of the traditional cultural values that underlie the home life of those whose first language is the vernacular. Some teachers have taken it upon themselves to teach Standard English in a way that does not discriminate against home-based language varieties and, by extension, their associated ways of life. In this manner, they hope to allow students to derive the benefits inherent in a multicultural approach: a greater fund of knowledge about languages, a richer social experience, and a keener appreciation of different manners of thinking (212-213). In countries where the native language is not English, there is every bit as much controversy regarding the cultural aftereffects of learning English.   For people living in geographical areas marked by poverty and need, an education in English may be seen as a way to rise to the echelons of power and privilege.   Yet for those already enjoying that power and privilege, the promotion of English for the masses may be seen as either a welcome conversion or a dangerous threat.   Anthea Fraser Gupta’s account of the spread of English in colonial India traces the complicated history of the English empire’s influence over native Indians.   When Great Britain officially endorsed the teaching of English to Indians, the intent was to introduce not only the language of the United Kingdom but also its cultural and religious values. British officials were in effect attempting to create darker-skinned versions of themselves, seeing the inculcation of western ideals as a means of eradicating a way of life that they considered idolatrous, immoral, and unrefined ( 190-191).   At the same time, Indians in positions of power worried that giving the lower classes a glimpse of what was possible through an English education worked against their interests.   S.N. Mukherjee (cited in Gupta 192) reports that the Calcutta upper classes feared that those below their social rank would become dissatisfied with their inferior status. More than a hundred years after the events chronicled in Gupta’s account, teachers of English still encounter resistance from pupils who either feel that language is being forced upon them or resent social exclusion from English-speaking society (Bourne 243-244)..   Despite this, Jill Bourne informs us that the current trend in non-English speaking countries is to incorporate English language lessons into the primary school system.   Even in Malaysia, where this is not endorsed, private schools offer English instruction to students whose wealthy parents are willing to pay for what they perceive as an important step on the road to social success (244). Several countries, including Germany, the former Czech Republic, Hungary, Malay, and Hong Kong, have implemented some form of what America calls Language and Content Teaching, which blends language instruction with course content.   The focus is shifted from the English language to the curriculum material, which is presented through the medium of English.   However, in most parts of the world where English is taught, the emphasis remains on English as a subject itself (Bourne 244).   This suggests that for most nations, what is truly being sought is not an adoption of English values but the attainment of proficiency in a language that offers access to more profitable pursuits. It is easy to understand why countries such as Hong Kong, whose economy is deeply invested in international commerce, would feel pressured to acquire English fluency.   English is a major language of trade, and an inability to speak it proficiently is a definite disadvantage in the business arena.   This becomes clearer when we consider it on a smaller, more personal scale.   Anyone who has spent time among people who shared a common, foreign language knows the frustration and stigmatization that can result from an inability to communicate easily and appropriately with others. There is a natural human desire to feel connected to others in some way, and language provides an excellent means of achieving that sense of belonging.   When essential life factors such as economic, social, and professional standing are at stake, language becomes even more crucial. This relationship between modes of communication and key life issues is precisely why the concept of a neutral language is a hypothetical one.   The teaching of any language involves the transmission of much more than rules about grammar and pronunciation.   It inevitably requires some measure of cultural change on the part of the learner, and in the case of English instruction those changes can have profound effects upon many major aspects of life.   For this reason, educators and students alike must respect the various forms of language as reflections of valuable cultural and social traditions. Works Cited Bourne, Jill. â€Å"English for Speakers of Other Languages.† Learning English: Development and Diversity. Eds. Neil Mercer and Joan Swann. UK: The Open University, 2002, 243-270. Brindley, Sue, with contributions from Swann, Joan. â€Å"Issues in English Teaching.† Learning English: Development and Diversity. Eds. Neil Mercer and Joan Swann. UK: The Open University, 2002, 205-228. Gupta, Anthea Fraser. â€Å"English and Empire: Teaching English in Nineteenth Century India.† Learning English:   Development and Diversity. Eds. Neil Mercer and Joan Swann. UK: The Open University, 2002, 188-194. â€Å"vernacular.† Compact Oxford English Dictionary. 2005. http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/vernacular?view=uk (3 Dec. 2005).